title: Functional evolution of new and expanded attention networks in humans.
abstract: Macaques are often used as a model system for invasive investigations of the neural substrates of cognition. However, 25 million years of evolution separate humans and macaques from their last common ancestor, and this has likely substantially impacted the function of the cortical networks underlying cognitive processes, such as attention. We examined the homology of frontoparietal networks underlying attention by comparing functional MRI data from macaques and humans performing the same visual search task. Although there are broad similarities, we found fundamental differences between the species. First, humans have more dorsal attention network areas than macaques, indicating that in the course of evolution the human attention system has expanded compared with macaques. Second, potentially homologous areas in the dorsal attention network have markedly different biases toward representing the contralateral hemifield, indicating that the underlying neural architecture of these areas may differ in the most basic of properties, such as receptive field distribution. Third, despite clear evidence of the temporoparietal junction node of the ventral attention network in humans as elicited by this visual search task, we did not find functional evidence of a temporoparietal junction in macaques. None of these differences were the result of differences in training, experimental power, or anatomical variability between the two species. The results of this study indicate that macaque data should be applied to human models of cognition cautiously, and demonstrate how evolution may shape cortical networks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032; New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032; patelga@nyspi.columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Gaurav H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: State University of New York College of Optometry, New York, NY 10036;
authors.forename: Danica
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Columbia University, New York, NY 10027;
authors.forename: Emery C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Jamerson
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63110;
authors.forename: Lawrence H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Snyder
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63110; Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63110; Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63110;
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corbetta
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032; Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032.
authors.forename: Vincent P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Ferrera
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008251:Macaca; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time; D013045:Species Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: attention; cortex; fMRI; human; monkey