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Manrique HM, Friston KJ, Walker MJ. 'Snakes and ladders' in paleoanthropology: From cognitive surprise to skillfulness a million years ago. Phys Life Rev 2024; 49:40-70. [PMID: 38513522 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2024.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
A paradigmatic account may suffice to explain behavioral evolution in early Homo. We propose a parsimonious account that (1) could explain a particular, frequently-encountered, archeological outcome of behavior in early Homo - namely, the fashioning of a Paleolithic stone 'handaxe' - from a biological theoretic perspective informed by the free energy principle (FEP); and that (2) regards instances of the outcome as postdictive or retrodictive, circumstantial corroboration. Our proposal considers humankind evolving as a self-organizing biological ecosystem at a geological time-scale. We offer a narrative treatment of this self-organization in terms of the FEP. Specifically, we indicate how 'cognitive surprises' could underwrite an evolving propensity in early Homo to express sporadic unorthodox or anomalous behavior. This co-evolutionary propensity has left us a legacy of Paleolithic artifacts that is reminiscent of a 'snakes and ladders' board game of appearances, disappearances, and reappearances of particular archeological traces of Paleolithic behavior. When detected in the Early and Middle Pleistocene record, anthropologists and archeologists often imagine evidence of unusual or novel behavior in terms of early humankind ascending the rungs of a figurative phylogenetic 'ladder' - as if these corresponded to progressive evolution of cognitive abilities that enabled incremental achievements of increasingly innovative technical prowess, culminating in the cognitive ascendancy of Homo sapiens. The conjecture overlooks a plausible likelihood that behavior by an individual who was atypical among her conspecifics could have been disregarded in a community of Hominina (for definition see Appendix 1) that failed to recognize, imagine, or articulate potential advantages of adopting hitherto unorthodox behavior. Such failure, as well as diverse fortuitous demographic accidents, would cause exceptional personal behavior to be ignored and hence unremembered. It could disappear by a pitfall, down a 'snake', as it were, in the figurative evolutionary board game; thereby causing a discontinuity in the evolution of human behavior that presents like an evolutionary puzzle. The puzzle discomforts some paleoanthropologists trained in the natural and life sciences. They often dismiss it, explaining it away with such self-justifying conjectures as that, maybe, separate paleospecies of Homo differentially possessed different cognitive abilities, which, supposedly, could account for the presence or absence in the Pleistocene archeological record of traces of this or that behavioral outcome or skill. We argue that an alternative perspective - that inherits from the FEP and an individual's 'active inference' about its surroundings and of its own responses - affords a prosaic, deflationary, and parsimonious way to account for appearances, disappearances, and reappearances of particular behavioral outcomes and skills of early humankind.
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Affiliation(s)
- Héctor Marín Manrique
- Department of Psychology and Sociology, Universidad de Zaragoza, Ciudad Escolar, s/n, Teruel 44003, Spain
| | - Karl John Friston
- Imaging Neuroscience, Institute of Neurology, and The Wellcome Centre for Human Imaging, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Michael John Walker
- Physical Anthropology, Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus Universitario de Espinardo Edificio 20, Murcia 30100, Spain.
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Boch M, Huber L, Lamm C. Domestic dogs as a comparative model for social neuroscience: Advances and challenges. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 162:105700. [PMID: 38710423 PMCID: PMC7616343 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Revised: 03/19/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Dogs and humans have lived together for thousands of years and share many analogous socio-cognitive skills. Dog neuroimaging now provides insight into the neural bases of these shared social abilities. Here, we summarize key findings from dog fMRI identifying neocortical brain areas implicated in visual social cognition, such as face, body, and emotion perception, as well as action observation in dogs. These findings provide converging evidence that the temporal cortex plays a significant role in visual social cognition in dogs. We further briefly review investigations into the neural base of the dog-human relationship, mainly involving limbic brain regions. We then discuss current challenges in the field, such as statistical power and lack of common template spaces, and how to overcome them. Finally, we argue that the foundation has now been built to investigate and compare the neural bases of more complex socio-cognitive phenomena shared by dogs and humans. This will strengthen and expand the role of the domestic dog as a powerful comparative model species and provide novel insights into the evolutionary roots of social cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena Boch
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria; Department of Cognitive Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna 1090, Austria.
| | - Ludwig Huber
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna, Vienna 1210, Austria
| | - Claus Lamm
- Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria; Vienna Cognitive Science Hub, University of Vienna, Vienna 1010, Austria
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Wang Y, Cheng L, Li D, Lu Y, Wang C, Wang Y, Gao C, Wang H, Vanduffel W, Hopkins WD, Sherwood CC, Jiang T, Chu C, Fan L. Comparative Analysis of Human-Chimpanzee Divergence in Brain Connectivity and its Genetic Correlates. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.03.597252. [PMID: 38895242 PMCID: PMC11185649 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.03.597252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are humans' closest living relatives, making them the most directly relevant comparison point for understanding human brain evolution. Zeroing in on the differences in brain connectivity between humans and chimpanzees can provide key insights into the specific evolutionary changes that might have occured along the human lineage. However, conducting comparisons of brain connectivity between humans and chimpanzees remains challenging, as cross-species brain atlases established within the same framework are currently lacking. Without the availability of cross-species brain atlases, the region-wise connectivity patterns between humans and chimpanzees cannot be directly compared. To address this gap, we built the first Chimpanzee Brainnetome Atlas (ChimpBNA) by following a well-established connectivity-based parcellation framework. Leveraging this new resource, we found substantial divergence in connectivity patterns across most association cortices, notably in the lateral temporal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex between the two species. Intriguingly, these patterns significantly deviate from the patterns of cortical expansion observed in humans compared to chimpanzees. Additionally, we identified regions displaying connectional asymmetries that differed between species, likely resulting from evolutionary divergence. Genes associated with these divergent connectivities were found to be enriched in cell types crucial for cortical projection circuits and synapse formation. These genes exhibited more pronounced differences in expression patterns in regions with higher connectivity divergence, suggesting a potential foundation for brain connectivity evolution. Therefore, our study not only provides a fine-scale brain atlas of chimpanzees but also highlights the connectivity divergence between humans and chimpanzees in a more rigorous and comparative manner and suggests potential genetic correlates for the observed divergence in brain connectivity patterns between the two species. This can help us better understand the origins and development of uniquely human cognitive capabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yufan Wang
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Luqi Cheng
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China
- Research Center for Augmented Intelligence, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou 311100, China
| | - Deying Li
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Yuheng Lu
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Changshuo Wang
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Yaping Wang
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Chaohong Gao
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Haiyan Wang
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- Department of Neurosciences, Laboratory of Neuro- and Psychophysiology, KU Leuven Medical School, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Wim Vanduffel
- Department of Neurosciences, Laboratory of Neuro- and Psychophysiology, KU Leuven Medical School, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
- Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02144, USA
| | - William D. Hopkins
- Department of Comparative Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, TX 78602, USA
| | - Chet C. Sherwood
- Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Tianzi Jiang
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- Research Center for Augmented Intelligence, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou 311100, China
| | - Congying Chu
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Lingzhong Fan
- Brainnetome Center, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- Sino-Danish College, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Health and Life Sciences, University of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Qingdao 266000, China
