Sourcing high tissue quality brains from deceased wild primates with known socio-ecology

1. The selection pressures that drove dramatic encephalisation processes through the mammal lineage remain elusive, as does knowledge of brain structure reorganisation through this process. In particular, considerable structural brain changes are present across the primate lineage, culminating in the complex human brain that allows for unique behaviours such as language and sophisticated tool use. To understand this evolution, a diverse sample set of humans' closest relatives with varying socio-ecologies is needed. However, current brain banks predominantly curate brains from primates that died in zoological gardens. We try to address this gap by establishing a field pipeline mitigating the challenges associated with brain extractions of wild primates in their natural habitat. 2. The success of our approach is demonstrated by our ability to acquire a novel brain sample of deceased primates with highly variable socio-ecological exposure and a particular focus on wild chimpanzees. Methods in acquiring brain tissue from wild settings are comprehensively explained, highlighting the feasibility of conducting brain extraction procedures under strict biosafety measures by trained veterinarians in field sites. 3. Brains are assessed at a fine-structural level via high-resolution MRI and state-of-the-art histology. Analyses confirm that excellent tissue quality of primate brains sourced in the field can be achieved with a comparable tissue quality of brains acquired from zoo-living primates. 4. Our field methods are noninvasive, here defined as not harming living animals, and may be applied to other mammal systems than primates. In sum, the field protocol and methodological pipeline validated here pose a major advance for assessing the influence of socio-ecology on medium to large mammal brains, at both macro- and microstructural levels as well as aiding with the functional annotation of brain regions and neuronal pathways via specific behaviour assessments

Sourcing high tissue quality brains from deceased wild primates with known socio‐ecology

The selection pressures that drove dramatic encephalisation processes through the mammal lineage remain elusive, as does knowledge of brain structure reorganisation through this process. In particular, considerable structural brain changes are present across the primate lineage, culminating in the complex human brain that allows for unique behaviours such as language and sophisticated tool use. To understand this evolution, a diverse sample set of humans' closest relatives with varying socio-ecologies is needed. However, current brain banks predominantly curate brains from primates that died in zoological gardens. We try to address this gap by establishing a field pipeline mitigating the challenges associated with brain extractions of wild primates in their natural habitat. The success of our approach is demonstrated by our ability to acquire a novel brain sample of deceased primates with highly variable socio-ecological exposure and a particular focus on wild chimpanzees. Methods in acquiring brain tissue from wild settings are comprehensively explained, highlighting the feasibility of conducting brain extraction procedures under strict biosafety measures by trained veterinarians in field sites. Brains are assessed at a fine-structural level via high-resolution MRI and state-of-the-art histology. Analyses confirm that excellent tissue quality of primate brains sourced in the field can be achieved with a comparable tissue quality of brains acquired from zoo-living primates. Our field methods are noninvasive, here defined as not harming living animals, and may be applied to other mammal systems than primates. In sum, the field protocol and methodological pipeline validated here pose a major advance for assessing the influence of socio-ecology on medium to large mammal brains, at both macro- and microstructural levels as well as aiding with the functional annotation of brain regions and neuronal pathways via specific behaviour assessments.Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Online Additional authors: Richard McElreath, Alfred Anwander, Philipp Gunz, Markus Morawski, Angela D. Friederici, Nikolaus Weiskopf, Fabian H. Leendertz, Roman M. Wittig EBC Cosortium: Karoline Albig, Bala Amarasekaran, Sam Angedakin, Alfred Anwander, Daniel Aschoff, Caroline Asiimwe, Laurent Bailanda, Jacinta C. Beehner, Raphael Belais, Thore J. Bergman, Birgit Blazey, Andreas Bernhard, Christian Bock, Pénélope Carlier, Julian Chantrey, Catherine Crockford, Tobias Deschner, Ariane Düx1, Luke Edwards, Cornelius Eichner, Géraldine Escoubas2, Malak Ettaj, Karina Flores, Richard Francke, Angela D. Friederici, Cédric Girard-Buttoz, Jorge Gomez Fortun, Zoro Bertin GoneBi, Tobias Gräßle, Eva Gruber-Dujardin, Philipp Gunz, Jess Hartel, Daniel B. M. Haun, Michael Henshall, Catherine Hobaiter, Noémie Hofman, Jenny E. Jaffe, Carsten Jäger, Anna Jauch, Stomy Kahemere, Evgeniya Kirilina, Robert Klopfleisch, Tobias Knauf-Witzens, Kathrin S. Kopp, Guy Landry Mamboundou Kouima, Bastian Lange, Kevin Langergraber, Arne Lawrenz, Fabian H. Leendertz, Ilona Lipp, Matys Liptovszky, Tobias Loubser Theron, Christelle Patricia Lumbu, Patrice Makouloutou Nzassi, Kerstin Mätz-Rensing, Richard McElreath, Matthew McLennan, Zoltan Mezö, Sophie Moittie, Torsten Møller, Markus Morawski, David Morgan, Timothy Mugabe, Martin Muller, Matthias Müller, Inoussa Njumboket, Karin Olofsson-Sannö, Alain Ondzie, Emily Otali, Michael Paquette, Simone Pika, Kerrin Pine, Andrea Pizarro, Kamilla Pléh, Jessica Rendel, Sandra Reichler-Danielowski, Martha M. Robbins, Alejandra Romero Forero, Konstantin Ruske, Liran Samuni, Crickette Sanz, André Schüle, Ingo Schwabe, Katarina Schwalm, Sheri Speede, Lara Southern, Jonas Steiner, Marc Stidworthy, Martin Surbeck, Claudia Szentiks, Tanguy Tanga, Reiner Ulrich, Steve Unwin, Erica van de Waal, Sue Walker, Nikolaus Weiskopf, Gudrun Wibbelt, Roman M. Wittig, Kim Wood, Klaus Zuberbühle

