Evolutionary Neuroscience, Second Edition, is a collection of chapters on brain evolution that combines selected topics from the recent comprehensive reference, Evolution of Nervous Systems (Elsevier, Academic Press, 2017, 9780128040423). The selected chapters cover a broad range of topics, from historical theory, to the most recent deductions from comparative studies of brains. The articles are organized in sections focused on history, concepts and theory, the evolution of brains from early vertebrates to present-day fishes, amphibians, reptiles and birds, the evolution of mammalian brains, and the evolution of primate brains, including human brains.
Each chapter is written by a leader or leaders in the field. Specific topics include brain character reconstruction, principles of brain scaling, basic features of vertebrate brains, the evolution of the major sensory systems, other parts of brains, what we can learn from fossils, the origin of neocortex, and the evolution of specializations of human brains. The collection of articles will be interesting to anyone who is curious about how brains evolved from the simpler nervous systems of the first vertebrates into the many different complex forms now found in present-day vertebrates.
- Provides the most comprehensive, authoritative and up-to-date single volume collection on brain evolution
- Presents a full color treatment, with many illustrations
- Written by leading scholars and experts
- Features chapters on brain character reconstruction, principles of brain scaling, basic features of vertebrate brains, the evolution of the major sensory systems, and other parts of brains
- Discusses what we can learn from fossils, the origin of neocortex, and the evolution of specializations of human brains
Kaas's major research interests are in the evolution and functional organization of sensory-perceptual, cognitive, and motor systems, especially in primates, in the development of these systems, and in how these systems are plastic in response to injury and use in developing and adult brains. Special research emphasis is placed on studying visual, auditory and somatosensory systems, but current studies are also concerned with multimodal and sensorimotor integration in parietal and frontal cortex. Research questions are addressed with a range of electrophysiological, neuroanatomical, biochemical, and behavioral techniques. Teaching interests are in neuroscience, biological psychology, and animal behavior.
Current Research:
• Single and multielectrode recordings of neurons in primary somatosensory cortex of monkeys.
• Optical imaging of functional subdivisions of visual cortex in monkeys.
• Studies of anatomical connections of neural networks in brain systems devoted to somatosensory, visual, auditory, motor, and gustatory functions in monkeys.
• Studies of brain architecture.
