From mice to men: the evolution of the large, complex human brain
From mice to men: the evolution of the large, complex human brain
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DOI：
10.1007/bf02703695
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发表时间：
2005-03-01
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Kaas, JH
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Kaas, JH
我对大脑进化的兴趣发展，因为我有机会与两位杰出的神经科学家一起研究，他们研究了不同哺乳动物的大脑是如何相似和不同的。在读研究生时，我曾与杜克大学的欧文·戴蒙德（Irving Diamond）共事。戴蒙德的实验室研究了一些很少被研究的哺乳动物的大脑组织和行为，如树鼩、松鼠、刺猬和负鼠。我继续在威斯康星州大学进行博士后培训，克林顿·伍尔西（Clinton Woolsey）在那里描述了兔子、猫和猴子新皮层的感觉和运动区域的组织。有一段时间，我专注于研究新大陆猫头鹰猴的视觉皮层组织。在我被任命为范德比尔特大学的副教授后，在一群才华横溢的研究生和博士后研究员的帮助和领导下，我能够逐步扩大我的研究范围，包括对体感、听觉和运动系统的研究。随着时间的推移，我们能够在一系列哺乳动物中研究这些系统，包括一些原猿类和猿类灵长类动物，以及研究猿和人类自然死亡后获得的大脑材料。我们还研究了刺猬、马岛长尾猴、鼩 鼱、鼹鼠、大鼠、松鼠、猫和树鼩，但总的目标是了解大脑的相似性和不同之处，并利用这些信息来推断从早期哺乳动物到现代人类的大脑进化过程。就像探索宇宙一样，任务是如此巨大，我们永远不会完成，但乐趣就在旅程中，我们觉得我们取得了巨大的进步。未来是特别光明的，因为当我开始这段旅程时，几乎没有方法可以揭示大脑的组织和功能。渐渐地，更强大的方法出现了，我们现在似乎处于技术进步的爆炸中。10年后，大脑进化的简要概述将被更详细的描述所取代。人类以好奇心而闻名，他们对自己尤其好奇。所有的文化都有关于人类起源和历史的故事。我们大多数人都对人类行为非常感兴趣。我们看和听别人说话，读关于别人的书，看关于别人的戏剧和电影。我们看到我们的行为与其他哺乳动物的相似之处和差异，并试图理解这些相似之处和差异。因为我们所有的思想、行动和感觉都是由大脑产生的，而自我的概念也取决于我们的大脑，所以很自然地会想知道我们的大脑是如何工作的。如果我们反思我们令人印象深刻的人类能力，并将其与其他物种，特别是其他灵长类动物的能力进行比较，人们可能会想知道大脑是如何不同的，以及我们异常庞大和复杂的大脑是如何进化的。
My interest in brain evolution developed because I had the opportunity to study with two outstanding neuroscientists who studied how brains of different mammals were similar and different. As a graduate student, I worked with Irving Diamond at Duke University where his laboratory studied brain organization and behaviour in such seldom investigated mammals as tree shrews, squirrels, hedgehogs, and opossums. I continued with postdoctoral training at the University of Wisconsin where Clinton Woolsey was describing the organization of sensory and motor areas of neocortex in rabbits, cats, and monkeys. For a while, I concentrated on studies of visual cortex organization in New World owl monkeys. After I was appointed as an associate professor at Vanderbilt University, I was able to gradually expand my research, with the help and leadership of a talented group of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, to include investigations of the somatosensory, auditory and motor systems. Over time we were able to study these systems in a range of mammals, including a number of species of prosimian and simian primates, as well as study brain material obtained after natural death from apes and humans. We also studied hedgehogs, tenrecs, shrews, moles, rats, squirrels, cats, and tree shrews, but the general goal was to see how brains were similar and different, and use this information to infer the course of brain evolution from early mammals to present-day humans. Like exploring the universe, the task is so enormous that we will never be done, but the fun is in the journey, and we feel that we have made great progress. The future is especially bright, as I started this journey when few methods were available to reveal brain organization and function. Gradually, more-powerful methods emerged, and we now seem to be in an explosion of technical advances. The brief outline of brain evolution that follows will be replaced by a much more detailed description in 10 years.Humans are known for their curiosity, and they are especially curious about themselves. All cultures have stories about human origins and history. Most of us are extremely interested in human behaviour. We watch and listen to others, read books about others, and watch plays and movies about others. We see similarities and differences in our behaviour and those of other mammals, and seek to understand these similarities and differences. Because all our thoughts, actions, and feelings are generated by our brains, and the very concept of self depends on our brain, it is natural to wonder how our brain works. And if we reflect on our impressive range of human abilities, and compare these to those of other species, especially other primates, one might wonder about how brains differ, and how our unusually large and complex brain evolved.