Both Chimpanzees And Humans Are Born With Immature Forebrains

A study has stated that the portions of the brain that are critical for complex cognitive functions, including decision-making, self-awareness and creativity, are immature at birth

A study has stated that the portions of the brain that are critical for complex cognitive functions, including decision-making, self-awareness and creativity, are immature at birth in both chimpanzees and humans.

But there are important differences, too. Baby chimpanzees don't show the same dramatic increase in the volume of prefrontal white matter in the brain that human infants do.

Rapid Access to Brain Landmarks Now Available With New Tool
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a new technique that provides rapid access to brain landmarks, which have until now been available

The study is the first to track the development of the chimpanzee brain over time and to make the comparison to humans.

"One of the most marked evolutionary changes underlying human-specific cognitive traits is a greatly enlarged prefrontal cortex," Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University in Japan, said.

"It is also one of the latest-developing brain regions of the cerebrum," Matsuzawa said.

Study Reveals How the Brain Plans, Executes Movement to a 'Go' Signal
New light on how the brain plans for and executes movements in reaction to a go signal has been shed by a team of scientists led by Indian-origin electrical engineer.

hat built-in developmental delay, now shown to be shared with chimps, may provide an extended period of plasticity, allowing both humans and our closest evolutionary cousins to develop complex social interactions, knowledge and skills that are shaped by life experiences.

"Both humans and chimpanzees need to render their neural network and brain function more susceptible to the influence of postnatal experience," Matsuzawa said.

Can Drug Development For Brain Conditions Be Made More Efficient?
The development of drugs for brain-related conditions is not an efficient process; only 8% of candidate drugs that enter clinical trials gain FDA approval.

Matsuzawa's team made their discoveries by studying magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of three growing chimpanzees from the age of six months to six years, when chimps reach pre-puberty.

The findings suggest that a less mature and more protracted elaboration of neuronal connections in the prefrontal portion of the developing brain existed in the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans.

Probing The Brain�s Nooks And Crannies Easier With Improved Brain Maps
Like explorers mapping a new planet, scientists probing the brain need every type of landmark they can get.

The study has been reported in the August 11th Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

Source-ANI