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Tariciotti L, Mattioli L, Viganò L, Gallo M, Gambaretti M, Sciortino T, Gay L, Conti Nibali M, Gallotti A, Cerri G, Bello L, Rossi M. Object-oriented hand dexterity and grasping abilities, from the animal quarters to the neurosurgical OR: a systematic review of the underlying neural correlates in non-human, human primate and recent findings in awake brain surgery. Front Integr Neurosci 2024; 18:1324581. [PMID: 38425673 PMCID: PMC10902498 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2024.1324581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction The sensorimotor integrations subserving object-oriented manipulative actions have been extensively investigated in non-human primates via direct approaches, as intracortical micro-stimulation (ICMS), cytoarchitectonic analysis and anatomical tracers. However, the understanding of the mechanisms underlying complex motor behaviors is yet to be fully integrated in brain mapping paradigms and the consistency of these findings with intraoperative data obtained during awake neurosurgical procedures for brain tumor removal is still largely unexplored. Accordingly, there is a paucity of systematic studies reviewing the cross-species analogies in neural activities during object-oriented hand motor tasks in primates and investigating the concordance with intraoperative findings during brain mapping. The current systematic review was designed to summarize the cortical and subcortical neural correlates of object-oriented fine hand actions, as revealed by fMRI and PET studies, in non-human and human primates and how those were translated into neurosurgical studies testing dexterous hand-movements during intraoperative brain mapping. Methods A systematic literature review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science databases were searched. Original articles were included if they: (1) investigated cortical activation sites on fMRI and/or PET during grasping task; (2) included humans or non-human primates. A second query was designed on the databases above to collect studies reporting motor, hand manipulation and dexterity tasks for intraoperative brain mapping in patients undergoing awake brain surgery for any condition. Due to the heterogeneity in neurosurgical applications, a qualitative synthesis was deemed more appropriate. Results We provided an updated overview of the current state of the art in translational neuroscience about the extended frontoparietal grasping-praxis network with a specific focus on the comparative functioning in non-human primates, healthy humans and how the latter knowledge has been implemented in the neurosurgical operating room during brain tumor resection. Discussion The anatomical and functional correlates we reviewed confirmed the evolutionary continuum from monkeys to humans, allowing a cautious but practical adoption of such evidence in intraoperative brain mapping protocols. Integrating the previous results in the surgical practice helps preserve complex motor abilities, prevent long-term disability and poor quality of life and allow the maximal safe resection of intrinsic brain tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Tariciotti
- Neurosurgical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Luca Mattioli
- Neurosurgical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Luca Viganò
- Neurosurgical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Matteo Gallo
- Neurosurgical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Matteo Gambaretti
- Neurosurgical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Tommaso Sciortino
- Neurosurgical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Gay
- Neurosurgical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Marco Conti Nibali
- Neurosurgical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Alberto Gallotti
- Neurosurgical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Gabriella Cerri
- MoCA Laboratory, Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Bello
- Neurosurgical Oncology Unit, Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Marco Rossi
- Neurosurgical Oncology Unit, Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
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Friederici AD, Wittig RM, Anwander A, Eichner C, Gräßle T, Jäger C, Kirilina E, Lipp I, Düx A, Edwards LJ, Girard-Buttoz C, Jauch A, Kopp KS, Paquette M, Pine KJ, Unwin S, Haun DBM, Leendertz FH, McElreath R, Morawski M, Gunz P, Weiskopf N, Crockford C. Brain structure and function: a multidisciplinary pipeline to study hominoid brain evolution. Front Integr Neurosci 2024; 17:1299087. [PMID: 38260006 PMCID: PMC10800984 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2023.1299087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
To decipher the evolution of the hominoid brain and its functions, it is essential to conduct comparative studies in primates, including our closest living relatives. However, strong ethical concerns preclude in vivo neuroimaging of great apes. We propose a responsible and multidisciplinary alternative approach that links behavior to brain anatomy in non-human primates from diverse ecological backgrounds. The brains of primates observed in the wild or in captivity are extracted and fixed shortly after natural death, and then studied using advanced MRI neuroimaging and histology to reveal macro- and microstructures. By linking detailed neuroanatomy with observed behavior within and across primate species, our approach provides new perspectives on brain evolution. Combined with endocranial brain imprints extracted from computed tomographic scans of the skulls these data provide a framework for decoding evolutionary changes in hominin fossils. This approach is poised to become a key resource for investigating the evolution and functional differentiation of hominoid brains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela D. Friederici
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Roman M. Wittig
- Evolution of Brain Connectivity Project, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences Marc Jeannerod, UMR CNRS, University Claude Bernard Lyon, Bron, France
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, CSRS, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Alfred Anwander
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Cornelius Eichner
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tobias Gräßle
- Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
| | - Carsten Jäger
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Medical Faculty, Center of Neuropathology and Brain Research, Paul Flechsig Institute, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Evgeniya Kirilina
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ilona Lipp
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ariane Düx
- Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
- Helmholtz Institute for One Health, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Luke J. Edwards
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Cédric Girard-Buttoz
- Evolution of Brain Connectivity Project, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences Marc Jeannerod, UMR CNRS, University Claude Bernard Lyon, Bron, France
| | - Anna Jauch
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Kathrin S. Kopp
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael Paquette
- Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Kerrin J. Pine
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Steve Unwin
- School of Bioscience, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel B. M. Haun
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Fabian H. Leendertz
- Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany
- Helmholtz Institute for One Health, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Richard McElreath
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Markus Morawski
- Medical Faculty, Center of Neuropathology and Brain Research, Paul Flechsig Institute, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Philipp Gunz
- Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nikolaus Weiskopf
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Faculty of Physics and Earth System Sciences, Felix Bloch Institute for Solid State Physics, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Catherine Crockford
- Evolution of Brain Connectivity Project, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute for Cognitive Sciences Marc Jeannerod, UMR CNRS, University Claude Bernard Lyon, Bron, France
- Taï Chimpanzee Project, CSRS, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
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Friederici AD. Evolutionary neuroanatomical expansion of Broca's region serving a human-specific function. Trends Neurosci 2023; 46:786-796. [PMID: 37596132 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2023.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2023] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/20/2023]
Abstract
The question concerning the evolution of language is directly linked to the debate on whether language and action are dependent or not and to what extent Broca's region serves as a common neural basis. The debate resulted in two opposing views, one arguing for and one against the dependence of language and action mainly based on neuroscientific data. This article presents an evolutionary neuroanatomical framework which may offer a solution to this dispute. It is proposed that in humans, Broca's region houses language and action independently in spatially separated subregions. This became possible due to an evolutionary expansion of Broca's region in the human brain, which was not paralleled by a similar expansion in the chimpanzee's brain, providing additional space needed for the neural representation of language in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela D Friederici
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Department of Neuropsychology, Stephanstraße 1A, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
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7
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Willbrand EH, Maboudian SA, Kelly JP, Parker BJ, Foster BL, Weiner KS. Sulcal morphology of posteromedial cortex substantially differs between humans and chimpanzees. Commun Biol 2023; 6:586. [PMID: 37264068 PMCID: PMC10235074 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04953-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent studies identify a surprising coupling between evolutionarily new sulci and the functional organization of human posteromedial cortex (PMC). Yet, no study has compared this modern PMC sulcal patterning between humans and non-human hominoids. To fill this gap in knowledge, we first manually defined over 2500 PMC sulci in 120 chimpanzee (Pan Troglodytes) hemispheres and 144 human hemispheres. We uncovered four new sulci, and quantitatively identified species differences in sulcal incidence, depth, and surface area. Interestingly, some sulci are more common in humans and others, in chimpanzees. Further, we found that the prominent marginal ramus of the cingulate sulcus differs significantly between species. Contrary to classic observations, the present results reveal that the surface anatomy of PMC substantially differs between humans and chimpanzees-findings which lay a foundation for better understanding the evolution of neuroanatomical-functional and neuroanatomical-behavioral relationships in this highly expanded region of the human cerebral cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ethan H Willbrand
- Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Samira A Maboudian
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Joseph P Kelly
- Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Benjamin J Parker
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Brett L Foster
- Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Kevin S Weiner
- Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA.
