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Tertiary sulci, transcriptomics, and functional gradients in human cortex

Understanding how the anatomical structure of the brain across spatial scales generates a flexible infrastructure of functional representations subserving the complex aspects of human cognition is a major goal of neuroanatomists, cognitive neuroanatomists, and cognitive neuroscientists. Traditionally, it is well‐accepted that deep, primary indentations in the cerebral cortex, or sulci, serve as landmarks of functional and architectonic areas in primary sensory cortex, but not in association cortex. Nevertheless, findings from the last decade show that shallow, tertiary sulci that emerge late in gestation and continue to develop after birth serve as landmarks identifying microarchitectonic and functional transitions in human visual association cortex (Weiner, 2019, The Anatomical Record), which is consistent with classic anatomical theories (Sanides, 1964, Neuropsychologia). What factors might explain this unexpected anatomical‐functional coupling across spatial scales in visual association cortex? In this talk, I will first briefly summarize a series of studies from my lab revealing the contribution of gene expression (e.g. transcriptomics) in both the arealization of cortical hierarchies, as well as the topological layout of functional maps within areas. I will then discuss additional studies from my lab showing that the anatomical‐functional correspondences identified in human visual association cortex also a) extend to lateral prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices and b) have behavioral implications. Finally, I will show how the combination of these findings have immediate translational, developmental, and evolutionary applications for understanding how the hominoid brain efficiently leverages shallow, rather than deep, sulci to house cognitively, microarchitectonically, and functionally complex transitions in association cortices ‐ a cortical organization that enables a fast read‐out of neural information that contributes to efficient human behavior.