Contents Vol. 90, 2017
Brain Behav Evol 2017;90:I-IV (Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution)
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - December 12, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Development of the Visual System in a Burrow-Nesting Seabird: Leach's Storm Petrel
In this study, we investigated the growth of eyes, the formation of retinal ganglion cell topography, and the appearance of simple, visually guided behaviours in chicks of a small procellariiform seabird, Leach's storm petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa). This semi-precocial species, which has a well-developed sense of smell, nests in underground burrows where adults provision chicks for 6-8 weeks in the dark before fledging. Retinal ganglion cell topographic maps revealed that fine-tuning of cell distribution does not happen early in development, but rather that the ganglion cell layer continues to mature throughout provisioni...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - December 6, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Immunohistochemical Localization of DARPP-32 in the Brain of Two Lungfishes: Further Assessment of Its Relationship with the Dopaminergic System
The distribution of DARPP-32 (a phosphoprotein related to the dopamine D1 receptor) has been widely used as a means to clarify the brain regions with dopaminoceptive cells, primarily in representative species of tetrapods. The relationship between dopaminergic and dopaminoceptive elements is frequently analyzed using the catecholamine marker tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). In the present study, by means of combined immunohistochemistry, we have analyzed these relationships in lungfishes, the only group of sarcopterygian fishes represented by 6 extant species that are the phylogenetically closest living relatives of tetrapods. W...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - November 21, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Connections of Anterior Thalamic Visual Centers in the Leopard Frog, Rana pipiens
The amphibian retina projects to two discrete regions of neuropil in the anterior thalamus: the neuropil of Bellonci and the corpus geniculatum. These retinorecipient areas are encompassed within a larger zone of surrounding neuropil we call the NCZ (for neuropil of Bellonci/corpus geniculatum zone). The NCZ is characterized electrophysiologically by a distinctive tonic oscillatory response to blue light; it appears to be a visual module involved in processing the stationary visual environment. Using horseradish peroxidase (HRP), we mapped the connections of the NCZ. Retrogradely labeled cell bodies are found in: (1) the c...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - November 16, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Connections of Anterior Thalamic Visual Centers in the Leopard Frog, < b > < i > Rana pipiens < /i > < /b >
The amphibian retina projects to two discrete regions of neuropil in the anterior thalamus: the neuropil of Bellonci and the corpus geniculatum. These retinorecipient areas are encompassed within a larger zone of surrounding neuropil we call the NCZ (for neuropil of Bellonci/corpus geniculatum zone). The NCZ is characterized electrophysiologically by a distinctive tonic oscillatory response to blue light; it appears to be a visual module involved in processing the stationary visual environment. Using horseradish peroxidase (HRP), we mapped the connections of the NCZ. Retrogradely labeled cell bodies are found in: (1) the c...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - November 15, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
< b > < i > Nasonia < /i > < /b > Parasitic Wasps Escape from Haller's Rule by Diphasic, Partially Isometric Brain-Body Size Scaling and Selective Neuropil Adaptations
Haller's rule states that brains scale allometrically with body size in all animals, meaning that relative brain size increases with decreasing body size. This rule applies both on inter- and intraspecific comparisons. Only 1 species, the extremely small parasitic waspTrichogramma evanescens, is known as an exception and shows an isometric brain-body size relation in an intraspecific comparison between differently sized individuals. Here, we investigated if such an isometric brain-body size relationship also occurs in an intraspecific comparison with a slightly larger parasitic wasp,Nasonia vitripennis, a species that may ...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - November 15, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Errata
Brain Behav Evol 2017;90:264 (Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution)
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - November 15, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Endocranial Casts of Pre-Mammalian Therapsids Reveal an Unexpected Neurological Diversity at the Deep Evolutionary Root of Mammals
This study suggests that NMT brain size falls in the upper range of the reptilian and amphibian variation. Brain size in the dicynodontKawingasaurus is equivalent to that of early Mammaliaformes, whereas the Dinocephalia show evidence of a secondary reduction of brain size. In addition, unlike other NMT in which the endocast has a tubular shape and its parts are arranged in a linear manner, the biarmosuchian endocast is strongly flexed at the level of the midbrain, creating a near right angle between the fore- and hindbrain. These data highlight an unexpected diversity of endocranial size and morphology in NMT, features th...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - November 7, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Efferent Axonal Projections of the Habenular Complex in the Fire-Bellied Toad Bombina orientalis
The habenular complex and its associated axonal pathways are often thought of as phylogenetically conserved features of the brain among vertebrates despite the fact that detailed studies of this brain region are limited to a few species. Here, the gross morphology and axonal projection pattern of the habenular complex of an anuran amphibian, the fire-bellied toadBombina orientalis, was studied to allow comparison with the situation in other vertebrates. Axonal pathways were traced using biocytin applications in dissected brain preparations. The results show that the rostral part of the left dorsal nucleus is enlarged in th...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - November 2, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Efferent Axonal Projections of the Habenular Complex in the Fire-Bellied Toad < b > < i > Bombina orientalis < /i > < /b >
The habenular complex and its associated axonal pathways are often thought of as phylogenetically conserved features of the brain among vertebrates despite the fact that detailed studies of this brain region are limited to a few species. Here, the gross morphology and axonal projection pattern of the habenular complex of an anuran amphibian, the fire-bellied toadBombina orientalis, was studied to allow comparison with the situation in other vertebrates. Axonal pathways were traced using biocytin applications in dissected brain preparations. The results show that the rostral part of the left dorsal nucleus is enlarged in th...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - November 1, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Vertebrate Sensory Systems and Brains: From Genes to Behavior
Brain Behav Evol 2017;90:97 (Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution)
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - October 25, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Comments on the Updated Tetrapartite Pallium Model in the Mouse and Chick, Featuring a Homologous Claustro-Insular Complex
This essay reviews step by step the conceptual changes of the updated tetrapartite pallium model from its tripartite and early tetrapartite antecedents. The crucial observations in mouse material are explained first in the context of assumptions, tentative interpretations, and literature data. Errors and the solutions offered to resolve them are made explicit. Next, attention is centered on the lateral pallium sector of the updated model, whose definition is novel in incorporating a claustro-insular complex distinct from both olfactory centers (ventral pallium) and the isocortex (dorsal pallium). The general validity of th...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - October 25, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Names Matter: Commentary on Luis Puelles' Article
Brain Behav Evol 2017;90:190 (Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution)
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - October 25, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Dynamics of Goldfish Subregional Hippocampal Pallium Activity throughout Spatial Memory Formation
The teleost fish hippocampal pallium, like the hippocampus of tetrapods, is essential for relational map-like spatial memories. In mammals, these relational memories involve the dynamic interactions among different hippocampal subregions and between the hippocampus-neocortex network, which performs specialized operations such as memory encoding and retrieval. However, how the teleost hippocampal homologue operates to achieve comparably sophisticated spatial cognition capabilities is largely unknown. In the present study, the progressive changes in the metabolic activity of the pallial regions that have been proposed as pos...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - October 25, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Evolution of Sound Source Localization Circuits in the Nonmammalian Vertebrate Brainstem
The earliest vertebrate ears likely subserved a gravistatic function for orientation in the aquatic environment. However, in addition to detecting acceleration created by the animal's own movements, the otolithic end organs that detect linear acceleration would have responded to particle movement created by external sources. The potential to identify and localize these external sources may have been a major selection force in the evolution of the early vertebrate ear and in the processing of sound in the central nervous system. The intrinsic physiological polarization of sensory hair cells on the otolith organs confers sen...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - October 25, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
