An evolutionary view on the developing prefrontal cortex connectome and its psychopathological networks: Tract tracing and imaging studies linking two distant anthropoid species.

The brain has evolved multiple times across evolution; the human prefrontal cortex (PFC) represents its latest developmental addition. Evolution has led to similarities in brain design across species and comparable solutions can be found in different species. The common marmoset shares ancestry with the human primate and serves as a useful model for human PFC build. Previous research approaches on major depressive disorder (MDD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have led to the definition of psychopathological sub-networks including their cortico-subcortical connections. Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging fiber tracking (DTI-FT) is used in humans as a non-invasive substitute for invasive viral tract tracing (AAVaTT) technologies applied in non-human primates. We here compare DTI-FT (N = 1000) and AAVaTT (n = 52) in humans and marmosets, respectively, to reveal interspecies anatomical and functional distinctions of PFC connectivity models and putative effects on dysfunctional networks relevant for MDD and OCD.