期刊
BRAIN STRUCTURE & FUNCTION
卷 222, 期 2, 页码 1053-1060出版社
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s00429-015-1172-y
关键词
Parietal lobes; Human evolution; Evolutionary neuroanatomy; Morphometrics
资金
- National Institutes of Health [P01AG026423]
- National Center for Research Resources [P51RR165]
- John Templeton Foundation [40463]
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience
- Spanish Government [CGL2012-38434-C03-02/03]
- Italian Institute of Anthropology
- Office of Research Infrastructure Programs [OD P51OD11132]
The evolution of neurocranial morphology in Homo sapiens is characterized by bulging of the parietal region, a feature unique to our species. In modern humans, expansion of the parietal surface occurs during the first year of life, in a morphogenetic stage which is absent in chimpanzees and Neandertals. A similar variation in brain shape among living adult humans is associated with expansion of the precuneus. Using MRI-derived structural brain templates, we compare medial brain morphology between humans and chimpanzees through shape analysis and geometrical modeling. We find that the main spatial difference is a prominent expansion of the precuneus in our species, providing further evidence of evolutionary changes associated with this area. The precuneus is a major hub of brain organization, a central node of the default-mode network, and plays an essential role in visuospatial integration. Together, the comparative neuroanatomical and paleontological evidence suggest that precuneus expansion is a neurological specialization of H. sapiens that evolved in the last 150,000 years that may be associated with recent human cognitive specializations.
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