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PubMed1997

How fibers subserve computing capabilities: similarities between brains and machines.

Can the principles underlying the design of computers help to explain the cognitive capabilities of the human brain? This chapter shows that these principles can provide insight into the capabilities of the human cerebellum, the internal structure of which bears a remarkable resemblance to the design of a versatile computer. In computers, information processing is accomplished both by the hardware in the system (its circuitry) and by the software (the communication capabilities inherent in its circuitry), which is combination can produce a versatile information-processing system, capable of performing a wide variety of functions, including motor, sensory, cognitive, and linguistic ones. Such versatility of function is achieved by computer hardware in which many modules of similar circuits are organized into parallel processing networks; this structural organization is exemplified in the cerebellum by its longitudinal modules of similar circuits, which are arrayed in parallel zones throughout the structure. On the basis of this known cerebellar "hardware," it is possible to investigate the "software" capabilities inherent in the circuitry of the modules. Each module in the lateral cerebellum seems able to communicate with the cerebral cortex by sending out signals over a segregated bundle of nerve fibers, which is a powerful way of communicating information. We show why this bundling of fibers can enable the cerebellum to communicate with the cerebral cortex (including the prefrontal cortex) at a high level of discourse by using internal languages that are capable of conveying complex information about what to do and when to do it. We propose that such communication activity is reflected in the activation obtained on functional imaging of the cerebro-cerebellar system during the performance by humans of complex motor, sensory, cognitive, linguistic, and affective tasks. Further, we propose a new way of analyzing such cerebro-cerebellar activation, in order to ascertain whether the cerebellar circuitry can (like the circuitry in a versatile computer) perform a wide repertoire of computations on this wide range of information. It seems important to ascertain whether cerebellar circuitry is versatile in its computing capabilities because the demonstration of such versatile capabilities would enable theorists to resolve many of the current controversies about cognitive processing in the mammalian brain.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Hypothesis: Alzheimer's disease is a phylogenetic disease.

It is hypothesized that Alzheimer's disease is a human phylogenetic disease which has a common multifactorial pathogenesis in sporadic and familial cases and in Down syndrome, related to a genomic character function G(x). Increments in G(x) accompanied the increased gene expression that sustained brain growth and differentiation during hominid evolution, particularly of the regions liable to Alzheimer pathology, and further occur in Down syndrome [suggesting that genes on chromosome 21 are included in G(x)]. If genes which promoted human brain evolution contribute to the value of G(x), a better understanding of the genomic events which promoted this evolution, using molecular biological techniques, should elucidate the genetic basis of Alzheimer's disease, and vice versa.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed2001

Structure and expression of the transthyretin gene in the choroid plexus: a model for the study of the mechanism of evolution.

Thyroid hormones are key regulators of brain differentiation and function. They permeate strongly into lipid membranes. However, a substantial portion of thyroid hormone is retained in the intravascular/extracellular compartments by binding to plasma proteins. In the brain, transthyretin is the most important of these proteins. This transthyretin is synthesized in the epithelial cells of the choroid plexus and exclusively secreted towards the brain. A net movement of thyroid hormones from the blood to the brain ensues. During evolution, transthyretin synthesis in the choroid plexus and the beginnings of a neocortex first appeared at the stage of the stem reptiles. The affinity of transthyretin for thyroxine increased and that for triiodothyronine decreased during evolution. This could augment the importance of deiodination for regulation of metabolism and gene expression by thyroid hormones in the brain. Successive shifts of the splice site at the 5' end of exon 2 of transthyretin precursor mRNA in the 3' direction led to a shortening of the N-terminal sections and to an increase in hydrophilicity of the N-terminal regions of transthyretin. This shift can be explained by a sequence of single base mutations. It could be an example for a molecular mechanism of positive Darwinian evolution. The selection pressure, which led to the expression of the transthyretin gene in the choroid plexus during evolution, might have been the maintenance of thyroid hormone homeostasis in the extracellular compartment of the brain in the presence of the greatly increasing volume of the lipid phase.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2005

The neurogenetics and evolution of food-related behaviour.

All organisms must acquire nutrients from the ambient environment to survive. In animals, the need to eat has driven the evolution of a rich array of complex food-related behaviours that ensure appropriate nutrient intake in diverse niches. Here, we review some of the neural and genetic components that contribute to the regulation of food-related behaviour in invertebrates, with emphasis on mechanisms that are conserved throughout various taxa and activities. We focus on synthesizing neurobiological and genetic approaches into a neurogenetic framework that explains food-related behaviour as the product of interactions between neural substrates, genes and internal and external environments.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1996

Ethical clinical practice of functional brain imaging. Society of Nuclear Medicine Brain Imaging Council.

