Key research themes
1. How has the timing and pattern of brain structural maturation evolved across primates and what implications does this have for cognition and psychiatric vulnerability?
This theme focuses on the developmental timing of key neural processes like myelination and their evolutionary variation in primates, particularly humans and chimpanzees. It addresses how delayed or protracted neural maturation in humans supports advanced cognition by allowing greater social learning and plasticity but may also increase vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders during adolescence. Understanding species-specific neurodevelopmental trajectories sheds light on evolutionary adaptations in brain function and disease susceptibility.
2. What evolutionary mechanisms explain the mosaic and allometric expansions of key brain structures (prefrontal cortex and cerebellum) in great apes and humans?
This research theme examines how certain brain regions, notably the prefrontal cortex and cerebellum, have undergone exceptional size increases during primate evolution, deviating from general allometric scaling. It explores genetic, developmental, and functional shifts that underpin heterochronic changes and differential enlargement of these areas, which underlie advanced cognitive abilities like executive function, technical intelligence, and complex sensorimotor control. Understanding these region-specific expansions clarifies primate neurological specialization and human cognitive evolution.
3. How can fossil endocast morphology and neurocranial structure inform us about brain reorganization during early hominin evolution?
This theme addresses the challenges and advances in inferring brain size, shape, and structural reorganization in fossil hominins through endocranial virtual reconstructions and comparative MRI/CT data. It highlights that morphological changes in the neurocranium do not straightforwardly reflect cortical reorganization due to factors like bipedalism and encephalization constraints. The work refines interpretations of fossil brain evolution relevant to language-related regions and sensory areas, improving understanding of cognitive and brain structural evolution in Homo and related taxa.