Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37660322›Full record

ArticleBrain structure & function2023

The prefrontal cortex of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus Montagu, 1821): a tractography study and comparison with the human.

Tommaso Gerussi, Jean-Marie Graïc, Antonella Peruffo, Mehdi Behroozi, Lara Schlaffke, Stefan Huggenberger, Onur Güntürkün, Bruno Cozzi

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Brain structure & function, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Meningeal Lymphatic and Glymphatic Structures in a Pelagic Delphinid (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Beyond the surface: howFrontiers in neuroscience · 2024
    Review
  6. Neuroanatomy of the Cetacean Sensory Systems.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Tommaso GerussiDepartment of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science (BCA), University of Padua, Legnaro, Italy. tommaso.gerussi@phd.unipd.it.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0263-5635
Jean-Marie GraïcDepartment of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science (BCA), University of Padua, Legnaro, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1974-8356
Antonella PeruffoDepartment of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science (BCA), University of Padua, Legnaro, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0454-9087
Mehdi BehrooziDepartment of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801, Bochum, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8373-6168
Lara SchlaffkeDepartment of Neurology, BG-University Hospital Bergmannsheil, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bürkle-de-La-Camp-Platz 1, 44789, Bochum, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0716-3780
Stefan HuggenbergerInstitute of Anatomy and Clinical Morphology, Witten/Herdecke University, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58448, Witten, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8085-5927
Onur GüntürkünDepartment of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801, Bochum, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4173-5233
Bruno CozziDepartment of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science (BCA), University of Padua, Legnaro, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7531-7040
University of Padua · ITRuhr University Bochum · DEBG University Hospital Bergmannsheil Bochum · DEWitten/Herdecke University · DE

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Gu 227/16-1Università degli Studi di Padova DOR Bruno Cozzi
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cetaceans are well known for their remarkable cognitive abilities including self-recognition, sound imitation and decision making. In other mammals, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) takes a key role in such cognitive feats. In cetaceans, however, a PFC could up to now not be discerned based on its usual topography. Classical in vivo methods like tract tracing are legally not possible to perform in Cetacea, leaving diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) as the most viable alternative. This is the first investigation focussed on the identification of the cetacean PFC homologue. In our study, we applied the constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD) algorithm on 3 T DWI scans of three formalin-fixed brains of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and compared the obtained results to human brains, using the same methodology. We first identified fibres related to the medio-dorsal thalamic nuclei (MD) and then seeded the obtained putative PFC in the dolphin as well as the known PFC in humans. Our results outlined the dolphin PFC in areas not previously studied, in the cranio-lateral, ectolateral and opercular gyri, and furthermore demonstrated a similar connectivity pattern between the human and dolphin PFC. The antero-lateral rotation of the PFC, like in other areas, might be the result of the telescoping process which occurred in these animals during evolution.

Indexed as

Bottle-Nosed DolphinAlgorithmsAnimalsBrainCognitionHumansPrefrontal CortexBrain evolutionCetaceanCSDDolphinDWIPFC

Identifiers

PMID37660322
PMCPMC10517040
OpenAlexW4386399802

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.