AANS Beyond 2021: Full Collection-Front Aslant Tract and Supplementary Motor Area Syndrome

Front Aslant Tract and Supplementary Motor Area Syndrome

Video Transcription

Video Summary

In this video, Nicholas Cedario, a medical student, discusses the frontosalient tract and supplementary motor area (SMA) syndrome. He explains that there are higher-order cognitive networks in the medial frontal lobe, including the default motor network and stannous network, which connect to the SMA. Damage to this axis can cause akinetic mutism. The frontosalient tract (FAT) is a recently described white matter bundle that connects the stannous network and Broca's area. Cedario's research shows that preserving the FAT can reduce transient SMA syndrome, characterized by mutism and hemiplegia. Understanding the connectomic architecture in the brain will help improve cognitive mobility after tumor surgery. Cedario credits Dr. Michael Shugarov for supervision and mentorship.

Keywords

frontosalient tract

supplementary motor area (SMA) syndrome

akinetic mutism

connectomic architecture

tumor surgery