High Risk Exploratory Research: Exploring 3D-CT and Geometric Morphometric Analyses of Cortical Surfaces in Fossil Hominids

高风险探索性研究：探索原始人类化石皮质表面的 3D-CT 和几何形态分析

• 批准号: 9729796
• 负责人: Dean Falk
• 金额: $ 1.96万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Albany
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1998
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1998-02-01 至 2001-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9729796&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Risk; Exploratory; Research; Exploring; 3D

Casts of the interiors of skulls (endocasts) of our early ancestors indicate the volume and shape of their brains, and reproduce features of the cerebral cortex that were imprinted on the walls of their braincases during life. These features include convolutions, sulcal patterns, and blood vessels, which are sometimes correlated with known functions such as speech and right-handedness in living people. Endocasts are therefore useful for addressing questions about the origins of certain behaviors. Skulls of important Pleistocene fossil hominids are currently being CAT-scanned by an international team, and the resulting three dimensional (3D) CT data are available for generating and measuring images of endocranial surfaces from a computer screen. In order to validate use of 3D-CT to investigate brain surface morphology, a set of measurements will be obtained and compared from 3D-CT images and the corresponding traditional endocasts of several key hominid skulls. Additionally, the application of 3D geometrical methods for analyzing endocasts will be explored in an ape and human skull series. Once validated, these methods can be applied to new specimens, leading to further insights about brain evolution.

我们早期祖先头骨内部的模型（内模）显示了他们大脑的体积和形状，并再现了他们在生活中印在脑壳壁上的大脑皮层特征。 这些特征包括回旋、脑沟模式和血管，它们有时与活人的言语和右手等已知功能相关。 因此，内模对于解决某些行为的起源问题是有用的。一个国际研究小组目前正在对重要的更新世人科化石的头骨进行CAT扫描，得到的三维（3D）CT数据可用于从计算机屏幕上生成和测量颅内表面的图像。 为了验证使用3D-CT来研究脑表面形态，将从3D-CT图像和几个关键原始人类头骨的相应传统内模获得一组测量值并进行比较。 此外，将在猿和人类颅骨系列中探索3D几何方法在分析内模中的应用。 一旦得到验证，这些方法就可以应用于新的标本，从而进一步了解大脑的进化。