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Anatomic brain asymmetry in vervet monkeys
Scott C Fears1, Kevin Scheibel, Zvart Abaryan
1Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States of America. sfears@mednet.ucla.edu
Plos One
|December 30, 2011
Summary
Brain asymmetry in vervet monkeys shows genetic influences. This study quantifies brain asymmetry in monkeys, finding significant heritability for some traits and environmental impacts on prefrontal lobe width.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Genetics
- Primatology
Background:
- Human brain asymmetry is functionally significant, yet its genetic and environmental origins remain unclear.
- Anatomic asymmetry in Old World monkeys is poorly understood, with limited research on its genetic basis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize brain asymmetry measures in vervet monkeys using structural MRI.
- To estimate the genetic and environmental contributions to inter-individual variance in brain asymmetry traits.
Main Methods:
- Acquired structural MRI data from 357 Old World vervet monkeys from an extended pedigree.
- Applied variance component methods to assess heritability and environmental influences on asymmetry measures.
Main Results:
- Four out of six asymmetry measures exhibited pedigree-level bias.
- One asymmetry trait showed a significant heritability estimate of approximately 30% of the variance.
- Environmental factors had a more pronounced effect on the width of the right compared to the left prefrontal lobe.
Conclusions:
- Brain asymmetry in vervet monkeys has both genetic and environmental underpinnings.
- This study provides novel insights into the heritability of brain asymmetry in a non-human primate model.
- Findings suggest specific environmental influences on regional brain structure asymmetry.
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