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Journal article

Connectivity profile and function of uniquely human cortical areas

Abstract:
Determining the brain specializations unique to humans requires directly comparative anatomical information from other primates, especially our closest relatives. Human (Homo sapiens; m/f), chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes; f), and rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta; m/f) white matter atlases were used to create connectivity blueprints, i.e., descriptions of the cortical grey matter in terms of the connectivity with homologous white matter tracts. This allowed a quantitative comparative of cortical organization across the species. We identified human-unique connectivity profiles concentrated in temporal and parietal cortices, and hominid-unique organization in prefrontal cortex. Functional decoding revealed human-unique hotspots correlated with language processing and social cognition. Overall, our results counter models that assign primacy to prefrontal cortex for human uniqueness.
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Publisher copy:
10.1523/jneurosci.2017-24.2025

Authors

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Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MSD
Department:
Clinical Neurosciences
Role:
Author
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Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-6461-5528


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Funder identifier:
https://ror.org/0472cxd90
Grant:
CoG 101000969
Programme:
Consolidator Grant
More from this funder
Funder identifier:
https://ror.org/029chgv08
Grant:
203129/Z/16/Z
More from this funder
Funder identifier:
https://ror.org/00cwqg982
Grant:
BB/N019814/1
More from this funder
Funder identifier:
https://ror.org/052gg0110
Programme:
E P A Cephalosporin Fund


Publisher:
Society for Neuroscience
Journal:
Journal of Neuroscience More from this journal
Volume:
45
Issue:
15
Article number:
e2017242025
Place of publication:
United States
Publication date:
2025-03-17
Acceptance date:
2025-02-15
DOI:
EISSN:
1529-2401
ISSN:
0270-6474
Pmid:
40097185


Language:
English
Keywords:
Pubs id:
2096102
Local pid:
pubs:2096102
Deposit date:
2025-06-10
ARK identifier:

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