A predictive structural model of the primate connectome

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that architectonic similarity is a key principle in predicting primate cortical connections, outperforming spatial proximity and thickness models, and provides insights into brain organization.

Contribution

It introduces a predictive model based on architectonic similarity that accurately forecasts primate cortical connectivity, highlighting architecture as a fundamental organizing principle.

Findings

Architectonic similarity strongly predicts connection presence and absence.

Integrating architectonic similarity with spatial distance yields high prediction accuracy.

Cortical thickness similarity and distance are not systematically related to connectivity.

Abstract

Anatomical connectivity imposes strong constraints on brain function, but there is no general agreement about principles that govern its organization. Based on extensive quantitative data we tested the power of three models to predict connections of the primate cerebral cortex: architectonic similarity (structural model), spatial proximity (distance model) and thickness similarity (thickness model). Architectonic similarity showed the strongest and most consistent influence on connection features. This parameter was strongly associated with the presence or absence of inter-areal connections and when integrated with spatial distance, the model allowed predicting the existence of projections with very high accuracy. Moreover, architectonic similarity was strongly related to the laminar pattern of projections origins, and the absolute number of cortical connections of an area. By contrast, cortical thickness similarity and distance were not systematically related to connection features. These findings suggest that cortical architecture provides a general organizing principle for connections in the primate brain.