scholarly journals Genetic variations within human gained enhancer elements affect human brain sulcal morphology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herve Lemaitre ◽  
Yann Le Guen ◽  
Amanda K. Tilot ◽  
Jason L. Stein ◽  
Cathy Philippe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Cortical Folding ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Sulcal Morphology ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right

AbstractThe expansion of the cerebral cortex is one of the most distinctive changes in the evolution of the human brain. Cortical expansion and related increases in cortical folding may have contributed to emergence of our capacities for high-order cognitive abilities. Molecular analysis of humans, archaic hominins, and non-human primates has allowed identification of chromosomal regions showing evolutionary changes at different points of our phylogenetic history. In this study, we assessed the contributions of genomic annotations spanning 30 million years to human sulcal morphology measured via MRI in more than 18,000 participants from the UK Biobank. We found that variation within brain-expressed human gained enhancers, regulatory genetic elements that emerged since our last common ancestor with Old World monkeys, explained more trait heritability than expected for the left and right calloso-marginal posterior fissures and the right central sulcus. Intriguingly, these are sulci that have been previously linked to the evolution of locomotion in primates and later on bipedalism in our hominin ancestors.

scholarly journals Chimpanzee histology and functional brain imaging show that the paracingulate sulcus is not human-specific

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Céline Amiez ◽  
Jérôme Sallet ◽  
Jennifer Novek ◽  
Fadila Hadj-Bouziane ◽  
Camille Giacometti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Functional Brain Imaging ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Imaging Data ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Data ◽  
Primate Brain ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Human Specific

AbstractThe paracingulate sulcus -PCGS- has been considered for a long time to be specific to the human brain. Its presence/absence has been discussed in relation to interindividual variability of personality traits and cognitive abilities. Recently, a putative PCGS has been observed in chimpanzee brains. To demonstrate that this newly discovered sulcus is the homologue of the PCGS in the human brain, we analyzed cytoarchitectonic and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data in chimpanzee brains which did or did not display a PCGS. The results show that the organization of the mid-cingulate cortex of the chimpanzee brain is comparable to that of the human brain, both cytoarchitectonically and in terms of functional connectivity with the lateral frontal cortex. These results demonstrate that the PCGS is not human-specific but is a shared feature of the primate brain since at least the last common ancestor to humans and great apes ~6 mya.

Directionality in the history of life: Diffusion from the left wall or repeated scaling of the right?

Paleobiology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (S4) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew H. Knoll ◽  
Richard K. Bambach
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Directional Pattern ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Left Wall ◽  
Ecological Complexity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sequential Addition ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
The Right ◽  
Logical Rules

Issues of directionality in the history of life can be framed in terms of six major evolutionary steps, or megatrajectories (cf. Maynard Smith and Szathmáry 1995): (1) evolution from the origin of life to the last common ancestor of extant organisms, (2) the metabolic diversification of bacteria and archaea, (3) evolution of eukaryotic cells, (4) multicellularity, (5) the invasion of the land and (6) technological intelligence. Within each megatrajectory, overall diversification conforms to a pattern of increasing variance bounded by a right wall as well as one on the left. However, the expanding envelope of forms and physiologies also reflects—at least in part—directional evolution within clades. Each megatrajectory has introduced fundamentally new evolutionary entities that garner resources in new ways, resulting in an unambiguously directional pattern of increasing ecological complexity marked by expanding ecospace utilization. The sequential addition of megatrajectories adheres to logical rules of ecosystem function, providing a blueprint for evolution that may have been followed to varying degrees wherever life has arisen.

