Comparisons of brain network connections across humans and chimpanzees suggest that investment in information integration may be one of the distinguishing factors in the development of human higher-order cognition, according to a study. Humans have a significantly larger brain volume relative to body size than other primates and a high allocation of resources to white matter, the brain's connectivity network, suggesting that evolutionary modification of the brain's network architecture may have played an important role in the development of human cognition. Martijn P. van den Heuvel and colleagues compared 57 human white matter connectivity networks with 20 chimpanzee networks. The topology of the human network was significantly more modular than that of chimpanzees, and displayed stronger connectivity between multimodal association areas than chimpanzees, particularly linking to areas important for language. The network architecture suggests human evolution supported increased global communication efficiency and efficient multimodal information integration and devoted costly neural resources to boost functional specialization and higher-order integrative brain processes. According to the authors, the results illuminate the development of human cognition and may inform studies of disorders that involve changes to brain network connectivity.
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Article #18-18512: "Evolutionary expansion of connectivity between multimodal association areas in the human brain compared with chimpanzees," by Dirk Jan Ardesch et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Martijn P. van den Heuvel, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS; tel: +31-20-59-83343; e-mail: martijn.vanden.heuvel@vu.nl
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences