Chimp, bonobo study sheds light on the social brain

It's been known for a long time that chimps are from Mars whereas their near relatives, the bonobos, are from Venus. Chimps resort to aggression to resolve arguments, bonobos use play and sex. They are more anxious and more socially tolerant. Now, Jim Rilling, from Emory University in Atlanta, has published a comparative study on chimps and bonobos that shows significant differences in the neural circuitry in their brains that we associate with social cognition. Bonobos have more developed connections in the amygdala, hypothalamus and anterior insula. Pathways connecting the amygdala with the prefrontal cortex are also more developed in the bonobo, suggesting this is the substrate for how they turn emotive signals from the outside world into appropriate empathic behavioural response.