The evolution of the arcuate fasciculus revealed with comparative DTI

Nature Neuroscience volume 11, pages426–428(2008)Cite this article

Abstract

The arcuate fasciculus is a white-matter fiber tract that is involved in human language. Here we compared cortical connectivity in humans, chimpanzees and macaques (Macaca mulatta) and found a prominent temporal lobe projection of the human arcuate fasciculus that is much smaller or absent in nonhuman primates. This human specialization may be relevant to the evolution of language.

Access options

Rent or Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

from$8.99

Rent or Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Color maps of principal diffusion direction in one in vivo human, one postmortem chimpanzee and one postmortem rhesus macaque brain.
Figure 2: Three-dimensional tractography results.
Figure 3: Two-dimensional tractography results.

References

  1. 1

    Geschwind, N. Science 170, 940–944 (1970).

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. 2

    Dejerine, J. Anatomie des Centres Nerveux (Rueff et Cie, Paris, 1895).

  3. 3

    Glasser, M.F. & Rilling, J.K. Cereb. Cortex published online, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhn011 (14 February 2008).

  4. 4

    Powell, H.W. et al. Neuroimage 32, 388–399 (2006).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. 5

    Petrides, M. & Pandya, D.N. in Principles of Frontal Lobe Function (eds. Stuss, D.T. & Knight, R.T.) 31–50 (Oxford University Press, New York, 2002).

  6. 6

    Behrens, T.E., Berg, H.J., Jbabdi, S., Rushworth, M.F. & Woolrich, M.W. Neuroimage 34, 144–155 (2007).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  7. 7

    Croxson, P.L. et al. J. Neurosci. 25, 8854–8866 (2005).

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. 8

    Price, C.J. J. Anat. 197, 335–359 (2000).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. 9

    Sakai, K.L. Science 310, 815–819 (2005).

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. 10

    Rilling, J.K. & Seligman, R.A. J. Hum. Evol. 42, 505–533 (2002).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. 11

    Preuss, T.M. in The Cognitive Neurosciences 3rd edn. (ed. Gazzaniga, M.S.) 5–22 (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2004).

  12. 12

    Deacon, T. The Symbolic Species (W.W. Norton, New York, 1997).

    Google Scholar 

  13. 13

    Schoenemann, P.T., Sheehan, M.J. & Glotzer, L.D. Nat. Neurosci. 8, 242–252 (2005).

    CAS  Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. 14

    Gould, S.J. J. Soc. Issues 47, 43–65 (1991).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. 15

    Johnson-Frey, S.H., Newman-Norlund, R. & Grafton, S.T. Cereb. Cortex 15, 681–695 (2005).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Q. Shen and F. Zhao for technical assistance, and M.F.S. Rushworth and M.J. Konner for many helpful comments. We also thank P. Croxson for collecting the human scans and M.-M. Carrasco for assistance with tracking control pathways. This work was supported by the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience Science and Technology Center Program of the National Science Foundation under agreement no. IBN-9876754, Emory University Research Committee, James S. McDonnell Foundation grant 21002093 to T.M.P., RO1EB002009 to X.H., the Yerkes Base Grant (NIH RR-00165) and the UK Medical Research Council to T.E.J.B.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 207 Anthropology Building, 1557 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, 30322, Georgia, USA

    James K Rilling & Matthew F Glasser

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, 1639 Pierce Drive, Suite 4000, Atlanta, Georgia, 30322, USA

    James K Rilling

  3. Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Emory University, PO Box 3966, Atlanta, 30302, Georgia, USA

    James K Rilling & Todd M Preuss

  4. Division of Psychobiology, Yerkes National Primate Research Center

    James K Rilling

  5. 954 Gatewood Road, NE, Atlanta, 30329, Georgia, USA

    James K Rilling

  6. Division of Neuroscience, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, 954 Gatewood Road, NE, Atlanta, 30329, Georgia, USA

    Todd M Preuss

  7. Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Emory University Hospital, Room H183, 1364 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, 30322, Georgia, USA

    Todd M Preuss

  8. Biomedical Imaging Technology Center, Emory University, Hospital Education Annex, 531 Asbury Circle, Suite 305, Atlanta, 30322, Georgia, USA

    Xiangyang Ma, Tiejun Zhao & Xiaoping Hu

  9. FMRIB Centre, University of Oxford, J R Hospital, Headley Way, Headington, OX3 9DU, Oxford, UK

    Timothy E J Behrens

  10. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK

    Timothy E J Behrens

Authors
  1. James K Rilling
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Matthew F Glasser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Todd M Preuss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xiangyang Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Tiejun Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Xiaoping Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Timothy E J Behrens
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

J.K.R. designed the study, acquired the nonhuman data, supervised analyses and wrote the paper. M.F.G. analyzed the data. T.M.P. acquired the nonhuman brains, assisted with data analysis and presentation, and wrote the paper. X.M., T.Z. and X.H. assisted with nonhuman primate protocol development, and T.E.J.B. and Oxford colleagues acquired the human data. T.E.J.B. oversaw the data-analysis strategy with the exception of the in vivo chimpanzee and macaque data presented in the supplementary information.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to James K Rilling.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Text and Figures

Supplementary Figures 1–4, Table 1 and Methods (PDF 700 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rilling, J., Glasser, M., Preuss, T. et al. The evolution of the arcuate fasciculus revealed with comparative DTI. Nat Neurosci 11, 426–428 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn2072

Download citation

Further reading

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing