How anatomy will help us to build models of information processing in the brain

COEX 

This introductory talk aims to provide an overview of the course and introduce ideas on how an understanding of neuroanatomy will impact modern neuroimaging and neuroscience studies. First, I will highlight the necessity of paying attention to neuroanatomy by discussing sulci and gyri in the human brain. Specifically, I will discuss the differences among mammalian species, its relation to functionally-defined brain regions, and its impact on the analysis of neuroimaging datasets. Secondly, I will provide an overview on how the current computational model of neural information processing falls short in representing underlying neuroanatomy, even in the extensively studied visual system. I will introduce various existing models of visual processing, such as the conceptual model of dorsal and ventral visual streams, the more recent hierarchical model of visual processing, and a complex connectivity diagram. Notably, none of these models account for the existence of a relatively large white matter pathway—the vertical occipital fasciculus (VOF)—which connects the dorsal and ventral occipital cortex. By presenting recent evidence regarding the prominence of the VOF in both human and non-human primates, I will discuss the need to revisit the current framework for understanding the model of visual processing in the brain.