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Updated: Jan 10, 2026
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Methods to Explore the Influence of Top-down Visual Processes on Motor Behavior
Published on: April 16, 2014
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An anthropoid/strepsirrhine divergence in ventral visual stream connectivity
Jasper E Hunt1,2, Shaun Warrington3, Lea Roumazeilles1
1Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain (FMRIB), Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headley Way, Oxford, OX3 9DU, United Kingdom.
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|November 26, 2025
Summary
Primate brain evolution shows significant white matter reorganization in the ventral visual stream. Anthropoids, unlike lemurs, exhibit more dorsal prefrontal connections, supporting theories of adaptation for visual foraging.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Primate Comparative Anatomy
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- The ventral visual stream is crucial for object recognition and has evolved significantly in primates.
- Previous research focused on gray matter changes, with limited comparative studies on white matter connectivity due to data challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate white matter connectivity in the ventral visual stream across different primate species.
- To compare anterior temporal-frontal and occipitotemporal-frontal connections between anthropoids and strepsirrhines.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a data-driven approach with postmortem diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
- Reconstructed white matter tracts in rhesus macaques, squirrel monkeys (anthropoids), and ring-tailed lemurs (strepsirrhine).
Main Results:
- Anthropoids display more dorsal prefrontal innervation within ventral visual pathways compared to the studied strepsirrhine.
- Identified distinct patterns of anterior temporal-frontal and occipitotemporal-frontal connectivity.
Conclusions:
- The findings support extensive gray and white matter reorganization in anthropoid primates, potentially linked to visual foraging adaptations.
- The presented data-driven MRI techniques facilitate future research on primate white matter connectivity.
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