Discovering the Things that Make Us Human: Evolution of the Brain :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Discovering the Things that Make Us Human Evolution of the card There is a powerful sentiment among many people that serviceman beings are the most intelligent and complex animals on earth. Our ability to part language is matched by no other species. It makes sense to assume that whichever characteristics of the military personnel promontory arent possessed by other animals, specifically primates, our closest ontogenesisary relatives, are the ones responsible for the acquisition, production, and comprehension of language. As the relatively new-sprung(prenominal) plain of neuroscience develops, scientists are beginning to study the evolutionary relationships of straits organization and post in an effort to understand the regions of the forefront responsible for language, abstract thought, and self-expression. This discipline, cognise as Paleoneurology, examines the development of the hominid brain (1). Paleoneurology has its roots in the palm of neurology, paleoanthropolog y, and primatology. There are two methods used by Paleoneurologists to study brain evolution the examination of fossil skulls and endocasts, and comparative primate neuroanatomy (2). The study of the evolution of the brain is useful, because it allows for an understanding of the origins of the structural differences between humans and other animals--in effect, what makes us human. According to the fossil record, the first brain structure appeared in reptiles almost 500 million years ago. The functions of this hindbrain included breathing, heart exhaust regulation, balance, basic motor movements, and foraging skills (1). An interesting trend in brain evolution is that more than evolved species tend to preserve the structures responsible for basic behaviors. In other words, evolution is the process of acquiring more and more forward-looking structures, not simply the addition of different structures. Therefore, the modern human brain contains the primitive hindbrain region, a gre at deal called the protereptilin brain (1), and it is the seat of fundamental homeostatic functions. The major structures found in this region of the brain are the pons Varolii and Medulla. About 250 million years after the appearance of the hindbrain, a new region known as the paleomammalian brain arose. This region consists of the hippocampus and cerebellum and is often referred to as the limbic system. As might be expected, this region is associated with more complex functions such as emotional, sexual, and fighting behaviors (1). The newest and most intricate res publica of the brain, the cerebrum, was first developed around 200 million years ago. The super convoluted surface of the cerebrum is called the neocortex.