The superior frontal sulcus in the human brain – Morphology and probability maps

The superior frontal sulcus (SFS) is a major sulcus on the dorsolateral frontal cortex that defines the lateral limit of the superior frontal gyrus. Caudally, it originates near the superior precentral sulcus (SPRS) and rostrally, it terminates near the frontal pole. The advent of structural neuroimaging has revealed that this primary sulcus shows significant variability below the surface which is not captured by the classic sulcal maps. The present investigation examined the morphological variability of the SFS in 50 individual magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the human brain that were registered to the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) standard stereotaxic space. Two primary morphological patterns were identified: i) the SFS was classified as either a continuous sulcus or ii) the SFS was a complex of sulcal segments. Further, the SFS showed a high probability of merging with neighboring sulci on the superior and middle frontal gyri, and these patterns were documented. In ...额上沟（superior frontal sulcus, SFS）是背外侧额叶皮层上的主要脑沟，界定了额上回的外侧边界。其尾端起自中央前沟上支（superior precentral sulcus, SPRS）附近，吻端终止于额极。随着结构神经影像学技术的发展，研究发现这一初级脑沟在皮层表面下存在显著的形态变异，而经典脑沟图谱无法捕捉这类变异。本研究对配准至蒙特利尔神经研究所（Montreal Neurological Institute, MNI）标准立体定位空间的50例人类大脑磁共振成像（magnetic resonance imaging, MRI）扫描数据展开分析，考察了SFS的形态学变异性。研究共识别出两种主要的形态模式：其一，SFS为连续型脑沟；其二，SFS由多个脑沟节段构成复合结构。此外，SFS与额上回、额中回的邻近脑沟发生融合的概率较高，此类模式均已被记录。In ...