Published in:
Open Access
01-04-2019 | Original Article
Concurrent analysis of white matter bundles and grey matter networks in the chimpanzee
Authors:
Rogier B. Mars, Jonathan O’Muircheartaigh, Davide Folloni, Longchuan Li, Matthew F. Glasser, Saad Jbabdi, Katherine L. Bryant
Published in:
Brain Structure and Function
|
Issue 3/2019
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Abstract
Understanding the phylogeny of the human brain requires an appreciation of brain organization of our closest animal relatives. Neuroimaging tools such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allow us to study whole-brain organization in species which can otherwise not be studied. Here, we used diffusion MRI to reconstruct the connections of the cortical hemispheres of the chimpanzee. This allowed us to perform an exploratory analysis of the grey matter structures of the chimpanzee cerebral cortex and their underlying white matter connectivity profiles. We identified a number of networks that strongly resemble those found in other primates, including the corticospinal system, limbic connections through the cingulum bundle and fornix, and occipital–temporal and temporal–frontal systems. Notably, chimpanzee temporal cortex showed a strong resemblance to that of the human brain, providing some insight into the specialization of the two species’ shared lineage.