Summary: During evolution the shape of the brain has evolved in parallel with its function.
The study examined 3D surface models of the brains of 90 species of Euarchontoglires, allowing researchers to analyze the diversity of brain forms and their relationship to function, behavior and ecology.
Key Findings:
- Brain shape has evolved in parallel with organ function.
- The study used 3D surface models of the brains of 90 species of euarchontoglires, including humans, macaques, mice, rats, squirrels and hamsters.
- The results of the study suggest that as the brain adapts to its environment, it expands its areas of visual attention before other areas involved in higher cognitive functions, such as language and memory.
Source: Medical University of Vienna
The connections between brain structure and function are a major focus of neuroscience.
A new study from the Medical University of Vienna involving a team of international partners is looking at the evolution and its relationship to the capabilities of human and animal brain architecture.
The findings show that brain shape has evolved in parallel with organ function during evolution.
The results of the study were published in a well-known journal Nature Communications.
In the study, 3D surface models of the brains of 90 species of euarchontogliers (supraprimates) such as humans, macaques, marmosets, mice, rats, squirrels and hamsters were examined.
Computer-based modeling of common ancestors and analysis of the shapes of neuronal structures were used to create a general representation of the brain.
For the first time, this made it possible to analyze the diversity of brain forms and their relationship with function, behavior and ecology, that is, the relationship between living organisms and their environment.
The results confirm that the shape of the brain has evolved in parallel with the function of the organ during its evolution.
“By evaluating different growth patterns, we were able to identify seven clusters that extended together during brain evolution and correspond to specific aspects of cognitive abilities in animals and humans,” explained lead author Ernst Schwartz of the Computational Imaging Research Lab. (CIR).
As a result, the brain adapts to its environment by expanding its fields of visual attention before other areas involved in higher cognitive functions such as language and memory.
The study was conducted in partnership with researchers from around the world.
“The study would not have been possible without the exceptionally open, interdisciplinary, international collaboration that characterizes it. It combines elements of neuroscience, anatomy, paleontology and mathematics — and involves more than a dozen laboratories around the world,” said study director George Langs.
“One of the triggers for this work was an interest in plasticity – the question of why some brain regions are better able to reorganize themselves during illness than others. And we hope that a better understanding of brain geometry will help us gain insight into these mechanisms,” he concluded.
The research results may also help to better understand the common – and different – characteristics between animals and humans.
About this evolutionary neuroscience research news
Author: Karin Kirschbichler
Source: Medical University of Vienna
Contact: Karin Kirschbichler – Medical University of Vienna
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Open access.
“Evolution of Cortical Geometry and Its Link to Function, Behavior, and Ecology” by Ernst Schwartz et al. Nature Communications
Abstract
Evolution of cortical geometry and its link to function, behavior and ecology
Studies of comparative neuroanatomy and the fossil record reveal the influence of social-ecological structure on the morphology of the cerebral cortex, but lead to often conflicting theories about its evolution.
Here, we study the relationship between the topography of the shape of the cerebral cortex and its function.
We establish a composite geometric representation of the cerebral cortices of ninety species of extant euarchontoglires, including commonly used experimental model organisms. We show that variability in surface geometry is related to species ecology and behavior, independent of overall brain size.
Notably, the reconstruction of the ancestral shape of the cortical surface and its change during evolution enables us to trace the evolutionary history of local cortical expansion, model differentiation of brain function, and their association with behavior and cognition.
We find that individual cortical regions follow different sequences of area increase during evolutionary adaptation to dynamic socio-ecological structures. The anatomical correlates of this sequence of events are still observable in extant species, and are relevant to their current behavior and ecology.
We decompose the deep evolutionary history of human cortical surface shape into spatially and temporally contained components with highly interpretable functional associations, highlighting the importance of considering the evolutionary history of cortical regions when studying their anatomy and function.
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