Molecular and cellular mechanisms of human cortical connectivity

Comparative studies of the cerebral cortex have identified various human and primate-specific changes in both local and long-range connectivity, which are thought to underlie our advanced cognitive capabilities. These changes are likely mediated by the divergence of spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression, which is particularly prominent in the prenatal and early postnatal human and non-human primate cerebral cortex. In this review, we describe recent advances in characterizing human and primate genetic and cellular innovations including identification of novel species-specific, especially human-specific, genes, gene expression patterns, and cell types. Finally, we highlight three recent studies linking these molecular changes to reorganization of cortical connectivity.