Sourcing high tissue quality brains from deceased wild primates with known socio‐ecology

The selection pressures that drove dramatic encephalisation processes through the mammal lineage remain elusive, as does knowledge of brain structure reorganisation through this process. In particular, considerable structural brain changes are present across the primate lineage, culminating in the complex human brain that allows for unique behaviours such as language and sophisticated tool use. To understand this evolution, a diverse sample set of humans' closest relatives with varying socio-ecologies is needed. However, current brain banks predominantly curate brains from primates that died in zoological gardens. We try to address this gap by establishing a field pipeline mitigating the challenges associated with brain extractions of wild primates in their natural habitat. The success of our approach is demonstrated by our ability to acquire a novel brain sample of deceased primates with highly variable socio-ecological exposure and a particular focus on wild chimpanzees. Methods in acquiring brain tissue from wild settings are comprehensively explained, highlighting the feasibility of conducting brain extraction procedures under strict biosafety measures by trained veterinarians in field sites. Brains are assessed at a fine-structural level via high-resolution MRI and state-of-the-art histology. Analyses confirm that excellent tissue quality of primate brains sourced in the field can be achieved with a comparable tissue quality of brains acquired from zoo-living primates. Our field methods are noninvasive, here defined as not harming living animals, and may be applied to other mammal systems than primates. In sum, the field protocol and methodological pipeline validated here pose a major advance for assessing the influence of socio-ecology on medium to large mammal brains, at both macro- and microstructural levels as well as aiding with the functional annotation of brain regions and neuronal pathways via specific behaviour assessments

Recommendations and guidelines from the ISMRM Diffusion Study Group for preclinical diffusion MRI: Part 1 -- In vivo small-animal imaging

The value of in vivo preclinical diffusion MRI (dMRI) is substantial. Small-animal dMRI has been used for methodological development and validation, characterizing the biological basis of diffusion phenomena, and comparative anatomy. Many of the influential works in this field were first performed in small animals or ex vivo samples. The steps from animal setup and monitoring, to acquisition, analysis, and interpretation are complex, with many decisions that may ultimately affect what questions can be answered using the data. This work aims to serve as a reference, presenting selected recommendations and guidelines from the diffusion community, on best practices for preclinical dMRI of in vivo animals. In each section, we also highlight areas for which no guidelines exist (and why), and where future work should focus. We first describe the value that small animal imaging adds to the field of dMRI, followed by general considerations and foundational knowledge that must be considered when designing experiments. We briefly describe differences in animal species and disease models and discuss how they are appropriate for different studies. We then give guidelines for in vivo acquisition protocols, including decisions on hardware, animal preparation, imaging sequences and data processing, including pre-processing, model-fitting, and tractography. Finally, we provide an online resource which lists publicly available preclinical dMRI datasets and software packages, to promote responsible and reproducible research. An overarching goal herein is to enhance the rigor and reproducibility of small animal dMRI acquisitions and analyses, and thereby advance biomedical knowledge.Comment: 69 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl

The disruption of proteostasis in neurodegenerative diseases

Cells count on surveillance systems to monitor and protect the cellular proteome which, besides being highly heterogeneous, is constantly being challenged by intrinsic and environmental factors. In this context, the proteostasis network (PN) is essential to achieve a stable and functional proteome. Disruption of the PN is associated with aging and can lead to and/or potentiate the occurrence of many neurodegenerative diseases (ND). This not only emphasizes the importance of the PN in health span and aging but also how its modulation can be a potential target for intervention and treatment of human diseases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Legislative Documents

Also, variously referred to as: House bills; House documents; House legislative documents; legislative documents; General Court documents

Morphological evolution of language-relevant brain areas.