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8
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Manrique HM, Walker MJ. To copy or not to copy? That is the question! From chimpanzees to the foundation of human technological culture. Phys Life Rev 2023; 45:6-24. [PMID: 36931123 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2023]
Abstract
A prerequisite for copying innovative behaviour faithfully is the capacity of observers' brains, regarded as 'hierarchically mechanistic minds', to overcome cognitive 'surprisal' (see 2.), by maximising the evidence for their internal models, through active inference. Unlike modern humans, chimpanzees and other great apes show considerable limitations in their ability, or 'Zone of Bounded Surprisal', to overcome cognitive surprisal induced by innovative or unorthodox behaviour that rarely, therefore, is copied precisely or accurately. Most can copy adequately what is within their phenotypically habitual behavioural repertoire, in which technology plays scant part. Widespread intra- and intergenerational social transmission of complex technological innovations is not a hall-mark of great-ape taxa. 3 Ma, precursors of the genus Homo made stone artefacts, and stone-flaking likely was habitual before 2 Ma. After that time, early Homo erectus has left traces of technological innovations, though faithful copying of these and their intra- and intergenerational social transmission were rare before 1 Ma. This likely owed to a cerebral infrastructure of interconnected neuronal systems more limited than ours. Brains were smaller in size than ours, and cerebral neuronal systems ceased to develop when early Homo erectus attained full adult maturity by the mid-teen years, whereas its development continues until our mid-twenties nowadays. Pleistocene Homo underwent remarkable evolutionary adaptation of neurobiological propensities, and cerebral aspects are discussed that, it is proposed here, plausibly, were fundamental for faithful copying, which underpinned social transmission of technologies, cumulative learning, and culture. Here, observers' responses to an innovation are more important for ensuring its transmission than is an innovator's production of it, because, by themselves, the minimal cognitive prerequisites that are needed for encoding and assimilating innovations are insufficient for practical outcomes to accumulate and spread intra- and intergenerationally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Héctor M Manrique
- Departamento de Psicología y Sociología, Universidad de Zaragoza, Campus Universitario de Teruel, 44003, Teruel, Spain.
| | - Michael J Walker
- Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus Universitario de Espinardo Edificio 20, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
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9
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Neuroplasticity enables bio-cultural feedback in Paleolithic stone-tool making. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2877. [PMID: 36807588 PMCID: PMC9938911 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29994-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Stone-tool making is an ancient human skill thought to have played a key role in the bio-cultural co-evolutionary feedback that produced modern brains, culture, and cognition. To test the proposed evolutionary mechanisms underpinning this hypothesis we studied stone-tool making skill learning in modern participants and examined interactions between individual neurostructural differences, plastic accommodation, and culturally transmitted behavior. We found that prior experience with other culturally transmitted craft skills increased both initial stone tool-making performance and subsequent neuroplastic training effects in a frontoparietal white matter pathway associated with action control. These effects were mediated by the effect of experience on pre-training variation in a frontotemporal pathway supporting action semantic representation. Our results show that the acquisition of one technical skill can produce structural brain changes conducive to the discovery and acquisition of additional skills, providing empirical evidence for bio-cultural feedback loops long hypothesized to link learning and adaptive change.
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10
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Willbrand EH, Maboudian SA, Kelly JP, Parker BJ, Foster BL, Weiner KS. Sulcal morphology of posteromedial cortex substantially differs between humans and chimpanzees. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.06.527223. [PMID: 36798269 PMCID: PMC9934567 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.06.527223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/10/2023]
Abstract
Recent studies identify a surprising coupling between evolutionarily new sulci and the functional organization of human posteromedial cortex (PMC). Yet, no study has compared this modern PMC sulcal patterning between humans and non-human hominoids. To fill this gap in knowledge, we first manually defined 918 sulci in 120 chimpanzee ( Pan Troglodytes ) hemispheres and 1619 sulci in 144 human hemispheres. We uncovered four new PMC sulci, and quantitatively identified species differences in incidence, depth, and surface area. Interestingly, some PMC sulci are more common in humans and others, in chimpanzees. Further, we found that the prominent marginal ramus of the cingulate sulcus differs significantly between species. Contrary to classic observations, the present results reveal that the surface anatomy of PMC substantially differs between humans and chimpanzees â€" findings which lay a foundation for better understanding the evolution of neuroanatomical-functional and neuroanatomical-behavioral relationships in this highly expanded region of the human cerebral cortex.
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11
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Cytoarchitecture, myeloarchitecture, and parcellation of the chimpanzee inferior parietal lobe. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:63-82. [PMID: 35676436 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-022-02514-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2022] [Accepted: 05/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
The parietal lobe is a region of especially pronounced change in human brain evolution. Based on comparative neuroanatomical studies, the inferior parietal lobe (IPL) has been shown to be disproportionately larger in humans relative to chimpanzees and macaques. However, it remains unclear whether the underlying histological architecture of IPL cortical areas displays human-specific organization. Chimpanzees are among the closest living relatives of humans, making them an ideal comparative species to investigate potential evolutionary changes in the IPL. We parcellated the chimpanzee IPL using cytoarchitecture and myeloarchitecture, in combination with quantitative comparison of cellular features between the identified cortical areas. Four major areas on the lateral convexity of the chimpanzee IPL (PF, PFG, PG, OPT) and two opercular areas (PFOP, PGOP) were identified, similar to what has been observed in macaques. Analysis of the quantitative profiles of cytoarchitecture showed that cell profile density was significantly different in a combination of layers III, IV, and V between bordering cortical areas, and that the density profiles of these six areas supports their classification as distinct. The similarity to macaque IPL cytoarchitecture suggests that chimpanzees share homologous IPL areas. In comparison, human rostral IPL is reported to differ in its anatomical organization and to contain additional subdivisions, such as areas PFt and PFm. These changes in human brain evolution might have been important as tool making capacities became more complex.
