Research Program:  The Preuss laboratory carries out fundamental research on the structure and evolution of primate cerebral cortex.  Current projects seek to identify the distinctive features of the human brain, which constitute the neural substrates of human-specific cognitive and behavioral mechanisms.  We do this by comparing the anatomy of cortical layers and areas in humans, chimpanzees (the animals most closely related to humans), and Old World and New World monkeys.  Recently, we've begun to use comparative genomics as a means of identifying evolutionary modifications of human brain systems., emphasizing the specializations of human cerebral cortex.  Dr. Preuss also has long-standing interests in the evolution of frontal and visual cortex. 

Sections of human primary visual cortex stained for nonphosphorylated neurofilament protein using monoclonal antibody SMI-32 and for microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP 2).  These preparations reveal a distinctive, net-like pattern of staining in layer 4A that is not seen in apes or monkeys.  These results suggest that the M and P processing streams are organized differently in some respects in humans and in other primates.   For more information, see Preuss, T.M., Qi, H.-X., and Kaas, J.H. (1999) PNAS 96:11601-11606 (get pdf), and Preuss & Coleman (2002) Cerebral Cortex, 12: 671-691 (get pdf).

Recent and Selected Publications

Rosen RF, Farberg AS, Gearing M, Dooyema J, Long PM, Anderson DC, Coppola G, Geschwind DH, Pare J, Duong TQ, Hopkins W, Preuss TM, Walker LC  2008. Tauopathy with paired helical filaments in an aged chimpanzee. Journal of Comparative Neurology 508: 259-270.

Rilling, J. K., Glasser, M. F., Preuss, T. M., Ma, X., Zhao, T., Hu, X., and Behrens, T. E. 2008. The evolution of the arcuate fasciculus revealed with comparative DTI. Nature Neuroscience 11:426-428.

Kaas, JH, Preuss, TM  2008. Human brain evolution.  In: Squire LR, Berg D, Bloom FE, du Lac S, Ghosh A, Spizer NC, editors.  Fundamental Neuroscience, Third Edition, pp.  1019-1037.  Amsterdam: Academic Preuss.  Request reprint

Rilling, J.K., Barks, S.K., Parr, L.A., Preuss, T.M., Faber, T.l., Pagnoni, G., Bremner, J.D., and Votaw, J.R.  2007. A comparison of resting state brain activity in humans and chimpanzees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(43):17146-51.  Get PDF.

Calarco, J.A., Xing, Y., Caceres, M., Xiao, X., Pan, Q., Lee, C., Preuss, T.M., and Blencowe, B.J.  2007. Alternative splicing differences between humans and chimpanzees affect transcripts from functionally diverse genes. Genes and Development 21(22):2963-75.  Get PDF.

Preuss TM. 2007. Primate brain evolution in phylogenetic context. In: Kaas JH, Preuss TM, editors. Evolution of Nervous Sytems Vol 4: The Evolution of Primate Nervous Systems. Oxford: Elsevier, pp. 3-34.   Request reprint

Kaas JH, Preuss TM, editors. 2007. Evolution of Nervous Systems, Vol. 4: The Evolution of Primate Nervous Systems. Oxford: Elsevier.

Preuss TM. 2007. Evolutionary specializations of primate brain systems. In: Ravosa MJ, Dagosto M, editors. Primate Origins: Evolution and Adaptations. New York: Springer, pp. 625-675.  Request reprint

Caceres M, Suwyn C, Maddox M, Thomas JW, Preuss TM. 2007. Increased cortical expression of two synaptogenic thrombospondins in human brain evolution. Cerebral Cortex 17:2312-2321 [Epub 2006 Dec 20].  Get PDF file [1.8 MB].

Preuss TM. 2006. Who's afraid of Homo sapiens? Journal of Biomedical Discovery and Collaboration, vol. 1 (available online).  Get PDF file.

Preuss TM, Caceres M, Oldham MC, Geschwind DH. 2004. Human brain evolution: Insights from microarrays. Nature Reviews Genetics 5:850-860.  Get PDF file [213  KB]. 

