Evolutionary expansion of connectivity between multimodal association areas in the human brain compared with chimpanzees
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The development of complex cognitive functions during human evolution coincides with pronounced encephalization and expansion of white matter, the brain’s infrastructure for region-to-region communication. We investigated adaptations of the human macroscale brain network by comparing human brain wiring with that of the chimpanzee, one of our closest living primate relatives. White matter connectivity networks were reconstructed using diffusion-weighted MRI in humans ( n = 57) and chimpanzees ( n = 20) and then analyzed using network neuroscience tools. We demonstrate higher network centrality of connections linking multimodal association areas in humans compared with chimpanzees, together with a more pronounced modular topology of the human connectome. Furthermore, connections observed in humans but not in chimpanzees particularly link multimodal areas of the temporal, lateral parietal, and inferior frontal cortices, including tracts important for language processing. Network analysis demonstrates a particularly high contribution of these connections to global network integration in the human brain. Taken together, our comparative connectome findings suggest an evolutionary shift in the human brain toward investment of neural resources in multimodal connectivity facilitating neural integration, combined with an increase in language-related connectivity supporting functional specialization.
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Computational processing might have been facilitated by some of the changes presented here, at least in some of the circuits that have expanded in our lineage.
“Computational processing might have been facilitated by some of the changes presented here, at least in some of the circuits that have expanded in our lineage111,112, since subtle maturational differences early in development113 may have had a considerable impact on the phenotype.”
From A catalog of single nucleotide changes distinguishing modern humans from archaic hominins (2019) · cites this paper as [112]
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“Human MTG is larger and more connected to other language-associatedcorticalareasthantheMTG ofchimpanzeesandotherNHPs( 3 – 5 ).”
BackgroundA catalog of single nucleotide changes distinguishing modern humans from archaic hominins
Kuhlwilm, M., & Boeckx, C. (2019) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-019-44877-x · Cited by 108 · see citing works
- Authors
- Ardesch, D. J., Scholtens, L. H., Li, L., Preuss, T. M., Rilling, J. K., & van den Heuvel, M. P.
- Affiliations
- Amsterdam Neuroscience (NL)
- Emory University (US)
- Connectome Lab, Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2019-03-18
- Volume
- 116
- Issue
- 14
- Pages
- 7101-7106
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC6452697
- OpenAlex
- W2923076661
- Cited by
- 152
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 12
- FWCI
- 10.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2019-04-29)
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (452-16-015)
- HHS | National Institutes of Health (P01AG026423, OD P51OD11132)
- National Chimpanzee Brain Resource (R24NS092988)
- HHS | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (MH100029)
- Mental Health and Quality of Life (2015)
- ALW Open (ALWOP.179)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Complex Network Analysis Techniques
- Keywords
- human brain evolution, chimpanzees, white matter connectivity, connectome, network centrality, temporal cortex, parietal cortex, inferior frontal cortex, encephalization, comparative neuroanatomy
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Animals, Brain, Brain Mapping, Pan troglodytes, Cognition, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Language, Middle Aged, Nerve Net, Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Young Adult, Connectome, Multimodal Imaging, White Matter
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