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12
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Kaczanowska J, Ganglberger F, Chernomor O, Kargl D, Galik B, Hess A, Moodley Y, von Haeseler A, Bühler K, Haubensak W. Molecular archaeology of human cognitive traits. Cell Rep 2022; 40:111287. [PMID: 36044840 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2019] [Revised: 05/20/2022] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The brains and minds of our human ancestors remain inaccessible for experimental exploration. Therefore, we reconstructed human cognitive evolution by projecting nonsynonymous/synonymous rate ratios (ω values) in mammalian phylogeny onto the anatomically modern human (AMH) brain. This atlas retraces human neurogenetic selection and allows imputation of ancestral evolution in task-related functional networks (FNs). Adaptive evolution (high ω values) is associated with excitatory neurons and synaptic function. It shifted from FNs for motor control in anthropoid ancestry (60-41 mya) to attention in ancient hominoids (26-19 mya) and hominids (19-7.4 mya). Selection in FNs for language emerged with an early hominin ancestor (7.4-1.7 mya) and was later accompanied by adaptive evolution in FNs for strategic thinking during recent (0.8 mya-present) speciation of AMHs. This pattern mirrors increasingly complex cognitive demands and suggests that co-selection for language alongside strategic thinking may have separated AMHs from their archaic Denisovan and Neanderthal relatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Kaczanowska
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Campus-Vienna-Biocenter 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Olga Chernomor
- Center for Integrative Bioinformatics Vienna (CIBIV), Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Dr. Bohr Gasse 9, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Dominic Kargl
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Campus-Vienna-Biocenter 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria; Department of Neuronal Cell Biology, Center for Brain Research, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Bence Galik
- Bioinformatics and Scientific Computing, Vienna Biocenter Core Facilities (VBCF), Dr. Bohr Gasse 3, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - Andreas Hess
- Institute of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Fahrstrasse 17, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Yoshan Moodley
- Department of Zoology, University of Venda, Private Bag X5050, Thohoyandou, Republic of South Africa
| | - Arndt von Haeseler
- Center for Integrative Bioinformatics Vienna (CIBIV), Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Dr. Bohr Gasse 9, 1030 Vienna, Austria; Faculty of Computer Science, University of Vienna, Währinger Str. 29, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Katja Bühler
- VRVis Research Center, Donau-City Strasse 11, 1220 Vienna, Austria
| | - Wulf Haubensak
- Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Vienna Biocenter (VBC), Campus-Vienna-Biocenter 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria; Department of Neuronal Cell Biology, Center for Brain Research, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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13
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Mulholland MM, Schapiro SJ, Sherwood CC, Hopkins WD. Phenotypic and genetic associations between gray matter covariation and tool use skill in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Repeatability in two genetically isolated populations. Neuroimage 2022; 257:119292. [PMID: 35551989 PMCID: PMC9351395 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans and chimpanzees both exhibit a diverse set of tool use skills which suggests selection for tool manufacture and use occurred in the common ancestors of the two species. Our group has previously reported phenotypic and genetic associations between tool use skill and gray matter covariation, as quantified by source-based morphometry (SBM), in chimpanzees. As a follow up study, here we evaluated repeatability in heritability in SBM components and their phenotypic association with tool use skill in two genetically independent chimpanzee cohorts. Within the two independent cohorts of chimpanzees, we identified 8 and 16 SBM components, respectively. Significant heritability was evident for multiple SBM components within both cohorts. Further, phenotypic associations between tool use performance and the SBM components were largely consistent between the two cohorts; the most consistent finding being an association between tool use performance and an SBM component including the posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS) and superior temporal gyrus (STG), and the interior and superior parietal regions (p< 0.05). These findings indicate that the STS, STG, and parietal cortices are phenotypically and genetically implicated in chimpanzee tool use abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- M M Mulholland
- Department of Comparative Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 650 Cool Water Drive, Bastrop, TX 78602, USA.
| | - S J Schapiro
- Department of Comparative Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 650 Cool Water Drive, Bastrop, TX 78602, USA; Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - C C Sherwood
- Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - W D Hopkins
- Department of Comparative Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 650 Cool Water Drive, Bastrop, TX 78602, USA
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14
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Van Overwalle F, Manto M, Cattaneo Z, Clausi S, Ferrari C, Gabrieli JDE, Guell X, Heleven E, Lupo M, Ma Q, Michelutti M, Olivito G, Pu M, Rice LC, Schmahmann JD, Siciliano L, Sokolov AA, Stoodley CJ, van Dun K, Vandervert L, Leggio M. Consensus Paper: Cerebellum and Social Cognition. CEREBELLUM (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2020; 19:833-868. [PMID: 32632709 PMCID: PMC7588399 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-020-01155-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 196] [Impact Index Per Article: 49.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The traditional view on the cerebellum is that it controls motor behavior. Although recent work has revealed that the cerebellum supports also nonmotor functions such as cognition and affect, only during the last 5 years it has become evident that the cerebellum also plays an important social role. This role is evident in social cognition based on interpreting goal-directed actions through the movements of individuals (social "mirroring") which is very close to its original role in motor learning, as well as in social understanding of other individuals' mental state, such as their intentions, beliefs, past behaviors, future aspirations, and personality traits (social "mentalizing"). Most of this mentalizing role is supported by the posterior cerebellum (e.g., Crus I and II). The most dominant hypothesis is that the cerebellum assists in learning and understanding social action sequences, and so facilitates social cognition by supporting optimal predictions about imminent or future social interaction and cooperation. This consensus paper brings together experts from different fields to discuss recent efforts in understanding the role of the cerebellum in social cognition, and the understanding of social behaviors and mental states by others, its effect on clinical impairments such as cerebellar ataxia and autism spectrum disorder, and how the cerebellum can become a potential target for noninvasive brain stimulation as a therapeutic intervention. We report on the most recent empirical findings and techniques for understanding and manipulating cerebellar circuits in humans. Cerebellar circuitry appears now as a key structure to elucidate social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank Van Overwalle
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Mario Manto
- Mediathèque Jean Jacquy, Service de Neurologie, CHU-Charleroi, Charleroi, Belgium
- Service des Neurosciences, Université de Mons, Mons, Belgium
| | - Zaira Cattaneo
- University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy
- IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
| | - Silvia Clausi
- Ataxia Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | | | - John D. E. Gabrieli
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
| | - Xavier Guell
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
- Ataxia Unit, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology Unit, Laboratory for Neuroanatomy and Cerebellar Neurobiology, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Elien Heleven
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Michela Lupo
- Ataxia Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy
| | - Qianying Ma
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Marco Michelutti
- Service de Neurologie & Neuroscape@NeuroTech Platform, Département des Neurosciences Cliniques, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Service de Neurologie Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Neurosciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Giusy Olivito
- Ataxia Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Min Pu
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Laura C. Rice
- Department of Psychology and Department of Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC USA
