Intrinsic circuitry of the rhombicbrain (central nervous system’s intermediate sector) in a mammal

Abstract

The rhombicbrain (rhombencephalon or intermediate sector) is the vertebrate central nervous system part between the forebrain–midbrain (rostral sector) and spinal cord (caudal sector), and it has three main divisions: pons, cerebellum, and medulla. Using a data-driven approach, here we examine intrinsic rhombicbrain (intrarhombicbrain) network architecture that in rat consists of 52,670 possible axonal connections between 230 gray matter regions (115 bilaterally symmetrical pairs). Our analysis indicates that only 8,089 (15.4%) of these connections exist. Multiresolution consensus cluster analysis yields a nested hierarchy model of rhombicbrain subsystems that at the top level are associated with 1) the cerebellum and vestibular nuclei, 2) orofacial–pharyngeal–visceral integration, and 3) auditory connections; the bottom level has 68 clusters, ranging in size from 2 to 11 regions. The model provides a basis for functional hypothesis development and interrogation. More granular network analyses performed on the intrinsic connectivity of individual and combined main rhombicbrain divisions (pons, cerebellum, medulla, pons + cerebellum, and pons + medulla) demonstrate the mutability of network architecture in response to the addition or subtraction of connections. Clear differences between the structure–function network architecture of the rhombicbrain and forebrain–midbrain are discussed, with a stark comparison provided by the subsystem and small-world organization of the cerebellar cortex and cerebral cortex. Future analysis of the connections within and between the forebrain–midbrain and rhombicbrain will provide a model of brain neural network architecture in a mammal.