Efforts to understand the evolution of modern mammalian brains are undertaken through comparative studies of cortical organization. Here, we have used a comparative approach in studying multiple species to understand more about the organization of the visual system across different mammalian orders. Primates are notable for their large brains, and every primate species has an average brain size larger than then 0.4 g mouse brain, the animal model most commonly used in laboratory studies. Neurons are the building blocks of neocortex, and an accurate estimate of the total number of neurons in a brain can reveal information concerning the specializations of cortex. In this collaborative effort, we determined the total numbers of cells and neurons within the neocortex of the adult chimpanzee and macaque brains. These are species that have relatively large brains compared to most mammals, and to the proposed brain size of our earliest mammalian ancestors. We found the same pattern of overall neuronal density described in all other primate species, in which primary visual cortex and primary somatosensory cortex contain higher-than-average neuron densities and primary motor cortex contains lower-than-average neuron densities. It is also important to look to species that also, independently of the primate lineage, came to evolve large brains. As such, we examined the visual neuroanatomy of the California sea lion and northern elephant seal using immunohistochemistry in coronal sections and other reconstruction methods. We found that the visual neuroanatomy is more similar in structure to other carnivores, such as cats, as opposed to primates, which is expected given these speciesâ phylogenetic position within the Carnivora order.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03292017-143803 |
| Date | 03 April 2017 |
| Creators | Turner, Emily Claire |
| Contributors | Anita Disney, Isabel Gauthier, Troy Hackett, Jon Kaas |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-03292017-143803/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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