The primitive brain of early<i>Homo</i>

León, Marcia S. Ponce de; Bienvenu, Thibault; Marom, Assaf; Engel, Silvano; Tafforeau, Paul; Warren, José Luis Alatorre; Lordkipanidze, David; Kurniawan, Iwan; Murti, Delta Bayu; Suriyanto, Rusyad Adi; Koesbardiati, Toetik; Zollikofer, Christoph P. E.

doi:10.1126/science.aaz0032

Cited by 107 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 98 publications

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“…2.0 million years ago even though late australopiths (e.g., Paranthropus) underwent extensive diversification. With the evolution of Homo, brains began to expand but gross neural organization may have remained primitive (Ponce de León et al, 2021). Additionally, brain expansion was not universal in fossil Homo as evidenced by the small-brained Middle and Late Pleistocene hominins Homo naledi (Berger et al, 2015;Montgomery, 2018) and Homo floresiensis (Brown et al, 2004; Figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When and Why Did Human Brains Decrease in Size? A New Change-Point Analysis and Insights From Brain Evolution in Ants

et al. 2021

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Human brain size nearly quadrupled in the six million years since Homo last shared a common ancestor with chimpanzees, but human brains are thought to have decreased in volume since the end of the last Ice Age. The timing and reason for this decrease is enigmatic. Here we use change-point analysis to estimate the timing of changes in the rate of hominin brain evolution. We find that hominin brains experienced positive rate changes at 2.1 and 1.5 million years ago, coincident with the early evolution of Homo and technological innovations evident in the archeological record. But we also find that human brain size reduction was surprisingly recent, occurring in the last 3,000 years. Our dating does not support hypotheses concerning brain size reduction as a by-product of body size reduction, a result of a shift to an agricultural diet, or a consequence of self-domestication. We suggest our analysis supports the hypothesis that the recent decrease in brain size may instead result from the externalization of knowledge and advantages of group-level decision-making due in part to the advent of social systems of distributed cognition and the storage and sharing of information. Humans live in social groups in which multiple brains contribute to the emergence of collective intelligence. Although difficult to study in the deep history of Homo, the impacts of group size, social organization, collective intelligence and other potential selective forces on brain evolution can be elucidated using ants as models. The remarkable ecological diversity of ants and their species richness encompasses forms convergent in aspects of human sociality, including large group size, agrarian life histories, division of labor, and collective cognition. Ants provide a wide range of social systems to generate and test hypotheses concerning brain size enlargement or reduction and aid in interpreting patterns of brain evolution identified in humans. Although humans and ants represent very different routes in social and cognitive evolution, the insights ants offer can broadly inform us of the selective forces that influence brain size.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When and Why Did Human Brains Decrease in Size? A New Change-Point Analysis and Insights From Brain Evolution in Ants

et al. 2021

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“…There is converging evidence that the human brain, as compared to that of our primate relatives, has experienced significant structural reorganizations in association regions throughout evolution [3,33]. Here, we took advantage of a unique neuroimaging dataset of sex-matched and age-equivalent human and chimpanzee to study how the structural brain wirings of these species support different patterns of whole-brain neural dynamics underpinning brain function.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary shaping of human brain dynamics

Pang

Rilling

Roberts

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The human brain is distinct from those of other species in terms of size, organization, and connectivity. How do these structural evolutionary differences drive patterns of neural activity enabling brain function? Here, we combine brain imaging and biophysical modeling to show that the anatomical wiring of the human brain distinctly shapes neural dynamics. This shaping is characterized by a narrower distribution of dynamic ranges across brain regions compared with that of chimpanzees, our closest living primate relatives. We find that such a sharp dynamic range distribution supports faster integration between regions, particularly in transmodal systems. Conversely, a broad dynamic range distribution as seen in chimpanzees facilitates brain processes relying more on neural interactions within specialized local brain systems. These findings suggest that human brain dynamics have evolved to foster rapid associative processes in service of complex cognitive functions and behavior.

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“…Depending on the method of image acquisition, it is even possible to access internal structures such as endocranium and osseous labyrinth (e.g. Conde-Valverde et al, 2021;Ponce de León et al, 2021). In addition, virtual restoration follows reversible procedures without compromising the physical integrity of the fossils (Bauer & Harvati, 2015;Zollikofer et al, 2005).…”

Section: Digital Applications In Archaeology and Anthropologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Crania Canaria 2.0: construyendo una colección virtual de cráneos

Serrano‐Ramos

2022

Virtual archaeol. rev.

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El Museo Canario stores a large collection of aboriginal skulls that have been essential to the study of the origin and chronology of the population of the Canary archipelago since the 19th century. Regrettably, research has been dominated by biased and racial interpretations of both bioarchaeological and cultural evidence. When scientific racism and craniometric studies were rejected, studies of the Canarian indigenous skulls variability was also abandoned without replies. However, digital technologies and virtual sciences allow us to improve research and re-evaluate old paradigms. In this work, we present a digitalisation project aiming to construct a virtual database of the indigenous Canarian skulls, using a simple method of digitalisation that is very suitable to deal with large collections- The procedure, involving a portable 3D structured light scanner has allowed us to digitally reproduce more than 400 skulls stored at Museo Canario. This work offers a wide variety of possibilities for archaeology and anthropology. The versatility of 3D digital models enables the generation of interactive documentation, educational material for digital conservation and dissemination purposes. Indeed, 3D models are easily shared and can be displayed over diverse web-based repositories and online platforms and so, creating virtual online museums. We have created a profile in Sketchfab (https://sketchfab.com/craniacanaria2.0) where we intend to upload gradually the complete virtual collection of skulls we have realised. Moreover, digital skulls can serve as research objects. We discuss the advantages of studying 3D objects in a computerised environment, which includes traditional anthropometric studies (linear measurements and angles) but also 3D geometric morphometric approaches. In fact, in future studies, we will apply 3D geometric morphometrics for reassessing skull variation of ancient Canarians going beyond old paradigms and taking into account the latest advances in archaeology, anthropology and genetics in Canarian research. Highlights:- El Museo Canario stores an exceptional human skull collection that has served as the basis for numerous studies seeking to reveal the origin and chronology of the indigenous population.- This study presents an easy methodology for obtaining digital imagery using a 3D surface scanner, which allows constructing a virtual skull collection comprising more than 400 individuals.- Virtual 3D models have numerous advantages and applications in anthropology and archaeology, not only improving research but also permitting the re-evaluation of old paradigms.

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The primitive brain of earlyHomo

Cited by 107 publications

References 98 publications

When and Why Did Human Brains Decrease in Size? A New Change-Point Analysis and Insights From Brain Evolution in Ants

When and Why Did Human Brains Decrease in Size? A New Change-Point Analysis and Insights From Brain Evolution in Ants

Evolutionary shaping of human brain dynamics

Crania Canaria 2.0: construyendo una colección virtual de cráneos

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