| | - Jeremy D. Schmahmann
- Ataxia Unit, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology Unit, Laboratory for Neuroanatomy and Cerebellar Neurobiology, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Libera Siciliano
- Program in Behavioral Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Arseny A. Sokolov
- Service de Neurologie & Neuroscape@NeuroTech Platform, Département des Neurosciences Cliniques, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Service de Neurologie Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Neurology, University Neurorehabilitation, University Hospital Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London (UCL), London, UK
- Neuroscape Center, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA USA
| | - Catherine J. Stoodley
- Department of Psychology and Department of Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC USA
| | - Kim van Dun
- Neurologic Rehabilitation Research, Rehabilitation Research Institute (REVAL), Hasselt University, 3590 Diepenbeek, Belgium
| | - Larry Vandervert
- American Nonlinear Systems, 1529 W. Courtland Avenue, Spokane, WA 99205-2608 USA
| | - Maria Leggio
- Ataxia Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179 Rome, Italy
- Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
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15
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Bohn M, Kordt C, Braun M, Call J, Tomasello M. Learning Novel Skills From Iconic Gestures: A Developmental and Evolutionary Perspective. Psychol Sci 2020; 31:873-880. [PMID: 32453622 DOI: 10.1177/0956797620921519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Cumulative cultural learning has been argued to rely on high-fidelity copying of other individuals' actions. Iconic gestures of actions have no physical effect on objects in the world but merely represent actions that would have an effect. Learning from iconic gestures thus requires paying close attention to the teacher's precise bodily movements-a prerequisite for high-fidelity copying. In three studies, we investigated whether 2- and 3-year-old children (N = 122) and great apes (N = 36) learn novel skills from iconic gestures. When faced with a novel apparatus, participants watched an experimenter perform either an iconic gesture depicting the action necessary to open the apparatus or a gesture depicting a different action. Children, but not great apes, profited from iconic gestures, with older children doing so to a larger extent. These results suggest that high-fidelity copying abilities are firmly in place in humans by at least 3 years of age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Bohn
- Leipzig Research Center for Early Child Development, Leipzig University
| | - Clara Kordt
- Department of Psychology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
| | - Maren Braun
- Department of Psychology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
| | - Josep Call
- Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.,School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews
| | - Michael Tomasello
- Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.,Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University
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16
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Palagi E, Celeghin A, Tamietto M, Winkielman P, Norscia I. The neuroethology of spontaneous mimicry and emotional contagion in human and non-human animals. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 111:149-165. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.01.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2019] [Revised: 11/27/2019] [Accepted: 01/18/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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17
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Abstract
The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and frontal motor areas comprise a cortical network supporting goal-directed behaviour, with functions including sensorimotor transformations and decision making. In primates, this network links performed and observed actions via mirror neurons, which fire both when individuals perform an action and when they observe the same action performed by a conspecific. Mirror neurons are believed to be important for social learning, but it is not known whether mirror-like neurons occur in similar networks in other social species, such as rodents, or if they can be measured in such models using paradigms where observers passively view a demonstrator. Therefore, we imaged Ca2+ responses in PPC and secondary motor cortex (M2) while mice performed and observed pellet-reaching and wheel-running tasks, and found that cell populations in both areas robustly encoded several naturalistic behaviours. However, neural responses to the same set of observed actions were absent, although we verified that observer mice were attentive to performers and that PPC neurons responded reliably to visual cues. Statistical modelling also indicated that executed actions outperformed observed actions in predicting neural responses. These results raise the possibility that sensorimotor action recognition in rodents could take place outside of the parieto-frontal circuit, and underscore that detecting socially-driven neural coding depends critically on the species and behavioural paradigm used.
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18
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Bryant KL, Glasser MF, Li L, Jae-Cheol Bae J, Jacquez NJ, Alarcón L, Fields A, Preuss TM. Organization of extrastriate and temporal cortex in chimpanzees compared to humans and macaques. Cortex 2019; 118:223-243. [PMID: 30910223 PMCID: PMC6697630 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2018] [Revised: 08/31/2018] [Accepted: 02/13/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
There is evidence for enlargement of association cortex in humans compared to other primate species. Expansion of temporal association cortex appears to have displaced extrastriate cortex posteriorly and inferiorly in humans compared to macaques. However, the details of the organization of these recently expanded areas are still being uncovered. Here, we used diffusion tractography to examine the organization of extrastriate and temporal association cortex in chimpanzees, humans, and macaques. Our goal was to characterize the organization of visual and auditory association areas with respect to their corresponding primary areas (primary visual cortex and auditory core) in humans and chimpanzees. We report three results: (1) Humans, chimpanzees, and macaques show expected retinotopic organization of primary visual cortex (V1) connectivity to V2 and to areas immediately anterior to V2; (2) In contrast to macaques, chimpanzee and human V1 shows apparent connectivity with lateral, inferior, and anterior temporal regions, beyond the retinotopically organized extrastriate areas; (3) Also in contrast to macaques, chimpanzee and human auditory core shows apparent connectivity with temporal association areas, with some important differences between humans and chimpanzees. Diffusion tractography reconstructs diffusion patterns that reflect white matter organization, but does not definitively represent direct anatomical connectivity. Therefore, it is important to recognize that our findings are suggestive of species differences in long-distance white matter organization rather than demonstrations of direct connections. Our data support the conclusion that expansion of temporal association cortex, and the resulting posterior displacement of extrastriate cortex, occurred in the human lineage after its separation from the chimpanzee lineage. It is possible, however, that some expansion of the temporal lobe occurred prior to the separation of humans and chimpanzees, reflected in the reorganization of long white matter tracts in the temporal lobe that connect occipital areas to the fusiform gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and anterior temporal lobe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine L Bryant
- Division of Neuropharmacology and Neurologic Diseases, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Matthew F Glasser
- Departments of Radiology and Neuroscience, Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Longchuan Li
- Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jason Jae-Cheol Bae
- Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; College of Medicine, American University of Antigua, USA
| | - Nadine J Jacquez
- Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Laura Alarcón
- Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Archie Fields
- Department of Philosophy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Todd M Preuss
- Division of Neuropharmacology and Neurologic Diseases, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Center for Translational Social Neuroscience, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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19
