Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China; Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Yuanchao Zhang
Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
Gang Li
Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Jiaojian Wang
Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China; Center for Language and Brain, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen, China
Chet Sherwood
Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, United States
Gaolang Gong
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China; Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
The inferior parietal lobule (IPL) is one of the most expanded cortical regions in humans relative to other primates. It is also among the most structurally and functionally asymmetric regions in the human cerebral cortex. Whether the structural and connectional asymmetries of IPL subdivisions differ across primate species and how this relates to functional asymmetries remain unclear. We identified IPL subregions that exhibited positive allometric in both hemispheres, scaling across rhesus macaque monkeys, chimpanzees, and humans. The patterns of IPL subregions asymmetry were similar in chimpanzees and humans, but no IPL asymmetries were evident in macaques. Among the comparative sample of primates, humans showed the most widespread asymmetric connections in the frontal, parietal, and temporal cortices, constituting leftward asymmetric networks that may provide an anatomical basis for language and tool use. Unique human asymmetric connectivity between the IPL and primary motor cortex might be related to handedness. These findings suggest that structural and connectional asymmetries may underlie hemispheric specialization of the human brain.