The Ordovician fossil Lagynocystis pyramidalis (Barrande) and the ancestry of amphioxus

1973 ◽  
Vol 265 (871) ◽  
pp. 409-469 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Nerve Cord ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Buccal Cavity ◽  
Cranial Nerves ◽  
Lower Ordovician ◽  
Upward Growth ◽  
Dorsal Nerve ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right

Lagynocystis pyramidalis (Barrande) from the marine Lower Ordovician of Bohemia (Šárka Formation (Llanvirn)), has features which suggest that it is ancestral, or nearly so, to living cephalochordates such as amphioxus ( Branchiostoma ). L. pyramidalis belongs to a strange group of fossils classified by some workers as ‘carpoid’ echinoderms (phylum Echinodermata, subphylum Homalozoa, class Stylophora). They are better seen, however, as primitive chordates with echinoderm affinities (phylum Chordata, subphylum Calcichordata Jefferies, 1967, class Stylophora). The most striking echinoderm-like feature of the calcichordates is their calcite skeleton with each plate a single crystal of calcite. Their chordate characters include: (1) branchial slits; (2) a postanal tail (stem) with muscle blocks, notochord, dorsal nerve cord and segmental ganglia; (3) a brain and cranial nervous system like those of a fish; and (4) various asymmetries like those of recent primitive chordates. The calcichordates are divided into a more primitive order, Cornuta, and a more advanced order Mitrata, which evolved from Cornuta. L. pyramidalis is a specialized member of the order Mitrata. Forms up till now associated with it in the suborder Lagynocystida of the Mitrata are better separated from it to form a new suborder Peltocystida (Kirkocystidae plus Peltocystidae). The features which ally L. pyramidalis to amphioxus are as follows: (1) a median ventral atrium opening by a median ventral atriopore; (2) a probably excretory posterior coelom which could give rise to the nephridia of amphioxus by upward growth of the gill slits; (3) evidence that the anus opened externally on the left; (4) evidence that the mouth and buccal cavity was innervated more strongly from the left than from the right; (5) evidence suggesting that, if it swam, L. pyramidalis would rotate about its long axis, clockwise as seen from behind, like late larval amphioxus and larval tunicates. The amphioxus-like features of L. pyramidalis are imposed on the pattern of a very primitive mitrate. There existed thus: (1) a well-developed brain and the cranial nerves were more of the vertebrate pattern than those of amphioxus; (2) left and right branchial openings in addition to the median atriopore; and (3) the tail or stem had paired segmental ganglia. The latest common ancestor of vertebrates and amphioxus would be a primitive mitrate. It follows, since Lagynocystis had a calcite skeleton, that such a skeleton has been lost at least twice in the evolution of the chordates.

Forced Single-Nostril Breathing and Cognition

1994 ◽  
Vol 79 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1499-1506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Sanders ◽  
Clairessa Lattimore ◽  
Kirsten Smith ◽  
Lisa Dierker
Keyword(s):  
Phase Ii ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Cognitive Testing ◽  
Left Nostril ◽  
Breathing Exercise ◽  
Matching Test ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
Forced Breathing ◽  
The Right

This experiment investigated whether forced single-nostril breathing differentially affects cognitive abilities presumed to be mediated by the left and right cerebral hemispheres. Phase I was an attempted replication of a reported sex difference in the effects of unilateral breathing on verbal versus spatial performance and Phase II was a study of breathing effects on different verbal and spatial tests. No differences associated with breathing condition were found in the replication study. In Phase II, men breathing through the right nostril scored significantly lower than men in the control condition on a letter-matching test although they did not differ significantly from men in the left-nostril condition on that test. There were no significant breathing-related differences on two spatial tests, and no differences associated with breathing condition for the women. Assessment of nostril dominance before and after cognitive testing showed that the forced-breathing exercise did not significantly alter subjects' nostril dominance. A significant left-nostril bias was found in this sample.

scholarly journals Comparative Genome Sequence Analysis of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae Serovar 8 Isolates From Norway, Denmark, and the United Kingdom Indicates Distinct Phylogenetic Lineages and Differences in Distribution of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liza Miriam Cohen ◽  
Janine T. Bossé ◽  
Marc Stegger ◽  
Yanwen Li ◽  
Paul R. Langford ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance ◽  
Genetic Variability ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Animal Movement ◽  
Actinobacillus Pleuropneumoniae ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Antimicrobial Resistance Genes ◽  
The Uk

