Individual variation in the chimpanzee arcuate fasciculus predicts vocal and gestural communication

Abstract

Whether language has its evolutionary origins in vocal or gestural communication has long been a matter of debate. In humans, the arcuate fasciculus, a major fronto-temporal white matter tract, is left-lateralized, is larger than in nonhuman apes, and is linked to language. However, the extent to which the arcuate fasciculus of nonhuman apes is linked to vocal and/or manual communication is currently unknown. Here, using probabilistic tractography in 67 chimpanzees (45 female, 22 male), we report that the chimpanzee arcuate fasciculus is not left-lateralized at the population level, in marked contrast with humans. However, individual variation in the anatomy and leftward asymmetry of the chimpanzee arcuate fasciculus is associated with individual variation in the use of both communicative gestures and communicative sounds under volitional orofacial motor control. This indicates that the arcuate fasciculus likely supported both vocal and gestural communication in the chimpanzee/human last common ancestor, 6–7 million years ago.