Sexual dimorphism and laterality in the evolution of the primate prefrontal cortex

Brain, Behavior and Evolution
J B SmaersK Amunts

Abstract

Social selective pressures are commonly considered as the main driving force of primate brain evolution. Primate social behaviour is, however, known to be sexually dimorphic, and no previous study has made a direct comparison between male and female brain structures across species. We quantify sex-specific evolutionary trends in the prefrontal cortex of anthropoid primates (including humans) to investigate how sexual selection has shaped brain evolution in primates. The prefrontal cortex is of particular importance to the investigation of sexual dimorphism in primate brain evolution because of its association to those cognitive capacities central to primate (and human) evolution: sociality and higher-order cognitive processing. Our results demonstrate sex-by-hemisphere differences in the evolution of the prefrontal cortex in humans and non-human anthropoid primates congruent with the principal selective pressures considered to underlie anthropoid behavioural evolution. Our findings further show how sexual selection can shape brain adaptation in primates and provide an evolutionary framework for interpreting sex and sex-by-hemisphere differences in cortical organization in humans and non-human primates.

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Citations

Nov 22, 2012·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Francesco PapaleoDaniel R Weinberger
May 15, 2013·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Robert A Barton, Chris Venditti
Mar 29, 2013·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·J B Smaers, C Soligo
Aug 15, 2013·Folia primatologica; international journal of primatology·Anna Barros, Christophe Soligo
Dec 3, 2014·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Roscoe Stanyon, Francesca Bigoni
Jan 22, 2015·The Journal of Physiology·Yaniv CohenDonald A Wilson
May 8, 2013·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·Jeroen B SmaersKatrin Amunts
Mar 17, 2015·Journal of Human Evolution·Zachary Cofran, Jeremy M DeSilva
Apr 11, 2018·Brain, Behavior and Evolution·Sharleen T SakaiBarbara L Lundrigan
May 14, 2017·Medical Science Monitor : International Medical Journal of Experimental and Clinical Research·Piotr Gałecki, Monika Talarowska
Nov 4, 2017·Scientific Reports·Yaniv Cohen, Donald A Wilson
Jun 20, 2019·Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior·Jeroen B Smaers, David R Vanier
Aug 14, 2020·Brain, Behavior and Evolution·Alex R DeCasien, James P Higham

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