Grant: Project Grant

Background and importance: The frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex is composed of distinct anatomical areas that differ in their cellular structure (i.e. their cytoarchitecture) and are connected by distinct anatomical pathways with other areas of the cortex, forming networks that process functional information involved in memory, decision-making, language production and comprehension, etc. The different frontal areas exercise various high-level control processes on the information processed in the temporal and parietal cortical areas. Goal(s) /Research Aims: Theme I: The human cerebral cortex is folded into undulating grooves, known as sulci, and the adjacent surface cortex is referred to as gyri. We shall now examine the relation of these sulci and gyri to the specific cytoarchitectonic areas in the frontal lobe of the human brain to help neurologists, neurosurgeons and neuroscientists in order to interpret accurately the locus of damage in particular patients since these sulci and gyri can be seen on Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans and in the operating theatre after a craniotomy. Theme II: We shall use diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging that enables the visualization in the living human brain of the pathways linking various frontal areas with temporal and parietal areas to examine the effect of disruptions in these networks on cognitive processing in patients with primary progressive aphasia and in patients who had excisions of cortical tissue to remove brain tumours. Expected Outcomes: The research will help interpret accurately: a) the cortical areas and the specific pathways that are damaged in particular patients and b) the cognitive impairments resulting from disruptions of these specific cortical networks in patients.