Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39827196›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2025

Cortical areas associated to higher cognition drove primate brain evolution.

Marina Melchionna, Silvia Castiglione, Giorgia Girardi, Antonio Profico, Alessandro Mondanaro, Gabriele Sansalone, Narimane Chatar, Alejandro Pérez Ramos, Marcos Fernández-Monescillo, Carmela Serio and 8 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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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

18 authors.

Marina Melchionna *DiSTAR, Università di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7919-4431
Silvia Castiglione *DiSTAR, Università di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Giorgia GirardiDiSTAR, Università di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Antonio ProficoDepartment of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Alessandro MondanaroDST, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Florence, Italy.
Gabriele SansaloneDepartment of Life Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
Narimane ChatarEvolution and Diversity Dynamics Lab, Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0449-8574
Alejandro Pérez RamosDepartamento de Ecología y Geología, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1417-4338
Marcos Fernández-MonescilloMuseo de Paleontología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
Carmela SerioDiSTAR, Università di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Luca PandolfiDipartimento di Scienze, Università della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4186-4126
Jacob DembitzerDiSTAR, Università di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Mirko Di FebbraroDepartment of Biosciences and Territory, University of Molise, Isernia, Italy.
Marta Michelle CaliendoDiSTAR, Università di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Alessia Di CostanzoDiSTAR, Università di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Linda MorvilloDiSTAR, Università di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Antonella EspositoDiSTAR, Università di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Pasquale RaiaDiSTAR, Università di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy. pasquale.raia@unina.it.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4593-8006

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although intense research effort is seeking to address which brain areas fire and connect to each other to produce complex behaviors in a few living primates, little is known about their evolution, and which brain areas or facets of cognition were favored by natural selection. By developing statistical tools to study the evolution of the brain cortex at the fine scale, we found that rapid cortical expansion in the prefrontal region took place early on during the evolution of primates. In anthropoids, fast-expanding cortical areas extended to the posterior parietal cortex. In Homo, further expansion affected the medial temporal lobe and the posteroinferior region of the parietal lobe. Collectively, the fast-expanding cortical areas in anthropoids are known to form a brain network producing mind reading abilities and other higher-order cognitive functions. These results indicate that pursuing complex cognition drove the evolution of Primate brains.

Indexed as

Biological EvolutionBrainCerebral CortexCognitionPrimatesAnimalsHumans

Identifiers

PMID39827196
PMCPMC11742917

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.