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Hemispheric asymmetry in the fusiform gyrus distinguishes Homo sapiens from chimpanzees

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Abstract

While the neural basis for linguistic communication has been linked to brain structural asymmetries found only in humans (wider connective spacing is found between the minicolumns of neurons in the left hemisphere language areas), it is unknown if the opposite microanatomical asymmetry exists in the fusiform gyrus which typically supports a right hemisphere bias for face processing. Unlike language, face processing is an ability shared with chimpanzees and, as Darwin observed, the widespread use of facial expressions in animal communication suggests a biological basis. We tested the principle that minicolumn asymmetry follows typical functional dominance in humans, and tested its evolutionary continuity, by measuring minicolumn width, neuronal size and density in the mid-fusiform cortex in 14 humans and 14 chimpanzees. We found that microanatomical asymmetry distinguishes humans from chimpanzees although the direction of asymmetry is the same as in language areas—the right hemisphere contained narrower minicolumns and smaller pyramidal neurons, as in auditory language areas. Uniformly narrow minicolumns in chimpanzees and in the human right hemisphere are consistent with mechanistic predictions supporting the apparent bias towards holistic face processing. Wider minicolumns and larger neurons in the human left hemisphere may be consistent with a language function such as word-form processing. Microanatomical asymmetry in the neocortex therefore provides a correlate of hemispheric specialisation.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Chet Sherwood for his contribution to discussion of the project and Dr. Joseph Erwin who both helped P.R.H. with the original collection of chimpanzee brain materials at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The work was supported by a grant from the European Union framework 6 programme: “What makes us human”. S.A.C. was the recipient of a fellowship from Alzheimer Scotland, UK, and a project grant from Autism Speaks, USA. Additional support was provided by the James S. McDonnell Foundation (grant 22002078) to P.R.H.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroanatomy and Cognition Group, Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Neuropathology, Level 1, West Wing, JR Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK

    Steven A. Chance, Eva K. Sawyer & Linda M. Clover

  2. Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Bridget Wicinski & Patrick R. Hof

  3. POWIC, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK

    Timothy J. Crow

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  1. Steven A. Chance
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Correspondence to Steven A. Chance.

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Chance, S.A., Sawyer, E.K., Clover, L.M. et al. Hemispheric asymmetry in the fusiform gyrus distinguishes Homo sapiens from chimpanzees. Brain Struct Funct 218, 1391–1405 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-012-0464-8

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