COMPARING WHITE MATTER FIBER TRACTS IN HUMANS, APES & MONKEYS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This project identifies specializations of the human brain within white matter fiber tracts known to be involved in language, by way of comparison with our closest living relative, the chimpanzee. Diffusion tensor imaging is used to track the arcuate fasciculus and its constituent segments in both post-mortem and living brains from rhesus macaques, chimpanzees and humans. Anatomical details and pathway strength were compared across hemispheres and species. Results from deterministic and probabilistic tractography algorithms were compared. Analysis of pathways involved in tool use has been initiated and is ongoing.