Published in

National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 38(115), p. 9622-9627, 2018

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1808262115

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A pan-mammalian map of interhemispheric brain connections predates the evolution of the corpus callosum

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Significance The neocortex is a hallmark of mammalian evolution, and connections between both hemispheres integrate bilateral functions. In eutherians (e.g., rodents and humans), interhemispheric circuits course via the corpus callosum and share a similar connectome throughout species. Noneutherian mammals (i.e., monotremes and marsupials), however, did not evolve a corpus callosum; therefore, whether the eutherian connectome arose as consequence of callosal evolution or instead reflects ancient connectivity principles remains unknown. We studied monotreme and marsupial interhemispheric neocortical connectomes and compared these with eutherian datasets. This revealed interhemispheric connectivity features shared across mammals, with or without a corpus callosum, suggesting that an ancient connectome originated at least 80 million years before callosal evolution.