Embodied cognitive evolution and the cerebellum
Embodied cognitive evolution and the cerebellum
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DOI：
10.1098/rstb.2012.0112
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发表时间：
2012-08-05
影响因子：
6.3
通讯作者：
Barton, Robert A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Barton, Robert A.
许多注意力集中在前脑的急剧扩张上，特别是新皮质，作为认知进化的神经基础。然而，尽管小脑相对较小，但其神经元数量却是新皮质的四倍左右。我表明常用的比较措施（例如新皮质比率）低估了小脑对大脑进化的贡献。一旦考虑到新皮质和小脑连接规模的差异，这两种结构的相关进化的显着且普遍的模式就显而易见了。与这一一般模式不同的是，猿类和其他采掘性觅食者的小脑相对扩张。这些比较模式、猿类觅食技能和社会学习的研究以及小脑认知神经科学的最新证据相结合，表明小脑在规划、执行和理解复杂行为序列（包括工具使用和语言）的能力的进化中发挥着重要作用。支持这些技能的感觉运动和认知专业之间没有明显的区别，破坏了执行控制作为一个独特过程的概念。相反，我认为认知进化最有效的理解是对具体化自适应控制的专门系统的阐述。
Much attention has focused on the dramatic expansion of the forebrain, particularly the neocortex, as the neural substrate of cognitive evolution. However, though relatively small, the cerebellum contains about four times more neurons than the neocortex. I show that commonly used comparative measures such as neocortex ratio underestimate the contribution of the cerebellum to brain evolution. Once differences in the scaling of connectivity in neocortex and cerebellum are accounted for, a marked and general pattern of correlated evolution of the two structures is apparent. One deviation from this general pattern is a relative expansion of the cerebellum in apes and other extractive foragers. The confluence of these comparative patterns, studies of ape foraging skills and social learning, and recent evidence on the cognitive neuroscience of the cerebellum, suggest an important role for the cerebellum in the evolution of the capacity for planning, execution and understanding of complex behavioural sequences-including tool use and language. There is no clear separation between sensory-motor and cognitive specializations underpinning such skills, undermining the notion of executive control as a distinct process. Instead, I argue that cognitive evolution is most effectively understood as the elaboration of specialized systems for embodied adaptive control.