title: A Predictive Structural Model of the Primate Connectome.
abstract: Anatomical connectivity imposes strong constraints on brain function, but there is no general agreement about principles that govern its organization. Based on extensive quantitative data, we tested the power of three factors to predict connections of the primate cerebral cortex: architectonic similarity (structural model), spatial proximity (distance model) and thickness similarity (thickness model). Architectonic similarity showed the strongest and most consistent influence on connection features. This parameter was strongly associated with the presence or absence of inter-areal connections and when integrated with spatial distance, the factor allowed predicting the existence of projections with very high accuracy. Moreover, architectonic similarity was strongly related to the laminar pattern of projection origins, and the absolute number of cortical connections of an area. By contrast, cortical thickness similarity and distance were not systematically related to connection features. These findings suggest that cortical architecture provides a general organizing principle for connections in the primate brain, providing further support for the well-corroborated structural model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52 - W36, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sarah F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Beul
authors.affiliation: Neural Systems Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences, Boston University, 635 Commonwealth Ave., 2215 Boston, MA, USA.|Boston University School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, 72 East Concord St., 02118 Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Barbas
authors.affiliation: Department of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52 - W36, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.|Neural Systems Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences, Boston University, 635 Commonwealth Ave., 2215 Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Claus C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hilgetag
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D063132:Connectome; D008961:Models, Structural; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D011323:Primates / Q000033:anatomy & histology*