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Doctoral Dissertation Research: Dissecting the effect of encephalization on skull morphogenesis

博士论文研究：剖析脑化对头骨形态发生的影响

基本信息

批准号：
1731909
负责人：
Joan Richtsmeier
金额：
$ 3.14万
依托单位：
Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2017-08-01 至 2019-07-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1731909&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Doctoral Dissertation Research Dissecting effect

项目摘要

Dramatic increases in cranial capacity have occurred in hominins. These shifts in relative brain size are hypothesized to have caused (1) alterations to the modern human skull and (2) delays or reductions in somatic growth that may affect skull development. While prior studies have used fossil or comparative primate data to understand the relationship between the brain and skull, this project utilizes an experimental approach to link the process of encephalization with specific changes in skull morphology. The results of this project will be incorporated into multiple educational and outreach activities designed to stimulate interest in younger students pursuing STEM fields and careers, particularly young women, and foster awareness of the interdisciplinary potential for biological anthropology. Through the Penn State Expanding Your Horizons STEM Career Day for Women and the ScienceU Pre-Med Expo, the researchers will help students understand the morphological changes that have occurred in the human skull over time, including the specific impact of encephalization.This project uses the BAF170 murine model with a known genetic variant that results in an enlarged brain phenotype. The BAF170 gene is knocked-out only in cortical tissue resulting in an enlarged cortex, such that any changes in the skull can only be attributed to the effect of the larger cortex. Using high-resolution micro-computed tomography data of prenatal and early postnatal skull development, this research will test whether an increase in relative brain size affects somatic growth of the skull or causes changes in cranial development or eventual morphology. Experiments are designed to determine whether the change in brain size causes changes in: (1) the timing of the appearance/formation of cranial ossification centers during embryological development; (2) cranial bone quality, evaluated by quantifying bone volume and bone density; or (3) morphology of the cranial base, cranial vault, or facial skeleton that can be compared with similar changes seen through time in hominins. These experiments will test the spatial packing hypothesis and the expensive brain hypothesis, by examining the relationship between brain size and cranial base angle and between changes in brain size and somatic ontogenetic trajectories. The resulting data will provide experimental evidence pertaining to the relationship between encephalization in hominins and changes in skull morphology and growth producing the unique human skull phenotype.

古人类的颅骨容量也出现了显著的增长。这些相对大脑大小的变化被认为导致了(1)现代人类头骨的变化和(2)可能影响头骨发育的躯体生长延迟或减少。虽然之前的研究使用化石或比较灵长类数据来了解大脑和头骨之间的关系，但这个项目使用了一种实验方法，将脑化过程与头骨形态的具体变化联系起来。该项目的成果将被纳入多项教育和宣传活动，旨在激发人们对从事STEM领域和职业的年轻学生，特别是年轻女性的兴趣，并培养对生物人类学跨学科潜力的认识。通过宾夕法尼亚州立大学为女性扩展视野的STEM职业日和科学大学预科医学博览会，研究人员将帮助学生了解随着时间的推移在人类头骨中发生的形态变化，包括脑化的具体影响。该项目使用了BAF170小鼠模型，该模型具有已知的基因变异，导致大脑表型扩大。BAF170基因只在皮质组织中被敲除，导致皮质扩大，因此头骨的任何变化都只能归因于较大皮质的影响。利用出生前和出生后早期头骨发育的高分辨率微型计算机断层扫描数据，这项研究将测试相对脑大小的增加是否会影响头骨的躯体生长，或者导致头骨发育或最终形态的变化。实验旨在确定大脑大小的变化是否会导致以下方面的变化：(1)胚胎发育期间颅骨骨化中心出现/形成的时间；(2)颅骨质量，通过量化骨体积和骨密度来评估；或(3)可以与古人类随着时间的推移而看到的类似变化相比较的颅底、颅顶或面部骨骼的形态。这些实验将通过检查大脑大小和颅底角度之间的关系，以及脑大小变化和躯体个体发育轨迹之间的关系，来检验空间填充假说和昂贵的大脑假说。由此得到的数据将为人类脑化与头骨形态和生长变化之间的关系提供实验证据，从而产生独特的人类头骨表型。