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Evolution of the Brain, The

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Synonyms

Brain evolution; Comparative neuroanatomy; Paleoneurology

Definition

Evolutionary neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field of study which seeks to understand the evolution of the brain and nervous system and provides a framework for interpreting evolutionary changes in the brain and brain component size or shape.

Introduction

The field of evolutionary neuroscience has provided us with an enormous amount of comparative data and relevant theoretical principles to support our current understanding of the evolution of the nervous system. Evolutionary neuroscientists are interested in understanding how the brain evolves and in reconstructing the natural history of the nervous system from a structural and functional perspective. Evidence of brain evolution can be documented through the lens of various biological fields, including biological anthropology, ethology, paleontology, comparative psychology, comparative neuroanatomy, cognitive science, and molecular biology and genetics....

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Des Moines University, Des Moines, IA, USA

    Joshua R. Lemert & Muhammad A. Spocter

  2. School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Muhammad A. Spocter

Authors
  1. Joshua R. Lemert
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  2. Muhammad A. Spocter
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Muhammad A. Spocter .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. University of Redlands, Redlands, CA, USA

    Catherine Salmon

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Lemert, J.R., Spocter, M.A. (2018). Evolution of the Brain, The. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3094-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3094-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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