Association fibers are axons (nerve fibers) that connect cortical areas within the same cerebral hemisphere.
In human neuroanatomy, axons within the brain, can be categorized on the basis of their course and connections as association fibers, projection fibers, and commissural fibers. Bundles of fibers are known as nerve tracts, and consist of association tracts, commissural tracts, and projection tracts.
A nerve tract is a bundle of nerve fibers (axons) connecting nuclei of the central nervous system. In the peripheral nervous system, this is known as a nerve fascicle, and has associated connective tissue. The main nerve tracts in the central nervous system are of three types: association fibers, commissural fibers, and projection fibers. A nerve tract may also be referred to as a commissure, decussation, or neural pathway. A commissure connects the two cerebral hemispheres at the same levels, while a decussation connects at different levels (crosses obliquely).
Disconnection syndrome is a general term for a collection of neurological symptoms caused – via lesions to associational or commissural nerve fibres – by damage to the white matter axons of communication pathways in the cerebrum (not to be confused with the cerebellum), independent of any lesions to the cortex. The behavioral effects of such disconnections are relatively predictable in adults. Disconnection syndromes usually reflect circumstances where regions A and B still have their functional specializations except in domains that depend on the interconnections between the two regions.
Callosal syndrome, or split-brain, is an example of a disconnection syndrome from damage to the corpus callosum between the two hemispheres of the brain. Disconnection syndrome can also lead to aphasia, left-sided apraxia, and tactile aphasia, among other symptoms. Other types of disconnection syndrome include conduction aphasia (lesion of the association tract connecting Broca’s area and Wernicke’s), agnosia, apraxia, pure alexia, etc.