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Ardesch DJ, Scholtens LH, van den Heuvel MP. The human connectome from an evolutionary perspective. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2019; 250:129-151. [PMID: 31703899 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2019.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The connectome describes the comprehensive set of neuronal connections of a species' central nervous system. Identifying the network characteristics of the human macroscale connectome and comparing these features with connectomes of other species provides insight into the evolution of human brain connectivity and its role in brain function. Several network properties of the human connectome are conserved across species, with emerging evidence also indicating potential human-specific adaptations of connectome topology. This review describes the human macroscale structural and functional connectome, focusing on common themes of brain wiring in the animal kingdom and network adaptations that may underlie human brain function. Evidence is drawn from comparative studies across a wide range of animal species, and from research comparing human brain wiring with that of non-human primates. Approaching the human connectome from a comparative perspective paves the way for network-level insights into the evolution of human brain structure and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dirk Jan Ardesch
- Connectome Lab, Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Lianne H Scholtens
- Connectome Lab, Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Martijn P van den Heuvel
- Connectome Lab, Department of Complex Trait Genetics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Clinical Genetics, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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20
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Vandervert L. The evolution of theory of mind (ToM) within the evolution of cerebellar sequence detection in stone-tool making and language: implications for studies of higher-level cognitive functions in degenerative cerebellar atrophy. CEREBELLUM & ATAXIAS 2019; 6:1. [PMID: 31293790 PMCID: PMC6591877 DOI: 10.1186/s40673-019-0101-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2019] [Accepted: 06/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Within the context of Clausi, Olivito, Lupo, Siciliano, Bozzali and Leggio's (Cell Neurosci 12:510, 2019) insightful study of how prediction of theory of mind (ToM) is compromised in degenerative cerebellar atrophy, this article describes how prediction can also be understood as the cerebro-cerebellar system's capacity to rapidly shift attention to manipulate cause-and-effect relationships embedded in language. METHOD The evolution of the capacity of ToM is described within the evolution of stone-tool making, language, and the origin of the phonological loop in verbal working memory. Specifically, it is argued that this evolutionary framework offers a way to get further inside the prediction process by illuminating how sub-vocal speech evolved during stone-tool evolution due to its adaptive refinement of early human ability to manipulate and hold in memory progressively more detailed cause-and-effect relationships in the origin of verbal working memory. CONCLUSION The addition of sub-vocal speech/cause-and-effect relationship to the analysis of prediction provides an evolutionary model of the mechanisms of ToM, which, in turn, brings forward additional cerebro-cerebellar mechanisms which can (1) further support Clausi, Olivito, Lupo et al's findings and (2) shed light on additional mechanisms that might further clarify what might be behind cerebellar dysfunction in the construction of ToM. Problems encountered by cerebellar degenerative atrophy patients with the Faux pas test and Advanced ToM task with unexpected events may stem from a combination of an inability (1) of their cerebellar internal models to rapidly switch attention among cause-and-effect elements of the stories and (2) to extend cerebellar internal models to the prediction of the resulting similar but unexpected events. That is, with both (1) and (2) occurring at the same time, alternative meanings of causes and effects might be missed in both automatic and consciously manipulated sub-vocal verbal working memory. A method to measure sub-vocal speech in this context is suggested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Larry Vandervert
- American Nonlinear Systems, 1529 W. Courtland Avenue Spokane, Spokane, WA 99205-2608 USA
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21
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A dyadic brain model of ape gestural learning, production and representation. Anim Cogn 2019; 22:519-534. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-018-1228-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2016] [Revised: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 12/10/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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22
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Abstract
This article offers a succinct overview of the hypothesis that the evolution of cognition could benefit from a close examination of brain changes reflected in the shape of the neurocranium. I provide both neurological and genetic evidence in support of this hypothesis, and conclude that the study of language evolution need not be regarded as a mystery.
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23
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Whiten A, van de Waal E. Social learning, culture and the ‘socio-cultural brain’ of human and non-human primates. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 82:58-75. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.12.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2016] [Revised: 12/15/2016] [Accepted: 12/19/2016] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
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24
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Hecht EE, Mahovetz LM, Preuss TM, Hopkins WD. A neuroanatomical predictor of mirror self-recognition in chimpanzees. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2017; 12:37-48. [PMID: 27803287 PMCID: PMC5390703 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsw159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2016] [Accepted: 10/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to recognize one's own reflection is shared by humans and only a few other species, including chimpanzees. However, this ability is highly variable across individual chimpanzees. In humans, self-recognition involves a distributed, right-lateralized network including frontal and parietal regions involved in the production and perception of action. The superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) is a system of white matter tracts linking these frontal and parietal regions. The current study measured mirror self-recognition (MSR) and SLF anatomy in 60 chimpanzees using diffusion tensor imaging. Successful self-recognition was associated with greater rightward asymmetry in the white matter of SLFII and SLFIII, and in SLFIII's gray matter terminations in Broca's area. We observed a visible progression of SLFIII's prefrontal extension in apes that show negative, ambiguous, and compelling evidence of MSR. Notably, SLFIII's terminations in Broca's area are not right-lateralized or particularly pronounced at the population level in chimpanzees, as they are in humans. Thus, chimpanzees with more human-like behavior show more human-like SLFIII connectivity. These results suggest that self-recognition may have co-emerged with adaptations to frontoparietal circuitry.
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Affiliation(s)
- E E Hecht
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience.,Division of Developmental and Cognitive Neuroscience, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - L M Mahovetz
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - T M Preuss
- Division of Neuropharmacology and Neurologic Diseases, Yerkes National Primate Research Center.,Center for Translational Social Neuroscience.,Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - W D Hopkins
- Center for Behavioral Neuroscience.,Division of Neuropharmacology and Neurologic Diseases, Yerkes National Primate Research Center.,The Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA.,Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
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25
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Tennie C, Premo LS, Braun DR, McPherron SP. Early Stone Tools and Cultural Transmission: Resetting the Null Hypothesis. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1086/693846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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26
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Abstract
Culture suffuses all aspects of human life. It shapes our minds and bodies and has provided a cumulative inheritance of knowledge, skills, institutions, and artifacts that allows us to truly stand on the shoulders of giants. No other species approaches the extent, diversity, and complexity of human culture, but we remain unsure how this came to be. The very uniqueness of human culture is both a puzzle and a problem. It is puzzling as to why more species have not adopted this manifestly beneficial strategy and problematic because the comparative methods of evolutionary biology are ill suited to explain unique events. Here, we develop a more particularistic and mechanistic evolutionary neuroscience approach to cumulative culture, taking into account experimental, developmental, comparative, and archaeological evidence. This approach reconciles currently competing accounts of the origins of human culture and develops the concept of a uniquely human technological niche rooted in a shared primate heritage of visuomotor coordination and dexterous manipulation.
