Doctoral Dissertation Research: The evolution of the neural basis of learning and behavioral control

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。人们经历的每一个想法、记忆和决定都是由大脑的不同部分产生的。虽然在理解不同大脑网络的功能方面已经取得了很大的进展，但它们的进化仍然没有得到很好的描述。本博士论文项目关注智力进化中的一个关键网络，皮质纹状体系统（CSS），它介导学习和行为调节，这是人类最杰出的两种认知适应。研究者测量了许多灵长类动物中CSS的神经解剖学变异，从而增强了我们对大脑进化变化的理解，这些变化导致了人类智力和认知的出现。该项目还包括公共科学推广活动和开源数据的生成。这项研究的影响还超出了人类学的范畴，它为物种对神经退行性疾病和成瘾的特异性脆弱性的临床研究提供了信息。本项目研究灵长类动物CSS的相对大小和连通性。由于纹状体的特定亚区调节不同的学习模式和行为控制阶段，研究者量化了三个纹状体核相对体积的变化，以了解灵长类动物基于css的学习和行为优化是如何进化的。纹状体亚区的连通性在灵长类动物中进行了测量，以阐明可能与物种特定行为需求相关的皮质纹状体途径的选择。该项目采用系统发育比较方法，模拟不同分类水平（如灵长类目、类人猿亚目、人属）上CSS功能特定成分的尺度变化和进化速率。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Every thought, memory, and decision that someone experiences is created by different parts of the brain. And while great progress has been made in understanding the functions of diverse brain networks, their evolution remains less well characterized. This doctoral dissertation project focuses on a crucial network in the evolution of intelligence, the cortico-striatal system (CSS), which mediates learning and the regulation of behavior, two of the most outstanding cognitive adaptations in humans. The investigator measures the neuroanatomical variation of the CSS across many primate species, thereby enhancing our understanding of the evolutionary changes in the brain that led to the emergence of human intelligence and cognition. The project also includes public science outreach activities and generation of open source data. This research also has impact beyond the anthropological sciences by informing clinical research on species-specific vulnerability to neurodegenerative diseases and addiction.This project studies the relative size and connectivity of the CSS across primates. As specific subregions of the striatum mediate different modes of learning and stages of behavioral control, the investigator quantifies the variation of the relative volumes of the three striatal nuclei to understand how CSS-based learning and behav-ioral optimization have evolved in primates. The connectivity of the striatal subregions is measured across pri-mates to elucidate selection on cortico-striatal pathways that may relate to species-specific behavioral de-mands. The project employs phylogenetic comparative methods to model changes in scaling and rates of evolu-tion of functionally specific components of the CSS at different taxonomic levels (e.g., primate order, anthro-poid suborder, human genus).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.