Principles of Current Vertebrate Neuromorphology
Causal analysis of molecular patterning at neural plate and early neural tube stages has shown that the central nervous system (CNS) of vertebrates is essentially organized into transverse neural segments or neuromeres and longitudinal zones which follow the curved axis of the brain. The intersection of the longitudinal and transverse patterning processes in the embryonic brain leads to the formation of a checkerboard pattern of distinct progenitor domains called “fundamental morphological units” (FMUs). The topologically invariant pattern formed by the ventricular surfaces of the FMUs of a given taxon represents the ...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - October 25, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Sensing External and Self-Motion with Hair Cells: A Comparison of the Lateral Line and Vestibular Systems from a Developmental and Evolutionary Perspective
Detection of motion is a feature essential to any living animal. In vertebrates, mechanosensory hair cells organized into the lateral line and vestibular systems are used to detect external water or head/body motion, respectively. While the neuronal components to detect these physical attributes are similar between the two sensory systems, the organizational pattern of the receptors in the periphery and the distribution of hindbrain afferent and efferent projections are adapted to the specific functions of the respective system. Here we provide a concise review comparing the functional organization of the vestibular and la...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - October 25, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Eye Size, Fovea, and Foraging Ecology in Accipitriform Raptors
Birds with larger eyes are predicted to have higher spatial resolution because of their larger retinal image. Raptors are well known for their acute vision, mediated by their deep central fovea. Because foraging strategies may demand specific visual adaptations, eye size and fovea may differ between species with different foraging ecology. We tested whether predators (actively hunting mobile prey) and carrion eaters (eating dead prey) from the order Accipitriformes differ in eye size, foveal depth, and retinal thickness using spectral domain optical coherence tomography and comparative phylogenetic methods. We found that (...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - October 25, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Nasonia 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 - October 25, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Midsagittal Brain Variation among Non-Human Primates: Insights into Evolutionary Expansion of the Human Precuneus
The precuneus is a major element of the superior parietal lobule, positioned on the medial side of the hemisphere and reaching the dorsal surface of the brain. It is a crucial functional region for visuospatial integration, visual imagery, and body coordination. Previously, we argued that the precuneus expanded in recent human evolution, based on a combination of paleontological, comparative, and intraspecific evidence from fossil and modern human endocasts as well as from human and chimpanzee brains. The longitudinal proportions of this region are a major source of anatomical variation among adult humans and, being much l...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - October 25, 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 - October 23, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Eye Size, Fovea, and Foraging Ecology in Accipitriform Raptors
Birds with larger eyes are predicted to have higher spatial resolution because of their larger retinal image. Raptors are well known for their acute vision, mediated by their deep central fovea. Because foraging strategies may demand specific visual adaptations, eye size and fovea may differ between species with different foraging ecology. We tested whether predators (actively hunting mobile prey) and carrion eaters (eating dead prey) from the order Accipitriformes differ in eye size, foveal depth, and retinal thickness using spectral domain optical coherence tomography and comparative phylogenetic methods. We found that (...
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - October 11, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Author and Subject Index Vol. 90, No. 2, 2017
Brain Behav Evol 2017;90:191 (Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution)
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - October 6, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Title Page / Table of Contents
Brain Behav Evol 2017;90:93-96 (Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution)
Source: Brain, Behavior and Evolution - October 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 2017 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