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27
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Rosati AG. Uncovering the behavior and cognition of the earliest stone tool makers. Evol Anthropol 2016; 25:269-270. [PMID: 28004890 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra G Rosati
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138
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28
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Gruber T, Grandjean D. A comparative neurological approach to emotional expressions in primate vocalizations. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2016; 73:182-190. [PMID: 27993605 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2016] [Revised: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 12/03/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Different approaches from different research domains have crystallized debate over primate emotional processing and vocalizations in recent decades. On one side, researchers disagree about whether emotional states or processes in animals truly compare to those in humans. On the other, a long-held assumption is that primate vocalizations are innate communicative signals over which nonhuman primates have limited control and a mirror of the emotional state of the individuals producing them, despite growing evidence of intentional production for some vocalizations. Our goal is to connect both sides of the discussion in deciphering how the emotional content of primate calls compares with emotional vocal signals in humans. We focus particularly on neural bases of primate emotions and vocalizations to identify cerebral structures underlying emotion, vocal production, and comprehension in primates, and discuss whether particular structures or neuronal networks solely evolved for specific functions in the human brain. Finally, we propose a model to classify emotional vocalizations in primates according to four dimensions (learning, control, emotional, meaning) to allow comparing calls across species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thibaud Gruber
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences and Department of Psychology and Sciences of Education, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Didier Grandjean
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences and Department of Psychology and Sciences of Education, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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29
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Tramacere A, Pievani T, Ferrari PF. Mirror neurons in the tree of life: mosaic evolution, plasticity and exaptation of sensorimotor matching responses. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2016; 92:1819-1841. [PMID: 27862868 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2015] [Revised: 10/05/2016] [Accepted: 10/10/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Considering the properties of mirror neurons (MNs) in terms of development and phylogeny, we offer a novel, unifying, and testable account of their evolution according to the available data and try to unify apparently discordant research, including the plasticity of MNs during development, their adaptive value and their phylogenetic relationships and continuity. We hypothesize that the MN system reflects a set of interrelated traits, each with an independent natural history due to unique selective pressures, and propose that there are at least three evolutionarily significant trends that gave raise to three subtypes: hand visuomotor, mouth visuomotor, and audio-vocal. Specifically, we put forward a mosaic evolution hypothesis, which posits that different types of MNs may have evolved at different rates within and among species. This evolutionary hypothesis represents an alternative to both adaptationist and associative models. Finally, the review offers a strong heuristic potential in predicting the circumstances under which specific variations and properties of MNs are expected. Such predictive value is critical to test new hypotheses about MN activity and its plastic changes, depending on the species, the neuroanatomical substrates, and the ecological niche.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonella Tramacere
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Parma, 43100, Italy.,Deutsche Primaten Zentrum - Lichtenberg-Kolleg, Institute for Advanced Study, 37083, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Telmo Pievani
- Department of Biology, University of Padua, Padua, 35131, Italy
| | - Pier F Ferrari
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Parma, 43100, Italy.,Institut des Sciences Cognitives 'Marc Jeannerod', CNRS/Université Claude Bernard Lyon, 69675, Bron Cedex, France
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Frayer DW, Clarke RJ, Fiore I, Blumenschine RJ, Pérez-Pérez A, Martinez LM, Estebaranz F, Holloway R, Bondioli L. OH-65: The earliest evidence for right-handedness in the fossil record. J Hum Evol 2016; 100:65-72. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2015] [Revised: 03/05/2016] [Accepted: 07/04/2016] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
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Gallea C, Horovitz SG, Najee-Ullah M'A, Hallett M. Impairment of a parieto-premotor network specialized for handwriting in writer's cramp. Hum Brain Mapp 2016; 37:4363-4375. [PMID: 27466043 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2015] [Revised: 06/22/2016] [Accepted: 07/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Handwriting with the dominant hand is a highly skilled task singularly acquired in humans. This skill is the isolated deficit in patients with writer's cramp (WC), a form of dystonia with maladaptive plasticity, acquired through intensive and repetitive motor practice. When a skill is highly trained, a motor program is created in the brain to execute the same movement kinematics regardless of the effector used for the task. The task- and effector-specific symptoms in WC suggest that a problem particularly occurs in the brain when the writing motor program is carried out by the dominant hand. In this MRI study involving 12 WC patients (with symptoms only affecting the right dominant hand during writing) and 15 age matched unaffected controls we showed that: (1) the writing program recruited the same network regardless of the effector used to write in both groups; (2) dominant handwriting recruited a segregated parieto-premotor network only in the control group; (3) local structural alteration of the premotor area, the motor component of this network, predicted functional connectivity deficits during dominant handwriting and symptom duration in the patient group. Dysfunctions and structural abnormalities of a segregated parieto-premotor network in WC patients suggest that network specialization in focal brain areas is crucial for well-learned motor skill. Hum Brain Mapp 37:4363-4375, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecile Gallea
- Human Motor Control Section, Medical Neurology Branch. NINDS, NIH 10 Center Drive, Bldg 10/7D37, Bethesda, MD, 20892 and Centre de Neuroimagerie de Recherche (CENIR), Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle (ICM), 47-83 boulevard de l'hôpital, 75651 Paris Cedex 13, France
| | - Silvina G Horovitz
- Human Motor Control Section, Medical Neurology Branch. NINDS, NIH 10 Center Drive, Bldg 10/7D42, Bethesda, MD, 20892
| | - Muslimah 'Ali Najee-Ullah
- Human Motor Control Section, Medical Neurology Branch. NINDS, NIH, 10 Center Drive, Bldg 10/7D42, Bethesda, MD, 20892
| | - Mark Hallett
- Human Motor Control Section, Medical Neurology Branch. NINDS, NIH 10 Center Drive, Bldg 10/7D37, Bethesda, MD, 20892
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32
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Hecht E. Adaptations to vision-for-action in primate brain evolution: Comment on “Towards a Computational Comparative Neuroprimatology: Framing the language-ready brain” by Michael A. Arbib. Phys Life Rev 2016; 16:74-6. [DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2016.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2016] [Accepted: 01/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Hecht EE, Gutman DA, Bradley BA, Preuss TM, Stout D. Virtual dissection and comparative connectivity of the superior longitudinal fasciculus in chimpanzees and humans. Neuroimage 2015; 108:124-37. [PMID: 25534109 PMCID: PMC4324003 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.12.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2014] [Revised: 12/03/2014] [Accepted: 12/08/2014] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Many of the behavioral capacities that distinguish humans from other primates rely on fronto-parietal circuits. The superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) is the primary white matter tract connecting lateral frontal with lateral parietal regions; it is distinct from the arcuate fasciculus, which interconnects the frontal and temporal lobes. Here we report a direct, quantitative comparison of SLF connectivity using virtual in vivo dissection of the SLF in chimpanzees and humans. SLF I, the superior-most branch of the SLF, showed similar patterns of connectivity between humans and chimpanzees, and was proportionally volumetrically larger in chimpanzees. SLF II, the middle branch, and SLF III, the inferior-most branch, showed species differences in frontal connectivity. In humans, SLF II showed greater connectivity with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, whereas in chimps SLF II showed greater connectivity with the inferior frontal gyrus. SLF III was right-lateralized and proportionally volumetrically larger in humans, and human SLF III showed relatively reduced connectivity with dorsal premotor cortex and greater extension into the anterior inferior frontal gyrus, especially in the right hemisphere. These results have implications for the evolution of fronto-parietal functions including spatial attention to observed actions, social learning, and tool use, and are in line with previous research suggesting a unique role for the right anterior inferior frontal gyrus in the evolution of human fronto-parietal network architecture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin E Hecht
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 1557 Dickey Drive, Rm 114, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
| | - David A Gutman
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Emory University School of Medicine, 36 Eagle Row, PAIS Building, 5th Floor South, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
| | - Bruce A Bradley
- Department of Archaeology, University of Exeter, Laver Building, North Park Road, Exeter EX4 4QE, UK.
| | - Todd M Preuss
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Div. Neuropharmacology & Neurologic Diseases & Center for Translational Social Neuroscience, Emory University, 954 Gatewood Rd., Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.