The development and evolution of functional brain imaging technology and their broad application to a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders have led to their scientifically sound use in specific clinical situations. In addition, there is a growing diversity of empirical new applications where there is little previous research or clinical experience. Therefore, a committee of the Brain Imaging Council of the Society of Nuclear Medicine was formed to address the need for specific guidelines regarding scan interpretation and reporting. This committee considered the wide range of current and potential uses of PET and SPECT, including its growing role in forensics. A set of basic guidelines for the reporting and interpretation of brain imaging studies applicable to all clinical situations, including forensics, was formulated. These guidelines were composed in a manner sensitive to the need for standards that are scientifically defensible now, and which will continue to be valid as the field evolves. It is the intent of the committee and its summary document to positively influence the clinical use of brain SPECT and PET by offering guidance concerning the elements essential to a complete and useful clinical report, defining standards to differentiate well-established clinical applications from research uses and providing a framework in which to consider the appropriateness of functional brain imaging used in the forensic arena.

Brain↗
PubMed1996

The anatomy of the cochlear nuclei and superior olivary complex of arboreal Australian marsupials.

Cytoarchitectural and morphometric analyses were carried out on the cochlear nuclear and superior olivary complexes of nine representative possums and gliders, members of a large group of nocturnal, arboreal Australian marsupials, many of which have well developed vocalizations. The cochlear nuclear complex was displaced medial to the restiform body in all species; this has previously been reported in other marsupials. The dorsal cochlear nucleus was generally very much larger than any other nucleus in this complex. A small cochlear nerve root nucleus was present in all species, a feature shared with rodents. The anteroventral cochlear nucleus was present throughout almost the entire rostrocaudal extent of the complex. The component nuclei of the superior olivary complex had similar positional relationships to those in eutherians. The lateral superior olive was the largest nucleus, having a volume usually greater than the sum of the volumes of the medial superior olive and medial nucleus of the trapezoid body. The smaller species had a very much larger number of neurons in the superior olive relative to brain size than did the larger species. A similar disproportion was demonstrated between cochlear nucleus volume and brain weight.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Bilateral thalamocortical projection in hedgehogs: evolutionary implications.

In adult hedgehogs with large unilateral cortical deposits of fluorescent somatopetal tracers, labelled perikarya were found not only in the ipsilateral but also contralateral thalamus. An exceptionally large number of contralaterally labelled neurons was seen in the ventrolateral nucleus, also at a considerable distance from the midline. Deposits of one of two different tracers in the frontoparietal cortex of each hemisphere appear to label different perikarya in each ventrolateral nucleus. This projection to the contralateral cortex in hedgehogs does not resemble thalamo-cortical connections in either adult or developing brains of other mammalian species. Among amniotes, only in pigeons have contralateral projections from the thalamus to the telencephalon been described. The somatosensorimotor system of hedgehogs may be the only known mammalian remnant of primitive vertebrate thalamocortical organization. Whether primitive or derived, the bilateral thalamocortical projection in hedgehogs shows that hedgehog brains cannot be uncritically taken to represent brains of primate ancestors.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

The brain and its main anatomical subdivisions in living hominoids using magnetic resonance imaging.

Primary comparative data on the hominoid brain are scarce and major neuroanatomical differences between humans and apes have not yet been described satisfactorily, even at the gross level. Basic questions that involve the evolution of the human brain cannot be addressed adequately unless the brains of all extant hominoid species are analyzed. Contrary to the scarcity of original data, there is a rich literature on the topic of human brain evolution and several debates exist on the size of particular sectors of the brain, e.g., the frontal lobe. In this study we applied a non-invasive imaging technique (magnetic resonance) on living human, great ape and lesser ape subjects in order to investigate the overall size of the hominoid brain. The images were reconstructed in three dimensions and volumetric estimates were obtained for the brain and its main anatomical sectors, including the frontal and temporal lobes, the insula, the parieto-occipital sector and the cerebellum.A remarkable homogeneity is present in the relative size of many of the large sectors of the hominoid brain, but interspecific and intraspecific variation exists in certain parts of the brain. The human cerebellum is smaller than expected for an ape brain of human size. It is suggested that the cerebellum increased less than the cerebrum after the split of the human lineage from the African ancestral hominoid stock. In contrast, humans have a slightly larger temporal lobe and insula than expected, but differences are not statistically significant. Humans do not have a larger frontal lobe than expected for an ape brain of human size and gibbons have a relatively smaller frontal lobe than the rest of the hominoids. Given the fact that the frontal lobe in humans and great apes has similar relative size, it is parsimonious to suggest that the relative size of the whole of the frontal lobe has not changed significantly during hominid evolution in the Plio-Pleistocene.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Evolution of Emx genes and brain development in vertebrates.

Emx1 and Emx2 genes are known to be involved in mammalian forebrain development. In order to investigate the evolution of the Emx gene family in vertebrates, a phylogenetic analysis was carried out on the Emx genes sequenced in man, mice, frogs, coelacanths and zebrafish. The results demonstrated the existence of two clades (Emx1 and Emx2), each grouping one of the two genes of the investigated taxa. The only exception was the zebrafish Emx1-like gene which turned out to be a sister group to both the Emx1 and Emx2 clusters. Such striking sequence divergence observed for the zebrafish Emx1-like gene could indicate that it is not orthologous to the other Emx1 genes, and therefore, in vertebrates there must be three Emx genes. Alternatively, if the zebrafish emx1 gene is orthologous to the tetrapod one, it must have undergone to strong diversifying selection.

Animals↗