Scientists develop most refined chimpanzee brain atlas

BEIJING -- A collaborative team of scientists from China and other countries has mapped the most refined chimpanzee brain atlas to date, providing novel insights into the evolution of the human brain, the Science and Technology Daily reported on Tuesday.

The study was published in the journal The Innovation.

Chimpanzees are one of humans' closest living relatives. Despite having a brain that is only about one-third the size of a human's, they share many similarities with humans in neuroanatomy and cognitive functions, making them an important comparison point for understanding human brain evolution.

"However, a major challenge in current cross-species neuroscience research is the absence of standardized brain reference systems with biological significance," said Fan Lingzhong, corresponding author of the study and a researcher at the Institute of Automation under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Based on the concept of using brain connectivity information to construct brain atlases, researchers have successfully developed the Chimpanzee Brainnetome Atlas (ChimpBNA).

Leveraging this new resource, they found substantial differences in connectivity patterns between chimpanzees and humans across most association cortices, highlighting more complex and nuanced connectivity changes in brain evolution than previously understood.

Fan said that the ChimpBNA will serve as a valuable resource for neuroscience research and offer new insights into the unique characteristics of the human brain.

"Going forward, we will continue to expand the application of cross-species brain atlases to enhance their value in understanding the evolution of the nervous system," Fan added.