| | - Dietrich Stout
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 1557 Dickey Drive, Rm 114, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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Marino BFM, Sirianni M, Volta RD, Magliocco F, Silipo F, Quattrone A, Buccino G. Viewing photos and reading nouns of natural graspable objects similarly modulate motor responses. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:968. [PMID: 25538596 PMCID: PMC4255516 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2014] [Accepted: 11/13/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well known that the observation of graspable objects recruits the same motor representations involved in their actual manipulation. Recent evidence suggests that the presentation of nouns referring to graspable objects may exert similar effects. So far, however, it is not clear to what extent the modulation of the motor system during object observation overlaps with that related to noun processing. To address this issue, 2 behavioral experiments were carried out using a go-no go paradigm. Healthy participants were presented with photos and nouns of graspable and non-graspable natural objects. Also scrambled images and pseudowords obtained from the original stimuli were used. At a go-signal onset (150 ms after stimulus presentation) participants had to press a key when the stimulus referred to a real object, using their right (Experiment 1) or left (Experiment 2) hand, and refrain from responding when a scrambled image or a pseudoword was presented. Slower responses were found for both photos and nouns of graspable objects as compared to non-graspable objects, independent of the responding hand. These findings suggest that processing seen graspable objects and written nouns referring to graspable objects similarly modulates the motor system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara F M Marino
- Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisiologia, Università di Parma Parma, Italy ; Dipartimento di Psicologia, University Milano Bicocca Milano, Italy
| | - Miriam Sirianni
- IRCCS Neuromed Pozzilli, Italy ; Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Università "Magna Graecia" di Catanzaro Germaneto, Italy
| | - Riccardo Dalla Volta
- Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Università "Magna Graecia" di Catanzaro Germaneto, Italy
| | - Fabio Magliocco
- Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Università "Magna Graecia" di Catanzaro Germaneto, Italy
| | - Francesco Silipo
- Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Università "Magna Graecia" di Catanzaro Germaneto, Italy
| | - Aldo Quattrone
- Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Università "Magna Graecia" di Catanzaro Germaneto, Italy
| | - Giovanni Buccino
- IRCCS Neuromed Pozzilli, Italy ; Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Università "Magna Graecia" di Catanzaro Germaneto, Italy
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Mendoza G, Merchant H. Motor system evolution and the emergence of high cognitive functions. Prog Neurobiol 2014; 122:73-93. [PMID: 25224031 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2014.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2014] [Revised: 08/15/2014] [Accepted: 09/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
In human and nonhuman primates, the cortical motor system comprises a collection of brain areas primarily related to motor control. Existing evidence suggests that no other mammalian group has the number, extension, and complexity of motor-related areas observed in the frontal lobe of primates. Such diversity is probably related to the wide behavioral flexibility that primates display. Indeed, recent comparative anatomical, psychophysical, and neurophysiological studies suggest that the evolution of the motor cortical areas closely correlates with the emergence of high cognitive abilities. Advances in understanding the cortical motor system have shown that these areas are also related to functions previously linked to higher-order associative areas. In addition, experimental observations have shown that the classical distinction between perceptual and motor functions is not strictly followed across cortical areas. In this paper, we review evidence suggesting that evolution of the motor system had a role in the shaping of different cognitive functions in primates. We argue that the increase in the complexity of the motor system has contributed to the emergence of new abilities observed in human and nonhuman primates, including the recognition and imitation of the actions of others, speech perception and production, and the execution and appreciation of the rhythmic structure of music.
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Affiliation(s)
- Germán Mendoza
- Instituto de Neurobiología, UNAM, Campus Juriquilla, Mexico.
| | - Hugo Merchant
- Instituto de Neurobiología, UNAM, Campus Juriquilla, Mexico.
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Abstract
To examine great apes’ on-line prediction of other individuals’ actions, we used an eye-tracking technique and an experimental paradigm previously used to test human infants. Twenty-two great apes, including bonobos, chimpanzees, and orangutans, were familiarized to movie clips of a human hand reaching to grasp one of two objects. Then the objects’ locations were swapped, and in the test event, the hand made an incomplete reach between the objects. In a control condition, a mechanical claw performed the same actions. The apes predictively looked at the familiarized goal object rather than the familiarized location when viewing the hand action in the test event. However, they made no prediction when viewing the claw action. These results are similar to those reported previously for human infants, and predictive looking did not differ among the three species of great apes. Thus, great apes make on-line goal-based predictions about the actions of other individuals; this skill is not unique to humans but is shared more widely among primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fumihiro Kano
- Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Japan Society for Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan
- Kumamoto Sanctuary, Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University
| | - Josep Call
- Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews
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Acquisition of Paleolithic toolmaking abilities involves structural remodeling to inferior frontoparietal regions. Brain Struct Funct 2014; 220:2315-31. [DOI: 10.1007/s00429-014-0789-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2013] [Accepted: 04/25/2014] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
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Abstract
In this review, we propose that the neural basis for the spontaneous, diversified human tool use is an area devoted to the execution and observation of tool actions, located in the left anterior supramarginal gyrus (aSMG). The aSMG activation elicited by observing tool use is typical of human subjects, as macaques show no similar activation, even after an extensive training to use tools. The execution of tool actions, as well as their observation, requires the convergence upon aSMG of inputs from different parts of the dorsal and ventral visual streams. Non-semantic features of the target object may be provided by the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) for tool-object interaction, paralleling the well-known PPC input to anterior intraparietal (AIP) for hand-object interaction. Semantic information regarding tool identity, and knowledge of the typical manner of handling the tool, could be provided by inferior and middle regions of the temporal lobe. Somatosensory feedback and technical reasoning, as well as motor and intentional constraints also play roles during the planning of tool actions and consequently their signals likewise converge upon aSMG. We further propose that aSMG may have arisen though duplication of monkey AIP and invasion of the duplicate area by afferents from PPC providing distinct signals depending on the kinematics of the manipulative action. This duplication may have occurred when Homo Habilis or Homo Erectus emerged, generating the Oldowan or Acheulean Industrial complexes respectively. Hence tool use may have emerged during hominid evolution between bipedalism and language. We conclude that humans have two parietal systems involved in tool behavior: a biological circuit for grasping objects, including tools, and an artifactual system devoted specifically to tool use. Only the latter allows humans to understand the causal relationship between tool use and obtaining the goal, and is likely to be the basis of all technological developments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guy A Orban
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma Parma, Italy
| | - Fausto Caruana
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma Parma, Italy ; Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition, Italian Institute of Technology Parma, Italy
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Differential reliance of chimpanzees and humans on automatic and deliberate control of motor actions. Cognition 2014; 131:355-66. [PMID: 24632429 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2014.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2013] [Revised: 02/04/2014] [Accepted: 02/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Humans are often unaware of how they control their limb motor movements. People pay attention to their own motor movements only when their usual motor routines encounter errors. Yet little is known about the extent to which voluntary actions rely on automatic control and when automatic control shifts to deliberate control in nonhuman primates. In this study, we demonstrate that chimpanzees and humans showed similar limb motor adjustment in response to feedback error during reaching actions, whereas attentional allocation inferred from gaze behavior differed. We found that humans shifted attention to their own motor kinematics as errors were induced in motor trajectory feedback regardless of whether the errors actually disrupted their reaching their action goals. In contrast, chimpanzees shifted attention to motor execution only when errors actually interfered with their achieving a planned action goal. These results indicate that the species differed in their criteria for shifting from automatic to deliberate control of motor actions. It is widely accepted that sophisticated motor repertoires have evolved in humans. Our results suggest that the deliberate monitoring of one's own motor kinematics may have evolved in the human lineage.
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