Evidence for Increased Parallel Information Transmission in Human Brain Networks Compared to Macaques and Male Mice

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2023 Dec 11

PMID 38081838

Authors

Alessandra Griffa

Mathieu Mach

Julien Dedelley

Daniel Gutierrez-Barragan

Alessandro Gozzi

Gilles Allali

Joanes Grandjean

Dimitri Van De Ville

Enrico Amico

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Brain communication, defined as information transmission through white-matter connections, is at the foundation of the brain's computational capacities that subtend almost all aspects of behavior: from sensory perception shared across mammalian species, to complex cognitive functions in humans. How did communication strategies in macroscale brain networks adapt across evolution to accomplish increasingly complex functions? By applying a graph- and information-theory approach to assess information-related pathways in male mouse, macaque and human brains, we show a brain communication gap between selective information transmission in non-human mammals, where brain regions share information through single polysynaptic pathways, and parallel information transmission in humans, where regions share information through multiple parallel pathways. In humans, parallel transmission acts as a major connector between unimodal and transmodal systems. The layout of information-related pathways is unique to individuals across different mammalian species, pointing at the individual-level specificity of information routing architecture. Our work provides evidence that different communication patterns are tied to the evolution of mammalian brain networks.

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