Angela D Friederici, Roman M Wittig, Alfred Anwander, Cornelius Eichner, Tobias Gräßle, Carsten Jäger, Evgeniya Kirilina, Ilona Lipp, Ariane Düx, Luke J Edwards, Cédric Girard-Buttoz, Anna Jauch, Kathrin S Kopp, Michael Paquette, Kerrin J Pine, Steve Unwin, Daniel B M Haun, Fabian H Leendertz, Richard McElreath, Markus Morawski, Philipp Gunz, Nikolaus Weiskopf, Catherine Crockford
To decipher the evolution of the hominoid brain and its functions, it is essential to conduct comparative studies in primates, including our closest living relatives. However, strong ethical concerns preclude in vivo neuroimaging of great apes. We propose a responsible and multidisciplinary alternative approach that links behavior to brain anatomy in non-human primates from diverse ecological backgrounds. The brains of primates observed in the wild or in captivity are extracted and fixed shortly after natural death, and then studied using advanced MRI neuroimaging and histology to reveal macro- and microstructures...
2023: Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience