A description of the central nervous system of the porpoise (Tursiops truncatus)

Langworthy, Orthello R.

doi:10.1002/cne.900540204

Cited by 92 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…In studying the rhinencephalon of the dolphin, Addison 17 found that the hippocampus, fornix, mamillary bodies, and habenular and amygdaloid nuclei are present, although the olfactory bulbs and tracts are lacking. Langworthy 18 made similar observations in the porpoise. It is of interest that the parolfactory cortex, which Edinger termed a center for the Oralsinn, was present in both forms.…”

Section: Commentmentioning

confidence: 59%

Preliminary analysis of functions of the temporal lobes in monkeys. 1939 [classical article]

1997

JNP

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Section: Commentmentioning

confidence: 59%

Preliminary analysis of functions of the temporal lobes in monkeys. 1939 [classical article]

1997

JNP

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“…It has been proposed that the increase in cetacean brain size is related to their specialised acoustic system (Langworthy, 1931(Langworthy, , 1932. Ridgway & Au (1999) state that : '… the great hypertrophy of the dolphin auditory system -and perhaps the entire cerebrum -may result from the animal's need for great precision and speed in processing sound. '…”

Section: (3 ) the Cerebral Cortex And Hippocampal Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

An examination of cetacean brain structure with a novel hypothesis correlating thermogenesis to the evolution of a big brain

2006

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This review examines aspects of cetacean brain structure related to behaviour and evolution. Major considerations include cetacean brain-body allometry, structure of the cerebral cortex, the hippocampal formation, specialisations of the cetacean brain related to vocalisations and sleep phenomenology, paleoneurology, and brain-body allometry during cetacean evolution. These data are assimilated to demonstrate that there is no neural basis for the often-asserted high intellectual abilities of cetaceans. Despite this, the cetaceans do have volumetrically large brains. A novel hypothesis regarding the evolution of large brain size in cetaceans is put forward. It is shown that a combination of an unusually high number of glial cells and unihemispheric sleep phenomenology make the cetacean brain an efficient thermogenetic organ, which is needed to counteract heat loss to the water. It is demonstrated that water temperature is the major selection pressure driving an altered scaling of brain and body size and an increased actual brain size in cetaceans. A point in the evolutionary history of cetaceans is identified as the moment in which water temperature became a significant selection pressure in cetacean brain evolution. This occurred at the Archaeoceti - modern cetacean faunal transition. The size, structure and scaling of the cetacean brain continues to be shaped by water temperature in extant cetaceans. The alterations in cetacean brain structure, function and scaling, combined with the imperative of producing offspring that can withstand the rate of heat loss experienced in water, within the genetic confines of eutherian mammal reproductive constraints, provides an explanation for the evolution of the large size of the cetacean brain. These observations provide an alternative to the widely held belief of a correlation between brain size and intelligence in cetaceans.

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“…These observations indi cate that the medial nucleus is poorly developed or missing in microptic animals,2 whereas it is consistently well-developed in macroptic animals such as carnivores, primates, and those rodents which have well-developed visual 2 The absence of a medial nucleus in porpoises and dolphins seems an exception to the rule that this nucleus regresses only in animals with poor vision. However, the deeply set eyes of cetaceans are generally immobile and oculomotor centers such as the third, 4th and 6th cranial nerve nuclei, superior colliculus, and medial and superior vestibular nuclei are poorly developed, despite normal primary visual pathways [Hatschek and Schlesinger, 1902;Langworthy, 1932;Ogawa and Arifuku, 1948 Among primates, there is some indication that the medial nucleus is relatively larger in nocturnal than in diurnal species. In each of the nocturnal primates studied, the galago, loris, and owl monkey, the medial nucleus is larger than would be expected from their phylogenetic level.…”

Section: Comparative Anatomy O F the Olivary Complexmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Study of the Superior Olivary Complex in the Primate Brain

Moore¹,

Moore²

1971

IJFP

105

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The superior olivary complex is a brainstem auditory center which exhibits differential development of its component nuclei in primates. The nucleus of the trapezoid body and the lateral olivary nucleus are similar in size and are smaller in primates than in carnivores. They do not show an increase in size in the primate series and, as a result, appear to represent relatively insignificant components of the olivary complex in the larger brains of higher primates. In contrast the medial olivary nucleus increases in size through insectivores, prosimians, monkeys, apes and man. The medial nucleus also shows a specific increase in size in nocturnal as compared to diurnal primates. The functional implications of these variations in development of the primate superior olivary complex are discussed.

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A description of the central nervous system of the porpoise (Tursiops truncatus)

Cited by 92 publications

References 9 publications

Preliminary analysis of functions of the temporal lobes in monkeys. 1939 [classical article]

Preliminary analysis of functions of the temporal lobes in monkeys. 1939 [classical article]

An examination of cetacean brain structure with a novel hypothesis correlating thermogenesis to the evolution of a big brain

A Comparative Study of the Superior Olivary Complex in the Primate Brain

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