The Evolution of Brain Connectivity Project

A striking feature of our species is our large and complex brain, enabling communication and social cognition that surpasses that of any other species. However, the uniquely human brain structures that support these functions have remained elusive for two reasons. First, the extent of these faculties in non-human apes remains hotly debated. Great ape communication and social cognition have been inherently difficult to observe and vary greatly among individuals. Second, it is difficult to access brains of non-human apes to provide a clear contrast to human brain structures.

The Evolution of Brain Connectivity (EBC) Project is a unique opportunity to resolve these issues. We collect and scan post mortem brains of wild and captive chimpanzees and bonobos to highlight differences to human brains as well as within species variation comparing brains from individuals with different life experience for whom life history, social and tool use experience are known. The here presented structural brain resource, with unprecented image quality, is a first direct result of this scientific undertaking. We are a team of collaborators across two Max Planck Institutes.

Funding and Tissue Sourcing

This study was funded by the Max Planck Society under the inter-institutional funds of the president for the Evolution of Brain Connectivity Project. We are grateful to the Kolmården Wildlife Park in Kolmården, Sweden for executing the brain extraction and providing the tissue.