An anatomical and connectivity atlas of the tree shrew brain to bridge rodent and primate neuroanatomy.

Overview

1. State Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Yunnan Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms, Yunnan Engineering Center on Brain Disease Models, and KIZ-CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
2. Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution and Animal Models, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
3. Kunming College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China
4. National Research Facility for Phenotypic & Genetic Analysis of Model Animals (Primate Facility), National Resource Center for Non-Human Primates, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, China

Abstract

The tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri), phylogenetically proximal to primates, serves as a critical model for evolutionary neurobiology and disease mechanisms. High-resolution MRI provides a unique opportunity to refine its neuroanatomical architecture and facilitate cross-species comparisons. Here, we present a comprehensive, ultra-high-resolution (9.4T) MRI atlas of the tree shrew brain, integrating structural and diffusion imaging to resolve fine-scale anatomical features and whole-brain connectivity gradients. Our comparative analysis characterizes the tree shrew as a distinct evolutionary mosaic: the cerebellum exhibits pronounced volumetric expansion and connectivity gradients recapitulating those of primates, whereas the hippocampus retains rodent-like architectural scaling yet preserves evolutionarily conserved longitudinal functional axes. Moving beyond these regional adaptations, we uncovered a universal organizational principle: geometry–gradient coupling (GGC)—the fundamental constraint of brain shape on functional organization. By systematically linking geometric eigenmodes to connectivity gradients across diverse species (from mice to humans), we demonstrate that despite dramatic morphological divergence, the spatial alignment between brain geometry and functional organization remains evolutionarily invariant. Collectively, these results establish the tree shrew as a pivotal phylogenetic bridge and provide a neuroanatomical benchmark for deciphering the interplay between structural diversity and universal biophysical constraints.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Data

Datasets cited

• doi:10.18112/openneuro.ds004910.v1.0.1, at OpenNeuro; found in the text, “Cross-species comparative analysis”

Data Availability

The brain templates and atlas for the tree shrew generated in this study are openly accessible and available at http://www.treeshrewdb.org/MRI/. All other relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting information files.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 9 authors, 14 MeSH terms, 5 funders, 87 references.

Cite

This paper

Zhu, X., Bi, R., Yan, H., Wang, Q., Li, L., Li, H., Lv, L.-B., Liu, C., & Yao, Y.-G. (2026). An anatomical and connectivity atlas of the tree shrew brain to bridge rodent and primate neuroanatomy. PLoS biology, 24(5), e3003773. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003773

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