The human connectome from an evolutionary perspective

Ardesch, Dirk Jan; Scholtens, Lianne H.; Heuvel, Martijn P. van den

doi:10.1016/bs.pbr.2019.05.004

Cited by 21 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 152 publications

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“…2008 ; Honey et al. 2009 ; Ardesch, Scholtens, Li, et al. 2019 ) (for additional analysis based only on presence and absence of connections, see Supplementary Material ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaling Principles of White Matter Connectivity in the Human and Nonhuman Primate Brain

et al. 2021

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Brains come in many shapes and sizes. Nature has endowed big-brained primate species like humans with a proportionally large cerebral cortex. Comparative studies have suggested, however, that the total volume allocated to white matter connectivity—the brain’s infrastructure for long-range interregional communication—does not keep pace with the cortex. We investigated the consequences of this allometric scaling on brain connectivity and network organization. We collated structural and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging data across 14 primate species, describing a comprehensive 350-fold range in brain size across species. We show volumetric scaling relationships that indeed point toward a restriction of macroscale connectivity in bigger brains. We report cortical surface area to outpace white matter volume, with larger brains showing lower levels of overall connectedness particularly through sparser long-range connectivity. We show that these constraints on white matter connectivity are associated with longer communication paths, higher local network clustering, and higher levels of asymmetry in connectivity patterns between homologous areas across the left and right hemispheres. Our findings reveal conserved scaling relationships of major brain components and show consequences for macroscale brain circuitry, providing insights into the connectome architecture that could be expected in larger brains such as the human brain.

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“…2008 ; Honey et al. 2009 ; Ardesch, Scholtens, Li, et al. 2019 ) (for additional analysis based only on presence and absence of connections, see Supplementary Material ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaling Principles of White Matter Connectivity in the Human and Nonhuman Primate Brain

et al. 2021

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“…Compared to rodents, the ferret shows some of the key neurodevelopmental features similar to humans, notably an expanded neocortex and gyrencephaly. However, certain neurodevelopmental traits are truly human-specific and they are thought to form a basis for our unparalleled cognitive abilities ( Rakic, 2009 ; Sousa et al, 2017 ; Ardesch et al, 2019 ; Pattabiraman et al, 2020 ). Since various human-specific genomic changes in both coding and non-coding regions are underlying such neurodevelopmental traits, a lot of effort has been made to identify the key changes and examine them functionally in different model systems ( Silver, 2016 ; Dennis et al, 2017 ; Florio et al, 2018 ; Pattabiraman et al, 2020 ; Vaid and Huttner, 2020 ).…”

Section: The Ferret As a Model For Human Pathologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ferret as a Model System for Neocortex Development and Evolution

Gilardi

Kalebic²

2021

Front. Cell Dev. Biol.

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The neocortex is the largest part of the cerebral cortex and a key structure involved in human behavior and cognition. Comparison of neocortex development across mammals reveals that the proliferative capacity of neural stem and progenitor cells and the length of the neurogenic period are essential for regulating neocortex size and complexity, which in turn are thought to be instrumental for the increased cognitive abilities in humans. The domesticated ferret, Mustela putorius furo, is an important animal model in neurodevelopment for its complex postnatal cortical folding, its long period of forebrain development and its accessibility to genetic manipulation in vivo. Here, we discuss the molecular, cellular, and histological features that make this small gyrencephalic carnivore a suitable animal model to study the physiological and pathological mechanisms for the development of an expanded neocortex. We particularly focus on the mechanisms of neural stem cell proliferation, neuronal differentiation, cortical folding, visual system development, and neurodevelopmental pathologies. We further discuss the technological advances that have enabled the genetic manipulation of the ferret in vivo. Finally, we compare the features of neocortex development in the ferret with those of other model organisms.

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“…Recent advances in technology for tissue-processing and the availability of larger brain tissue sets, as well as the development of methods in genomic, neuroimaging and other elds, has made it possible to explore the mechanisms underlying human mental capabilities from different levels, which has greatly enhanced our understanding on the genomic, transcriptomic, neuroanatomic, and behavioral features of the brain (Sousa, Meyer et al 2017;Zhu, Sousa et al 2018;Pollen, Bhaduri et al 2019). For example, by comparing the brain of human and chimpanzees or other primates, unique features of the human brain with respect to development, cortical organization, connectivity, and aging can been revealed via neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography imaging or diffusion-weighted imaging (Rilling 2014;Ardesch, Scholtens et al 2019). Through the use of a combined comparative neuroimaging and genetic analysis on the cortex region of human and chimpanzee brain, Wei et al found that evolutionary changes in the human genome may play an important role in the expansion and cortical organization of cognitive functional networks in the human brain, potentially in service of specialization of higher-order cognitive function in human evolution (Wei, de Lange et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differentially Evolutionary Pathways and Their Interactions in Genes Expressed in Brain of Human and Macaque

Ma¹,

Cao²,

Zhao³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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As the key organ that separates humans from non-human primates, the brain has continuously evolved to adapt to the changes of environments and climates. Although human shares most genetic, molecular, and cellular features with other primates such as macaques, there are significant differences in the structure and function of the brain between humans and these species. Thus, exploring the differences between the brains of human and non-human primates in the context of evolution will provide insights into the development, functionality, and diseases of the human nervous system. Since the genes involved in many aspects of the human brain are under common pressures of natural selection, their evolutionary features can be analyzed collectively at the pathway-level. In this study, the molecular mechanisms underlying human brain capabilities were explored by comparing the evolutionary features of pathways enriched in genes expressed in the human brain and the macaque brain. 31 differentially expressed evolutionary pathways were identified in the brains of humans and macaques, among which included those related to neurological diseases, signal transduction, immunological response, and metabolic processes. By analyzing differentially expressed genes in brain regions or development stages between humans and macaques, 10 pathways and 4 pathways were found to have evolutionary distinctions, respectively. We further performed crosstalk analysis of pathways in order to obtain an intuitive correlation between the pathways, of which is helpful in understanding the mechanisms of interaction between pathways. Our results shed light on a comprehensive view of the evolutionary pathways of the human nervous system and provide a reference for the study of human brain development.

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The human connectome from an evolutionary perspective

Cited by 21 publications

References 152 publications

Scaling Principles of White Matter Connectivity in the Human and Nonhuman Primate Brain

Scaling Principles of White Matter Connectivity in the Human and Nonhuman Primate Brain

The Ferret as a Model System for Neocortex Development and Evolution

Differentially Evolutionary Pathways and Their Interactions in Genes Expressed in Brain of Human and Macaque

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