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.
Highlights
Anatomical connectivity imposes strong constraints on brain function, but there is no general agreement about principles that govern its organization
We examined the association between the primate cortical connectome and these anatomical features of the primate cerebral cortex: neuron density; spatial proximity; and cortical thickness
We found that the existence of projections is most closely related to the neuron density of cortical areas
Summary
Anatomical connectivity imposes strong constraints on brain function, but there is no general agreement about principles that govern its organization. Architectonic similarity was strongly related to the laminar pattern of projection origins, and the absolute number of cortical connections of an area. 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. By capitalizing on cortical architecture, the structural model explains the laminar origin and termination patterns of ipsilateral and contralateral corticocortical connections in the macaque prefrontal and cat visual cortex[8,9,18,19], as well as existence of projections and topological properties of individual areas across the entire cat cortex[20]
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