Evolution of the brain : creation of the self

Acknowledgements xiii List of abbreviations xiv 1 Biological evolution 1 1.1 The genetic code 1 1.2 The modern synthesis: phyletic gradualism 5 1.3 Punctuated equilibrium 7 1.4 Genetic mechanisms in hominid evolution 9 1.5 General conclusions on the evolutionary origin of species 10 2 The general story of human evolution 12 2.1 The hominid ancestry 12 2.2 The Australopithecines 15 2.3 Homo habilis 21 2.4 Homo erectus 24 2.5 The Neandertals 26 2.6 Homo sapiens sapiens 28 2.7 Problems of hominid evolution 36 3 Evolution of hominid brain: bipedality; agility 39 3.1 The essential structural features 39 3.2 The functional performance of the brain 43 3.3 Erect standing, walking, and reacting 48 3.4 Neuronal mechanisms evolved for the fine control of movement 63 3.5 Skilled hand movement 69 4 Linguistic communication in hominid evolution 73 4.1 The levels of language 73 4.2 Linguistic expression 74 4.3 The learning of a human language 75 4.4 The language training of apes 78 4.5 The anatomy of the cerebral cortex with special reference to the centres for speech 83 4.6 Auditory pathways 90 4.7 The evolution of the brain in relation to the development of speech 91 4.8 The evolution of speech production 96 4.9 Language and evolutionary survival 98 5 Cerebral limbic system in relation to the evolution of the reproductive and emotional systems 100 5.1 Some anatomical considerations 101 5.2 Limbic system and emotional expression 103 5.3 Pharmacology of limbic system and hypothalamus 106 5.4 Size indices of components of the limbic system during primate evolution 108 5.5 Consequences of the brain enlargement in hominid evolution 109 5.6 The demographic strategy of hominids 111 5.7 The evolution of altruism 117 6 Visuo-motor evolution: artistic creativity 121 6.1 The visual areas of the primate cerebral cortex 121 6.2 Neuronal responses in the primary visual cortex 122 6.3 Stereopsis 125 6.4 The prestriatal visual areas 127 6.5 Lesions of the striatal and prestriatal visual areas 131 6.6 Investigations on human brains in visual responses 132 6.7 Conclusions on visual evolution 136 6.8 The evolution of stone culture 138 6.9 The engraving of bone plaques 139 9.8 Developmental and structural indications of neocortex having a late evolutionary origin and a late ontogenesis: the neo-neocortex 221 10 The human person 227 10.1 The human person 228 10.2 Cultural evolution 229 10.3 Biological and cultural evolution 232 10.4 The concept of mind 236 10.5 Specific human characteristics 239 10.6 Evolution of human nature 246 10.7 The creation of the self or the soul 247 Addendum: reflections and imaginings 251 References 259 Subject index and glossary 281 10 The visuo-constructive cerebral areas 142 6. 11 Creativity in the plastic arts 143 7 Evolution of learning and memory 146 7.1 Anthropoid apes as a model for the ancestral hominoid 146 7.2 The learning of symbols for communication 149 7.3 Comparison of ape learning with human learning 150 7.4 Sizes of brain regions related to memory 152 7.5 The neuroscience of learning and memory 154 7.6 Some special features of human memory 174 7.7 Conclusions 178 8 The mind-brain problem in evolution 179 8.1 Historical introduction 179 8.2 Consciousness of non-human animals 180 8.3 The evolution of consciousness 181 8.4 Philosophy of the mind-brain problem 184 8.5 Experimental testing of the mind-brain problem 186 8.6 Neuronal structures concerned in mind-brain interaction 191 8.7 Diagrammatic comparison of mind-brain theories 194 8.8 A new hypothesis of mind-brain interaction based on quantum physics—the microsite hypothesis 195 8.9 Reconsideration of the mind-brain problem 200 9 The self and its brain 203 9.1 Anatomically observed asymmetries 203 9.2 Functional asymmetries 204 9.3 The modular design of the cerebral neocortex 210 9.4 The evolutionary pinnacle: the dawn of selfconsciousness 211 9.5 The unity of the self 213 9.6 Commissurotomy 215 9.7 The evolutionary significance of the cerebral asymmetry 220