Human paleoneurology: Shaping cortical evolution in fossil hominids

Emiliano Bruner

42 citations0/0 files storedThe Journal of Comparative Neurology

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Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology Primate Behavior and Ecology Morphological variations and asymmetry

Abstract

Evolutionary neuroanatomy must integrate two different sources of information, namely from fossil and from living species. Fossils supply information concerning the process of evolution, whereas living species supply information on the product of evolution. Unfortunately, the fossil record is partial and fragmented, and often cannot support validations for specific evolutionary hypotheses. Living species can provide more comprehensive indications, but they do not represent ancestral groups or primitive forms. Macaques or chimpanzees are frequently used as proxy for human ancestral conditions, despite the fact they are divergent and specialized lineages, with their own biological features. Similarly, in paleoanthropology independent lineages (such as Neanderthals) should not be confused with ancestral modern human stages. In this comparative framework, paleoneurology deals with the analysis of the endocranial cavity in extinct species, in order to make inferences on brain evolution. A main target of this field is to distinguish the endocranial variations due to brain changes, from those due to cranial constraints. Digital anatomy and computed morphometrics have provided major advances in this field. However, brains and endocasts can be hard to analyze with geometrical models, because of uncertainties due to the localization of cortical landmarks and boundaries. The study of the evolution of the parietal cortex supplies an interesting case-study in which paleontological and neontological data can integrate and test evolutionary hypotheses based on multiple sources of evidence. The relationships with visuospatial functions and brain-body-tool integration stress further that the analysis of the cognitive system should go beyond the neural boundaries of the brain.

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References

1960A functional approach to craniology 2011Stone tools, language and the brain in human evolution 2009The origin of Neandertals 2018The evolution of modern human brain shape 2017The Anatomy of Friendship 2009The Representation of Tool Use in Humans and Monkeys: Common and Uniquely Human Features 2004The Human Fossil Record 2003Encephalization and allometric trajectories in the genus Homo : Evidence from the Neandertal and modern lineages

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2022The parietal lobe evolution and the emergence of material culture in the human genus 2021Evolving Human Brains: Paleoneurology and the Fate of Middle Pleistocene 2020A morphometric comparison of the parietal lobe in modern humans and Neanderthals 2023What do brain endocasts tell us? A comparative analysis of the accuracy of sulcal identification by experts and perspectives in palaeoanthropology 2020Palaeoneurology and the Emergence of Language

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