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is the etiological agent of porcine pleuropneumonia, a disease of major impact on pig health, welfare, and productivity globally. Serovar 8 (APP) is the predominant clinical serovar in Norway and the United Kingdom (UK), and has been isolated from clinical cases in Denmark. The primary objective of this study was to characterize the genetic variability of isolates of A. pleuropneumoniae APP8 in the Norwegian population. The secondary objectives were to determine the within-host variability of APP8; to compare the APP8 bacterial populations in Norway, Denmark, and the UK, including antimicrobial resistance (AMR) gene profiles and to assess the effect of national differences in antimicrobial drug use and restricted animal movement on the occurrence of resistance. Isolates of APP8 from the UK (n=67), Denmark (n=22), and Norway (n=123) collected between 1983 and 2020 were compared using whole genome sequencing. To investigate genetic variability within individual hosts, an additional 104 APP8 isolates from the lungs of six Norwegian pigs were compared. Very low within-host variation was observed (≤ 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms). The phylogeny of 123 Norwegian APP8 isolates from 76 herds revealed some within-herd genetic variation, but substantial geographical clustering. When inferring the relatedness of the three international APP8 collections, the topology highlighted the existence of two distinct monophyletic branches characterized by the Norwegian and UK isolates, respectively. Three Danish isolates were scattered across the UK branch, whereas the remaining 19 Danish isolates clustered in two monophyletic groups nested in the Norwegian branch. Coalescence analysis, performed to estimate the divergences from a common ancestor, indicated a last common ancestor several centuries ago. The phylogenetic analyses also revealed striking differences in occurrence of AMR genes, as these were 23-times more prevalent among the UK isolates than among the Norwegian isolates. An increased understanding of the effects of population strategies is helpful in surveillance and control of infectious diseases.

scholarly journals Comparison of Surface Area and Cortical Thickness Asymmetry in the Human and Chimpanzee Brain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Xiang ◽  
Timothy J Crow ◽  
William D Hopkins ◽  
Neil Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Surface Area ◽  
Cortical Thickness ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Occipital Lobe ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Neural Substrates ◽  
Precentral Gyrus ◽  
The Right

Abstract Comparative study of the structural asymmetry of the human and chimpanzee brain may shed light on the evolution of language and other cognitive abilities in humans. Here we report the results of vertex-wise and ROI-based analyses that compared surface area (SA) and cortical thickness (CT) asymmetries in 3D MR images obtained for 91 humans and 77 chimpanzees. The human brain is substantially more asymmetric than the chimpanzee brain. In particular, the human brain has 1) larger total SA in the right compared with the left cerebral hemisphere, 2) a global torque-like asymmetry pattern of widespread thicker cortex in the left compared with the right frontal and the right compared with the left temporo-parieto-occipital lobe, and 3) local asymmetries, most notably in medial occipital cortex and superior temporal gyrus, where rightward asymmetry is observed for both SA and CT. There is also 4) a prominent asymmetry specific to the chimpanzee brain, namely, rightward CT asymmetry of precentral cortex. These findings provide evidence of there being substantial differences in asymmetry between the human and chimpanzee brain. The unique asymmetries of the human brain are potential neural substrates for cognitive specializations, and the presence of significant CT asymmetry of precentral gyrus in the chimpanzee brain should be further investigated.

scholarly journals Evolution of locomotion in Anthropoidea: the semicircular canal evidence

2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1742) ◽  
pp. 3467-3475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy M. Ryan ◽  
Mary T. Silcox ◽  
Alan Walker ◽  
Xianyun Mao ◽  
David R. Begun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Semicircular Canal ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Fossil Material ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Anthropoid Primates ◽  
Locomotor Adaptations

Our understanding of locomotor evolution in anthropoid primates has been limited to those taxa for which good postcranial fossil material and appropriate modern analogues are available. We report the results of an analysis of semicircular canal size variation in 16 fossil anthropoid species dating from the Late Eocene to the Late Miocene, and use these data to reconstruct evolutionary changes in locomotor adaptations in anthropoid primates over the last 35 Ma. Phylogenetically informed regression analyses of semicircular canal size reveal three important aspects of anthropoid locomotor evolution: (i) the earliest anthropoid primates engaged in relatively slow locomotor behaviours, suggesting that this was the basal anthropoid pattern; (ii) platyrrhines from the Miocene of South America were relatively agile compared with earlier anthropoids; and (iii) while the last common ancestor of cercopithecoids and hominoids likely was relatively slow like earlier stem catarrhines, the results suggest that the basal crown catarrhine may have been a relatively agile animal. The latter scenario would indicate that hominoids of the later Miocene secondarily derived their relatively slow locomotor repertoires.

