Word-list Multimodal Cortical Atlas (WMCA)

Reference

Hesling, I., Labache, L., Joliot, M., & Tzourio-Mazoyer, N. (2019). Large-scale plurimodal networks common to listening to, producing and reading word lists: an fMRI study combining task-induced activation and intrinsic connectivity in 144 right-handers. Brain Structure and Function, 224(9), 3075-3094. DOI: 10.1007/s00429-019-01951-4

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Background

WMCA, Word-List Multimodal Cortical Atlas, is a new model of the neural organization of phonological action–perception circuits.

We aimed at identifying plurimodal large-scale networks common to producing, listening to and reading word lists based on the combined analyses of task-induced activation and resting-state intrinsic connectivity.

In line with SENSAAS, WMCA was developed from fMRI obtained during both task-induced and resting-state acquisitions in 144 right-handed participants.

14 left regions and 7 right were identified as showing joint activation and joint asymmetry during the three tasks of producing, listening to and reading word lists. The temporal correlations at rest between these 21 regions made it possible to detect their belonging to 2 networks. Among these networks, one, WORD-LIST_CORE network that aggregated 14 motor, premotor and phonemic areas in the left hemisphere plus the right Superior Temporal Sulcus that corresponded to the posterior human voice area.

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Data release

The Atlas folder contains 4 files:

• read_me_WMCA.rtf: README file containing information about the atlas
• WMCA_MNI_ICBM_152_2mm.nii: NIfTI file containing the 21 brain regions in the MNI space

• WMCA_description.csv: CSV file containing a full description of each areas. The first column (Index) correspond to the index of each region that is used in the NIfTI file. The second column (ROI) is the anatomical labels of each regions. The column Network corresponded to which of the 2 networks a region belongs. Finaly, the MNI coordinate (columns Xmm, Ymm, Zmm) of each regions centroid is provided.

• template_ANTs_80tvs_on_MNI.nii.gz: brain template used to align the atlas on, provided in MNI stereotaxic space (MNI ICBM 152, Template sampling size of 2x2x2 mm3 voxels; bounding box, x = -90 to 90 mm, y = -126 to 91 mm, z = -72 to 109 mm)

The 2 networks are briefly described below.

• WORD-LIST_CORE included 13 regions hosting motor and premotor areas of the left hemisphere.This network is also an inter-hemispheric network since it comprises the right superior temporal sulcus (STS3). WORD-LIST_CORE corresponds to the essential phonological processing regions.

• WORD-LIST_CONTROL aggregated 7 areas acknowledged as involved in the monitoring aspect of the tasks that were common to the three tasks.

This above model posits that:

• action and perception circuits are interdependent and organized in networks, among which a trace of the learning modality is still present in the brain;

• the involvement of phonological action–perception circuits, such as the phonological working memory loop, in which articulatory gestures are the central motor units on which word perception, production and reading develop and act according to the motor theory of speech (Liberman and Whalen 2000), as revealed by the recruitment of leftward frontal and precentral areas together with temporo-parietal areas;

• the involvement of the left supramarginal (SMG) with the right superior temporal sulcus (STS3, pHVA), which is a prosodic integrative area, could reflect the intertwining between prosodic and phonemic information.

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Other atlases that might interest you

• SEntence Supramodal Areas AtlaS: SENSAAS
• HAnd MOtor Area atlas: HAMOTA
• Atlas of Lateralized visuospatial Attentional Networks: ALANs
• Atlas of Intrinsic Connectivity of Homotopic Areas: AICHA

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Questions

Please contact me (Loïc Labache) as loic.labache@yale.edu and/or loic.labache@ensc.fr