Brain Charts for the Rhesus Macaque Lifespan

Kavli Affiliate: Winrich Freiwald

| Authors: Samuel Alldritt, Julian S.B. Ramirez, Reinder Vos de Wael, Richard Bethlehem, Jakob Seidlitz, Zexi Wang, Karl-Heinz Nenning, Nathalia B. Esper, Jonathan Smallwood, Alexandre R. Franco, Kyoungseob Byeon, Aaron Alexander-Bloch, Adam Messinger, Aihua Chen, Alexander Thiele, Alison R. Weiss, Amir Shmuel, Andrew Fox, Anita Tusche, Ansgar M. Brambrink, Arnaud Falchier, Bassem Hiba, Bechir Jarraya, Benjamin Jung, Brent Butler, Brian E. Russ, Brittany R. Howell, Carly M. Drzewiecki, Carole Guedj, Caspar M. Schwiedrzik, Celine Amiez, Charles R.E. Wilson, Christiaan Klink, Christopher Kroenke, Christos Constantinidis, Clement M. Garin, Colline Poirier, Daniel J. Gale, David A. Leopold, David A. Rudko, David G. Amaral, Doris Tsao, Douglas J. Cook, Elinor L. Sullivan, Emmanuel Procyk, Emmanuelle Canet-Soulas, Erwin L.A. Blezer, Essa Yacoub, Fabien Balezeau, Fadila Hadj-Bouziane, Gang Li, Gary Linn, Guillaume Becker, Jamie Nagy, Jason Gallivan, Jeffrey Bennett, Jennifer Nacef, Jerome Sallet, Jiaojian Wang, John H. Morrison, John W. Erdman, Jose F. Perez-Zoghbi, Joshua Karpf, Julia A. Scott, Julie Fudge, Julien Sein, Junda Zhu, Justine Clery, Kelvin Mok, Keshov K. Sharma, Kevin N. Lala, Kurt Masiello, Lazar Fleysher, Lei Wang, Lena Dorfschmidt, Lillian J. Campos, Lucie Chalet, Maeva Gacoin, Mar M. Sanchez, Mark G. Baxter, Mark Pinsk, Martha Neuringer, Martin Styner, Martine Meunier, MaryAnn P. Noonan, Mathilda Froesel, Matthew F.S. Rushworth, Matthew J. Kuchan, Michael C. Schmid, Michael Ortiz-Rios, Ned Kalin, Noam Harel, Olivia Berkner, Orlin S. Todorov, Patrik Lindenfors, Ravi S. Menon, Renee Hartig, Reza Rajimehr, Rogier B. Mars, Roza Vlasova, Sabine Kastner, Sean Froudist-Walsh, Simon M. Reader, Stanislas Dehaene, Stefan Everling, Suliann B. Hamed, Sze C. Kwok, Thomas Brochier, Thomas Funck, Timothy D. Griffiths, Viola Neudecker, Wi lbert Zarco, Winrich Freiwald, Yong-di Zhou, Zheng Wang, Zsofia A. Kovacs-Balint, Christopher I. Petkov, Daniel Margulies, Damien Fair, Charles Schroeder, Michael Milham and Ting Xu

| Summary:

Recent efforts to chart human brain growth across the lifespan using large-scale MRI data have provided reference standards for human brain development. However, similar models for nonhuman primate (NHP) growth are lacking. The rhesus macaque, a widely used NHP in translational neuroscience due to its similarities in brain anatomy, phylogenetics, cognitive, and social behaviors to humans, serves as an ideal NHP model. This study aimed to create normative growth charts for brain structure across the macaque lifespan, enhancing our understanding of neurodevelopment and aging, and facilitating cross-species translational research. Leveraging data from the PRIMatE Data Exchange (PRIME-DE) and other sources, we aggregated 1,522 MRI scans from 1,024 rhesus macaques. We mapped non-linear developmental trajectories for global and regional brain structural changes in volume, cortical thickness, and surface area over the lifespan. Our findings provided normative charts with centile scores for macaque brain structures and revealed key developmental milestones from prenatal stages to aging, highlighting both species-specific and comparable brain maturation patterns between macaques and humans. The charts offer a valuable resource for future NHP studies, particularly those with small sample sizes. Furthermore, the interactive open resource (https://interspeciesmap.childmind.org) supports cross-species comparisons to advance translational neuroscience research.

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