Preuss TM. 2004. What is it like to be a human? In: Gazzaniga MS, editor. The Cognitive Neurosciences III, Third Edition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 5-22.   Request reprint

Preuss TM. 2004. Specializations of the human visual system: The monkey model meets human reality. In: Kaas JH, Collins CE, editors. The Primate Visual System. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 231-259.  Request reprint

Caceres M, Lachuer J, Zapala MA, Redmond JC, Kudo L, Geschwind DH, Lockhart DJ, Preuss TM, Barlow C. 2003. Elevated gene expression levels distinguish human from non-human primate brains. PNAS 100:1330-1335.  Get PDF file [666 KB].

Kaas, J.H., and T.M. Preuss, 2003. Human brain evolution. In Fundamental Neuroscience (Second Edition), L.R. Squire, F.E. Bloom, S.K. McConnell, J.L. Roberts,  N.C. Spitzer, and M.J. Zigmond (eds.) San Diego: Academic Press, pp. 1147-1166.   Request reprint

Preuss, T.M., and G.Q. Coleman, 2002.  Human-specific organization of primary visual cortex: Alternating compartments of dense Cat-301 and calbindin immunoreacitivity in layer 4A.  Cereb. Cortex 12: 671-691.  Get PDF file [3.4 MB]  See the cover photo.

Hackett, T.A, T.M. Preuss, and J.H. Kaas, 2001. Architectonic identification of the core region in auditory cortex of macaques, chimpanzees, and humans.  J. Comp. Neurol. 441: 197-222.  Get PDF file [2.4 MB]

Preuss, T.M., 2001. The discovery of cerebral diversity: An unwelcome scientific revolution.  In D. Falk and K. Gibson (eds.): Evolutionary Anatomy of the Primate Cerebral Cortex.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 138-164.   Get PDF file [8.7 MB].

Preuss, TM. (Editor), 2000. The Diversity of Mammalian Cortical Organization. Special symposium edition. Brain, Behavior and Evolution, volume 55.   View table of contents

Preuss, TM., 2000. Taking the measure of diversity: Comparative alternatives to the model-animal paradigm in cortical neuroscience.  Brain, Behavior and Evolution 55: 287-299.  View abstract / Get PDF file [376.2 KB]

Preuss, T. M., 2000.  What's human about the human brain? In The New Cognitive Neurosciences. Second Edition, M. S. Gazzaniga, ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp.  1219-1234.  View abstract / Get PDF file [14.4 MB]

Preuss, T.M., H.-X. Qi, and J.H. Kaas, 1999. Distinctive compartmental organization of human primary visual cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. 96: 11601-11606.  View abstract / Get PDF file [571.4 KB]

Preuss, T. M., and J. H. Kaas, 1999. Human brain evolution. In Fundamental Neuroscience, F. E. Bloom, S. C. Landis, J. L. Robert, L. R. Squire, and M. J. Zigmond, ed. San Diego: Academic Press, pp. 1283-1311.  Request reprint

Preuss, T. M., I. Stepniewska, and J. H. Kaas, 1996.  Movement representation in the dorsal and ventral premotor areas of owl monkeys: A microstimulation study.  J. Comp. Neurol. 371: 649-676.  View abstract / Get PDF file [48.8 MB]

Preuss, T. M., 1995.  Do rats have prefrontal cortex?  The Rose-Woolsey-Akert program reconsidered. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 7: 1-24.  View abstract & synopsis / Get PDF file [3 MB]

Povinelli, D. J., and T. M. Preuss, 1995.  Theory of mind: Evolutionary history of a cognitive specialization. Trends Neurosci. 18: 418-424.  View abstract / Get PDF file [1.1 MB]

Preuss, T. M., 1995. The argument from animals to humans in cognitive neuroscience. In The Cognitive Neurosciences, M. S. Gazzaniga, ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 1227-1241.  (Reprinted in Cognitive Neuroscience: A Reader, M.S. Gazzaniga, ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2000).  View abstract  /  Get PDF file [19.5 MB].

Preuss, T. M.,  1993.  The role of the neurosciences in primate evolutionary biology: Historical commentary and prospectus.  In Primates and their Relatives in Phylogenetic Perspective, R. D. E. MacPhee, ed.  New York: Plenum Press, pp. 333-362.  Get PDF file  [6.2  MB]

Preuss, T. M., and P. S. Goldman-Rakic, 1991.  Myelo- and cytoarchitecture of the granular frontal cortex and surrounding regions in the strepsirhine primate  Galago and the anthropoid primate Macaca.J. Comp. Neurol. 310: 429-474.  View abstract / Get PDF file [35.4 MB]

Complete List of Publications

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