RESTING STATE FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN CHIMPANZEES

Emory University, Atlanta GA

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Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. fMRI has been used to detect functionally connected networks in the resting human brain. Because these networks are present both at rest and also in the lightly anesthetized state, it is possible to identify them in lightly anesthetized chimpanzees and compare them with those found in humans to inform our knowledge of the extent to which human and chimpanzee brains are similarly organized. This may help us to identify specializations of human brain connectivity that support human cognitive and behavioral specializations and will also shed light on human brain evolution. During the reporting period, we worked out techniques for correct distortions in the T2*-weighted scans so as to register them accurately to the anatomical T1 scans. In addition, we began studies of connectivity in chimpanzees by seeding selected regions of cortex and identifying territories that show correlated activity.