The average baboon brain: MRI templates and tissue probability maps from 89 individuals

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Comparative Anatomy
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• The baboon (Papio) brain is a valuable model organism for neuroscience research.
• Existing baboon brain templates may not meet the demands of modern high-resolution neuroimaging studies.
• A standardized and high-quality baboon brain atlas is needed for comparative neuroanatomy and functional studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a population-average brain template for the baboon (Papio anubis).
• To create symmetric left/right hemisphere versions of the baboon brain template.
• To generate the first baboon brain tissue probability maps (gray matter, white matter, cerebrospinal fluid).

Main Methods:

• Utilized T1-weighted magnetic resonance images from 89 individual baboons.
• Employed state-of-the-art, freely available neuroimaging software tools.
• Averaged prior probability maps from individual brain segmentations to create tissue probability maps.

Main Results:

• Successfully generated a population-average baboon brain template and its symmetric counterpart.
• Produced novel probabilistic maps for gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid in baboons.
• Made the created templates and maps freely and publicly available online.

Conclusions:

• The new baboon brain template and tissue probability maps provide essential resources for the neuroimaging community.
• These resources will facilitate standardized analysis and enhance the utility of baboons as a model for brain research.
• The availability of these data promotes collaborative research and advances our understanding of primate brain structure and function.