INTERROGATING THE GENOME TO UNCOVER HUMAN SPECIALIZATIONS OF BRAIN & COGNITION

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. Human brains have unique functional capacities, but how the human brain differs structurally and biochemically from that of other primates is poorly understood. We are pursuing these questions by identifying differences in gene and protein expression between species (humans, chimpanzees, and macaque monkeys), between brain regions (multiple cortical and subcortical sites), and between hemispheres. During 2010, we have worked on obtaining Golgi sections for comparing synaptic spine numbers and morphology in frontal cortex of humans, chimpanzees, and macaques, based on observed differences in gene expression. We have also obtained confocal photomicrographs comparing labeling of pre- and postsynaptic elements for synaptic proteins that are differentially expressed in the frontal cortex of humans and nonhuman primates.