scholarly journals Localization of spontaneous bursting neuronal activity in the preterm human brain with simultaneous EEG-fMRI

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomoki Arichi ◽  
Kimberley Whitehead ◽  
Giovanni Barone ◽  
Ronit Pressler ◽  
Francesco Padormo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Brain Maturation ◽  
Frequent Patterns ◽  
Direct Measure ◽  
Bursting Events ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Right

Electroencephalographic recordings from the developing human brain are characterized by spontaneous neuronal bursts, the most common of which is the delta brush. Although similar events in animal models are known to occur in areas of immature cortex and drive their development, their origin in humans has not yet been identified. Here, we use simultaneous EEG-fMRI to localise the source of delta brush events in 10 preterm infants aged 32–36 postmenstrual weeks. The most frequent patterns were left and right posterior-temporal delta brushes which were associated in the left hemisphere with ipsilateral BOLD activation in the insula only; and in the right hemisphere in both the insular and temporal cortices. This direct measure of neural and hemodynamic activity shows that the insula, one of the most densely connected hubs in the developing cortex, is a major source of the transient bursting events that are critical for brain maturation.

The Politics of Aesthetics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond A. Patton
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Entertainment Industry ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
National Front ◽  
Politics Of Aesthetics ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right ◽  
Mass Entertainment

This chapter explores punk’s intersection with politics in the East and West following its collision with the mass entertainment industry. Examining debates over punk in the Polish Communist Party and the UK Parliament, and efforts to integrate punk into Poland’s Solidarity movement, it shows how politicians struggled to accommodate punk to their worldviews, since punk defied traditional late Cold War sociopolitical categories. Instead, politicians in the First and Second Worlds alike fell back on the model of Matthew Arnold, interpreting culture in terms of “sweetness and light” versus chaos and anarchy—with punk often identified as the latter. While mainstream politicians struggled to fit punk to their worldviews, marginal voices on the Left and Right sought to integrate punk through affiliation with groups such as the Socialist Workers Party (in Rock Against Racism) and the right-wing National Front, ultimately also finding that punk fit poorly with their worldviews.

scholarly journals Sulcal morphology of ventral temporal cortex is shared between humans and other hominoids

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob A. Miller ◽  
Willa I. Voorhies ◽  
Xiang Li ◽  
Ishana Raghuram ◽  
Nicola Palomero-Gallagher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Complex Object ◽  
Cortical Folding ◽  
Surface Reconstructions ◽  
Brain Structure And Function ◽  
Sulcal Morphology ◽  
Ventral Temporal Cortex ◽  
And Function

Abstract Hominoid-specific brain structures are of particular importance in understanding the evolution of human brain structure and function, as they are absent in mammals that are widely studied in the extended neuroscience field. Recent research indicates that the human fusiform gyrus (FG), which is a hominoid-specific structure critical for complex object recognition, contains a tertiary, longitudinal sulcus (mid-fusiform sulcus, MFS) that bisects the FG into lateral and medial parallel gyri. The MFS is a functional and architectonic landmark in the human brain. Here, we tested if the MFS is specific to the human FG or if the MFS is also identifiable in other hominoids. Using magnetic resonance imaging and cortical surface reconstructions in 30 chimpanzees and 30 humans, we show that the MFS is also present in chimpanzees. The MFS is relatively deeper and cortically thinner in chimpanzees compared to humans. Additional histological analyses reveal that the MFS is not only present in humans and chimpanzees, but also in bonobos, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons. Taken together, these results reveal that the MFS is a sulcal landmark that is shared between humans and other hominoids. These results require a reconsideration of the sulcal patterning in ventral temporal cortex across hominoids, as well as revise the compensation theory of cortical folding.

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