PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Alexandros Goulas AU - René Werner AU - Sarah F Beul AU - Dennis Säring AU - Martijn van den Heuvel AU - Lazaros C Triarhou AU - Claus C Hilgetag TI - Cytoarchitectonic similarity is a wiring principle of the human connectome AID - 10.1101/068254 DP - 2016 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 068254 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/08/06/068254.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/08/06/068254.full AB - Understanding the wiring diagram of the human cerebral cortex is a fundamental challenge in neuroscience. Elemental aspects of its organization remain elusive. Here we examine which structural traits of cortical regions, particularly their cytoarchitecture and thickness, relate to the existence and strength of inter-regional connections. We use the architecture data from the classic work of von Economo and Koskinas and state-of-the-art diffusion-based connectivity data from the Human Connectome Project. Our results reveal a prominent role of the cytoarchitectonic similarity of supragranular layers for predicting the existence and strength of connections. In contrast, cortical thickness similarity was not related to the existence or strength of connections. These results are in line with findings for non-human mammalian cerebral cortices, suggesting overarching wiring principles of the mammalian cerebral cortex. The results invite hypotheses about evolutionary conserved neurobiological mechanisms that give rise to the relation of cytoarchitecture and connectivity in the human cerebral cortex.