The Hitchhiker’s guide to the rhinencephalon

Silveira‐Moriyama, Laura; Glass, Philip; Rajan, Sunder S.; Carvalho, Rafael Cabral; Reis, Fabiano; Penatti, Carlos A. A.; Muio, Valeria

doi:10.1590/0004-282x20160043

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 51 publications

(48 reference statements)

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“…This is similar to the history of interpretations of the mammalian hippocampus. Before its role in spatial orientation was discovered (O’Keefe and Nadel 1978 ), the mammalian hippocampus was also considered to be only a ‘nose brain’ (rhinencephalon), for the same reason (Silveira-Moriyama et al 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The PROUST hypothesis: the embodiment of olfactory cognition

Jacobs

2022

Anim Cogn

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The extension of cognition beyond the brain to the body and beyond the body to the environment is an area of debate in philosophy and the cognitive sciences. Yet, these debates largely overlook olfaction, a sensory modality used by most animals. Here, I use the philosopher’s framework to explore the implications of embodiment for olfactory cognition. The philosopher’s 4E framework comprises embodied cognition, emerging from a nervous system characterized by its interactions with its body. The necessity of action for perception adds enacted cognition. Cognition is further embedded in the sensory inputs of the individual and is extended beyond the individual to information stored in its physical and social environments. Further, embodiment must fulfill the criterion of mutual manipulability, where an agent’s cognitive state is involved in continual, reciprocal influences with its environment. Cognition cannot be understood divorced from evolutionary history, however, and I propose adding evolved, as a fifth term to the 4E framework. We must, therefore, begin at the beginning, with chemosensation, a sensory modality that underlies purposive behavior, from bacteria to humans. The PROUST hypothesis (perceiving and reconstructing odor utility in space and time) describers how olfaction, this ancient scaffold and common denominator of animal cognition, fulfills the criteria of embodied cognition. Olfactory cognition, with its near universal taxonomic distribution as well as the near absence of conscious representation in humans, may offer us the best sensorimotor system for the study of embodiment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The PROUST hypothesis: the embodiment of olfactory cognition

Jacobs

2022

Anim Cogn

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“…If murines are to be the default model of spatial orientation by the hippocampus, then it logically follows that experimental design should be tailored both to the species and the brain structure. Until the discovery of hippocampal place cells revealed its role in spatial orientation [8], the hippocampus was described as the 'nose brain', the rhinencephalon [9]. Yet olfaction, a sensory modality that is both a phylogenetically conserved primary input to the hippocampus [10,11], and a primary sensory modality for murines [12,13], has rarely been studied in the context of spatial orientation in these species (but see [14][15][16][17]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are several reasons for this neglect. As diurnal apes, we are 'blinded by vision', studying the sensory modalities for which we have greater conscious awareness [9]. Events in human history have also contributed to human olfaction being underestimated and understudied [20,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How the evolution of air breathing shaped hippocampal function

Jacobs

2021

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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To make maps from airborne odours requires dynamic respiratory patterns. I propose that this constraint explains the modulation of memory by nasal respiration in mammals, including murine rodents (e.g. laboratory mouse, laboratory rat) and humans. My prior theories of limbic system evolution offer a framework to understand why this occurs. The answer begins with the evolution of nasal respiration in Devonian lobe-finned fishes. This evolutionary innovation led to adaptive radiations in chemosensory systems, including the emergence of the vomeronasal system and a specialization of the main olfactory system for spatial orientation. As mammals continued to radiate into environments hostile to spatial olfaction (air, water), there was a loss of hippocampal structure and function in lineages that evolved sensory modalities adapted to these new environments. Hence the independent evolution of echolocation in bats and toothed whales was accompanied by a loss of hippocampal structure (whales) and an absence of hippocampal theta oscillations during navigation (bats). In conclusion, models of hippocampal function that are divorced from considerations of ecology and evolution fall short of explaining hippocampal diversity across mammals and even hippocampal function in humans. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Systems neuroscience through the lens of evolutionary theory’.

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The Hitchhiker’s guide to the rhinencephalon

Cited by 2 publications

References 51 publications

The PROUST hypothesis: the embodiment of olfactory cognition

The PROUST hypothesis: the embodiment of olfactory cognition

How the evolution of air breathing shaped hippocampal function

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