This coming Monday we will have a talk from Guilherme Blazquez Freches, a PhD candidate from the Donders Institute for Brain at Radboud University. This seminar will be hosted online.
Non-Negative matrix factorization untangles common and divergent modes of connectivity in the primate tree
Comparative Neuroscience is a growing field that has attracted a lot of interest in the last few years. The field has also provided valuable insights to the clinical setting, with findings on the unique features of the human brain corresponding to regions and connections involved in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer´s disease.
Comparative connectivity studies have focused primarily in finding key differences among species. Yet, there is also much to learn on the common principles that have been conserved throughout evolution. By placing different species in a common space, we can directly compare them and create common ancestor proxies. Here, we use non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) to uncover conserved and divergent connectivity components between macaque, chimpanzee and human as well as their common ancestors. Among other interesting observations, we find that the main infrastructure for language-related circuitry may have already been in place 6 Millions years ago, prior to our last common ancestor with the chimpanzee.
Paper introducing the technique: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105381192030759X
Location: Online (Microsoft Teams). Click here to join the meeting