What makes us human? According to neurobiologists it is our neocortex. This outer layer of the brain is rich in neurons and lets us do abstract thinking, create art, and speak complex languages. An international team led ...
Evolution
Mar 27, 2024
0
86
Animal studies on great apes have long been banned in Europe for ethical reasons. For the question pursued here, organoids (three-dimensional cell structures a few millimeters in size that are grown in the laboratory) are ...
Evolution
Sep 13, 2022
0
264
The question of what makes modern humans unique has long been a driving force for researchers. Comparisons with our closest relatives, the Neandertals, therefore provide fascinating insights. The increase in brain size, and ...
Evolution
Sep 8, 2022
3
584
A team of researchers from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the University of California–San Francisco and the University of Texas has used genetic sequencing to compare the brains of birds and mammals. They've published ...
Birds have good memories, but in contrast to mammals, little is known about how they consolidate memories during sleep. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and Utrecht University recorded waves of slow ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 14, 2019
0
29
Neuronal cell types in the brains of birds linked to goal-directed behaviors and cognition are similar to cells in the mammalian neocortex, the large, layered structure on the outer surface of the brain where most higher-order ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 15, 2018
0
152
A new study published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 2 could rewrite the story of ape and human brain evolution. While the neocortex of the brain has been called "the crowning achievement of evolution ...
Evolution
Oct 2, 2014
11
0
A seemingly unique part of the human and mammalian brain is the neocortex, a layered structure on the outer surface of the organ where most higher-order processing is thought to occur. But new research at the University of ...
Other
Oct 1, 2012
1
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- The relatively larger human brain makes us the most intelligent of the primates. But if we're so smart, how come we've eaten our way into an obesity epidemic? One reason is the relatively smaller human stomach ...
Evolution
Jul 5, 2010
0
0
Short-term memory may depend in a surprising way on the ability of newly formed neurons to erase older connections. That's the conclusion of a report in the November 13th issue of the journal Cell that provides some of the ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 12, 2009
0
0
The neocortex (Latin for "new bark" or "new rind"), also called the neopallium ("new mantel") and isocortex ("equal rind"), is a part of the brain of mammals. It is the outer layer of the cerebral hemispheres, and made up of six layers, labelled I to VI (with VI being the innermost and I being the outermost). The neocortex is part of the cerebral cortex (along with the archicortex and paleocortex, which are cortical parts of the limbic system). In humans, it is involved in higher functions such as sensory perception, generation of motor commands, spatial reasoning, conscious thought and language.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
