Linking the evolution of two prefrontal brain regions to social and foraging challenges in primates.

ABSTRACT: The diversity of cognitive skills across primates remains both a fascinating and a controversial issue. Recent comparative studies provided conflicting results regarding the contribution of social vs ecological constraints to the evolution of cognition. Here, we used an interdisciplinary approach combining comparative cognitive neurosciences and behavioral ecology. Using brain imaging data from 16 primate species, we measured the size of two prefrontal brain regions, the frontal pole (FP) and the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), respectively, involved in metacognition and working memory, and examined their relation to a combination of socio-ecological variables. The size of these prefrontal regions, as well as the whole brain, was best explained by three variables: body mass, daily

SUBMITTER: Bouret S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11521368 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature