Humans and great apes share a large frontal cortex

Semendeferi, Katerina; Lu, Aiming; Schenker, Natalie M.; Damásio, Hanna

doi:10.1038/nn814

Cited by 476 publications

(290 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The present analysis extends this observation of predictability both to non-primates and to the total visual cortex devoted to visual analysis. Primary visual cortex scales at a rate higher than other primary sensory areas, but lower, for example, than prefrontal cortex (see below), which scales with steep 'positive allometry', occupying a predictably and proportionately larger component of total cortical volume ( Jerison 1997;Semendeferi et al 2002). Parietal cortex, containing many of the areas included in our 'total visual cortex' sample also scales steeply with brain size.…”

Section: (I) Rods and Conesmentioning

confidence: 93%

Peripheral variability and central constancy in mammalian visual system evolution

et al. 2005

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Neural systems are necessarily the adaptive products of natural selection, but a neural system, dedicated to any particular function in a complex brain, may be composed of components that covary with functionally unrelated systems, owing to constraints beyond immediate functional requirements. Some studies support a modular or mosaic organization of the brain, whereas others emphasize coordination and covariation. To contrast these views, we have analysed the retina, striate cortex (V1) and extrastriate cortex (V2, V3, MT, etc.) in 30 mammals, examining the area of the neocortex and individual neocortical areas and the relative numbers of rods and cones. Controlling for brain size and species relatedness, the sizes of visual cortical areas (striate, extrastriate) within the brains of nocturnal and diurnal mammals are not statistically different from one another. The relative sizes of all cortical areas, visual, somatosensory and auditory, are best predicted by the total size of the neocortex. In the sensory periphery, the retina is clearly specialized for niche. New data on rod and cone numbers in various New World primates confirm that rod and cone complements of the retina vary substantially between nocturnal and diurnal species. Although peripheral specializations or receptor surfaces may be highly susceptible to niche-specific selection pressures, the areal divisions of the cerebral cortex are considerably more conservative.

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Section: (I) Rods and Conesmentioning

confidence: 93%

Peripheral variability and central constancy in mammalian visual system evolution

et al. 2005

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“…(1) is a particularly elegant example of a growing body of evidence for this conclusion. For instance, several studies have shown that the human frontal cortex occupies the same proportion of total cortex in humans as it does in great apes (10,11). Therefore, humans are typical primates with regard to the portion of their cortex devoted to frontal cortex.…”

Section: Implications For Neurobiological Continuitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Absolute brain size: Did we throw the baby out with the bathwater?

Marino

2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…The extensive scope of myelination is the single-most unique aspect in which the human brain differs from that of other species [1][2][3]. In this myelin model of human evolution and development, our brain's extensive myelination accounts for the high processing speeds and precise temporal coding underlying higher cognitive and behavioral functions [4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human brain myelination and amyloid beta deposition in Alzheimer's disease

Bartzokis

Mintz

2007

Alzheimer's & Dementia

138

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We hypothesized that myelin breakdown in vulnerable late-myelinating regions releases oligodendrocyte-and myelin-associated iron that promotes amyloid beta (Aβ) oligomerization, its associated toxicity, and the deposition of oligomerized Aβ and iron in neuritic plaques observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The model was tested by using published maps of cortical myelination from 1901 and recent in vivo imaging maps of Aβ deposits in humans. The data show that in AD, radiolabeled ligands detect Aβ deposition in a distribution that matches the map of late-myelinating regions. Furthermore, the strikingly lower ability of this imaging ligand to bind Aβ in animal models is consistent with the much lower levels of myelin and associated iron levels in rodents when compared with humans. The hypotheses derived from the "myelin model" are testable with current imaging methods and have important implications for therapeutic interventions that should be expanded to include novel targets such as oligodendrocytes, myelin, and brain iron.

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Humans and great apes share a large frontal cortex

Cited by 476 publications

References 22 publications

Peripheral variability and central constancy in mammalian visual system evolution

Peripheral variability and central constancy in mammalian visual system evolution

Absolute brain size: Did we throw the baby out with the bathwater?

Human brain myelination and amyloid beta deposition in Alzheimer's disease

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