Human language is supported by a cortical network involving Broca's area, which comprises Brodmann Areas 44 and 45 (BA44 and BA45). While cytoarchitectonic homolog areas have been identified in nonhuman primates, it remains unknown how these regions evolved to support human language. Here, we use histological data and advanced cortical registration methods to precisely compare the morphology of BA44 and BA45 in humans and chimpanzees. We found a general expansion of Broca's areas in humans, with the left BA44 enlarging the most, growing anteriorly into a region known to process syntax. Together with recent functional and receptorarchitectural studies, our findings support the conclusion that BA44 evolved from an action-related region to a bipartite system, with a posterior portion supporting action and an anterior portion supporting syntactic processes. Our findings add novel insights to the longstanding debate on the relationship between language and action, and the evolution of Broca's area

In vivo functional connectome of human brainstem nuclei of the ascending arousal, autonomic, and motor systems by high spatial resolution 7-Tesla fMRI

© 2016, ESMRMB. Objective: Our aim was to map the in vivo human functional connectivity of several brainstem nuclei with the rest of the brain by using seed-based correlation of ultra-high magnetic field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. Materials and methods: We used the recently developed template of 11 brainstem nuclei derived from multi-contrast structural MRI at 7 Tesla as seed regions to determine their connectivity to the rest of the brain. To achieve this, we used the increased contrast-to-noise ratio of 7-Tesla fMRI compared with 3 Tesla and time-efficient simultaneous multi-slice imaging to cover the brain with high spatial resolution (1.1-mm isotropic nominal resolution) while maintaining a short repetition time (2.5 s). Results: The delineated Pearson’s correlation-based functional connectivity diagrams (connectomes) of 11 brainstem nuclei of the ascending arousal, motor, and autonomic systems from 12 controls are presented and discussed in the context of existing histology and animal work. Conclusion: Considering that the investigated brainstem nuclei play a crucial role in several vital functions, the delineated preliminary connectomes might prove useful for future in vivo research and clinical studies of human brainstem function and pathology, including disorders of consciousness, sleep disorders, autonomic disorders, Parkinson’s disease, and other motor disorders

Toward an In Vivo Neuroimaging Template of Human Brainstem Nuclei of the Ascending Arousal, Autonomic, and Motor Systems

Brainstem nuclei (Bn) in humans play a crucial role in vital functions, such as arousal, autonomic homeostasis, sensory and motor relay, nociception, sleep, and cranial nerve function, and they have been implicated in a vast array of brain pathologies. However, an in vivo delineation of most human Bn has been elusive because of limited sensitivity and contrast for detecting these small regions using standard neuroimaging methods. To precisely identify several human Bn in vivo, we employed a 7 Tesla scanner equipped with multi-channel receive-coil array, which provided high magnetic resonance imaging sensitivity, and a multi-contrast (diffusion fractional anisotropy and T2-weighted) echo-planar-imaging approach, which provided complementary contrasts for Bn anatomy with matched geometric distortions and resolution. Through a combined examination of 1.3 mm3 multi-contrast anatomical images acquired in healthy human adults, we semi-automatically generated in vivo probabilistic Bn labels of the ascending arousal (median and dorsal raphe), autonomic (raphe magnus, periaqueductal gray), and motor (inferior olivary nuclei, two subregions of the substantia nigra compatible with pars compacta and pars reticulata, two subregions of the red nucleus, and, in the diencephalon, two subregions of the subthalamic nucleus) systems. These labels constitute a first step toward the development of an in vivo neuroimaging template of Bn in standard space to facilitate future clinical and research investigations of human brainstem function and pathology. Proof-of-concept clinical use of this template is demonstrated in a minimally conscious patient with traumatic brainstem hemorrhages precisely localized to the raphe Bn involved in arousal.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH NIBIB P41-RR014075)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH NIBIB R01-EB000790