Morphological and anatomical variations in subcortical anatomy between humans and chimpanzees associated with heritability patterns related to human behavioral traits
There has been significant research on cortical reorganization in human evolution, but much less is known about the reorganization of subcortical circuits, key partners of the cortex. Here, using advanced image analysis and comparative neuroimaging, we systematically map organizational differences in striatal, pallidal, and thalamic anatomy between humans and chimpanzees. We relate interspecies differences-proxies for evolutionary change-to genetics and behavioral correlates in humans. We show highly heritable morphological measures are expanded across species, contrasting previous cortical findings. Multivariate techniques identified morphological-cognitive latent variables linked to striatal expansion and affective variables specifically associated with conserved thalamic and pallidal regions. Our results confirm that regions tied to higher-order cognitive functions are expanded in humans, whereas regions linked to lower-order limbic functions are conserved. These findings provide new insights into subcortical architecture. Additionally, we developed tools to map neuroimaging data across species, a prerequisite for quantitatively translating animal neuroanatomy to humans.
Authors
- Raihaan Patel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3459-0013)
- Nadia Blostein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1864-1899)
- Ross D. Markello (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1057-1336)
- Gabriel A. Devenyi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7766-1187)
- Eric Plitman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7784-758X)
- Stéphanie Tullo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4608-3000)
- Saashi A. Bedford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0491-5342)
- Jakob Seidlitz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8164-7476)
- Armin Raznahan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5622-1190)
- Chet C. Sherwood (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6711-449X)
- Manuela Costantino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1886-3173)
- Sejal Patel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4676-9427)
- Alyssa Dai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0174-6800)
- Olivier Parent (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3177-0353)
- M. Mallar Chakravarty
- William D. Hopkins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3480-1853)
Institutions
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (US)
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CA)
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US)
- George Washington University (US)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute (CA)
- McGill University Health Centre (CA)
- University of Pennsylvania Health System (US)
- Lifespan (US)
- National Institute of Mental Health (CZ)
- Polytechnique Montréal (CA)
- McGill University (CA)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Biology
- Published
- 2026-04-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-026-10066-6
- Primary Topic
- Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Fonds de Recherche du Québec-Société et Culture
- CIHR Skin Research Training Centre