Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University Medical School, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA; Iowa Neuroscience Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Neuron. 2021 Mar 3;109(5):852-868.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.12.026. Epub 2021 Jan 21.
Human brain pathways supporting language and declarative memory are thought to have differentiated substantially during evolution. However, cross-species comparisons are missing on site-specific effective connectivity between regions important for cognition. We harnessed functional imaging to visualize the effects of direct electrical brain stimulation in macaque monkeys and human neurosurgery patients. We discovered comparable effective connectivity between caudal auditory cortex and both ventro-lateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC, including area 44) and parahippocampal cortex in both species. Human-specific differences were clearest in the form of stronger hemispheric lateralization effects. In humans, electrical tractography revealed remarkably rapid evoked potentials in VLPFC following auditory cortex stimulation and speech sounds drove VLPFC, consistent with prior evidence in monkeys of direct auditory cortex projections to homologous vocalization-responsive regions. The results identify a common effective connectivity signature in human and nonhuman primates, which from auditory cortex appears equally direct to VLPFC and indirect to the hippocampus. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
人类大脑中支持语言和陈述性记忆的通路在进化过程中被认为已经有了很大的分化。然而，对于认知相关区域之间的特定部位的有效连接，跨物种的比较仍然缺乏。我们利用功能成像来可视化猕猴和人类神经外科患者大脑的直接电刺激的影响。我们发现，在后听觉皮层与腹外侧前额叶皮层（包括第 44 区）和海马旁回之间，这两个物种存在类似的有效连接。在人类中，这种有效连接的差异最明显的形式是更强的半球侧化效应。在人类中，电轨迹显示出听觉皮层刺激后 VLPFC 中非常迅速的诱发电位，而语音可以驱动 VLPFC，这与先前在猴子中关于直接听觉皮层投射到同源发声反应区域的证据一致。研究结果在人类和非人类灵长类动物中确定了一个共同的有效连接特征，该特征从听觉皮层到 VLPFC 的连接似乎同样直接，而到海马的连接则是间接的。视频摘要。
