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

该奖项全部或部分根据2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。一个人经历的每一个想法、记忆和决定都是由大脑的不同部分创造的。虽然在理解不同大脑网络的功能方面取得了很大进展，但它们的进化仍然没有得到很好的描述。这个博士论文项目的重点是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个认知适应。研究人员测量了许多灵长类动物物种中CSS的神经解剖学变异，从而增强了我们对导致人类智力和认知出现的大脑进化变化的理解。该项目还包括公共科学外联活动和生成开放源数据。这项研究也有影响超出人类学科学通过通知临床研究物种特异性脆弱性神经退行性疾病和成瘾.该项目研究的相对大小和连接的CSS在灵长类动物.由于纹状体的特定子区域介导不同的学习模式和行为控制阶段，研究人员量化了三个纹状体核团的相对体积的变化，以了解灵长类动物中基于CSS的学习和神经优化是如何进化的。在灵长类动物中测量纹状体亚区的连通性，以阐明可能与物种特异性行为需求相关的皮质-纹状体通路的选择。该项目采用系统发育比较方法来模拟不同分类学水平的CSS功能特异性组分的尺度和进化速率的变化（例如，该奖项反映了NSF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.