Functional evolution of new and expanded attention networks in humans
Open accessAbstract
Significance: Macaque monkeys are often used as a model for the biological basis of human cognition. However, the two species last shared a common ancestor 25 million years ago, and in the intervening time the brain areas underlying cognition have likely evolved along different paths. We examined the similarities and differences of human and macaque brain areas underlying attention, a core cognitive ability, by recording brain activity while subjects of both species performed the same attention-demanding task. We found fundamental differences in the attention-related brain areas in the two species, including the complete absence, in monkeys, of a ventral-attention network present in humans. These results shed light on the evolution of the unique properties of the human brain.
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Monkey homologues of the human ventral (exogenous) attention network have not yet been established.
“Monkey homologues of the human ventral (exogenous) attention network have not yet been established [42].”
From Linking ADHD to the Neural Circuitry of Attention (2017) · cites this paper as [42]
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- Authors
- Patel, G. H., Yang, D., Jamerson, E. C., Snyder, L. H., Corbetta, M., & Ferrera, V. P.
- Affiliations
- Columbia University Irving Medical Center (US)
- SUNY College of Optometry (US)
- Columbia University (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2015-07-13
- Volume
- 112
- Issue
- 30
- Pages
- 9454-9459
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC4522817
- OpenAlex
- W1885296009
- Cited by
- 116
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 12
- FWCI
- 7.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2015-08-31)
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion)
- Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- HHS | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (MH086466-04, MH018870-25, MH102471, MH096482)
- HHS | NIH | National Eye Institute (EY012135)
- American Psychiatric Foundation (none)
- Leon Levy Foundation (none)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Visual Attention and Saliency Detection
- Keywords
- attentional networks, dorsal attention network, ventral attention network, human-macaque comparison, functional homology, visual search, temporoparietal junction, primate cognition
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Animals, Attention, Behavior, Animal, Brain, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Cognition, Female, Humans, Macaca, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Nerve Net, Parietal Lobe, Reaction Time, Species Specificity, Young Adult
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