Great question and discussion! Just to add β large and small monkeys can even share the canopy and live together, like capuchins and marmosets, and spider monkeys and tamarins, who have very different brain sizes and fall into the 2 different behavioural main clusters.
31.07.2025 17:48 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
absolutely!
31.07.2025 13:59 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Thank you, that's great. It is long time after the New World monkey/Old World monkey split (~twice as long as the humanβchimp divergence) and its brain volume and the associated expected folding correspond very well with our estimations based on phylogenetic comparative analyses.
31.07.2025 13:43 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Very interesting!
27.07.2025 20:40 β π 4 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
Comparative neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk revels in unlocking the what, how and why of bird behaviour | UNews
If you are interested in bird behaviour or animal brains, our book has you covered. Available next week, you can order direct from @mitpress.bsky.social (mitpress.mit.edu/978026255273...) or wherever books are sold.
#birds #neuroskyence πͺΆπ§ π§ͺπ¨π¦
See more on it here:
www.ulethbridge.ca/unews/articl...
31.07.2025 02:43 β π 80 π 24 π¬ 4 π 1
Good question! Neuro & physiology are indeed very correlated. I included body weight, birth & weaning weight, age at sexual maturity, gestation &weaning time, maximum longevity, litter size and did partial correlations: Neuro significantly correlates with behaviour; but physio and phylogeny do not π€
30.07.2025 20:46 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Highly recommend reading the whole thread, but I particularly love this bit
29.07.2025 17:50 β π 3 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
Very nice new study led by @k4tj4.bsky.social & @r3rt0.bsky.social
Brains, behaviors, phylogeny & developmental constraints π§ͺπ§
Thread π
28.07.2025 05:35 β π 11 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0
Very interesting thread!
29.07.2025 14:00 β π 7 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0
Seeing truly novel hypotheses pop up is refreshing & exciting. Very curious as to how the idea takes root (or survives) in neuroscience.
29.07.2025 12:37 β π 9 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
Reconstruction and illustration of Mirasaura in its natural forested environment, hunting insects. Credit: Gabriel Ugueto
A paper in Nature describes a Triassic reptile with a crest of appendages on its back, which are neither feathers nor skin. The findings demonstrate that feathers or hair-like protrusions are not unique to birds and mammals. go.nature.com/4nZCySR #Paleosky π§ͺ
29.07.2025 01:31 β π 34 π 6 π¬ 0 π 1
Such a great paper, blowing the false dichotomy of genes vs. environment. Primate brain folds, connectome and even behavior is better predicted by brain volume than genes. Folds appear as a result of development with mechanical constraints (big brains get folded). No map of the brain in the genome!
28.07.2025 15:24 β π 32 π 6 π¬ 2 π 1
Really, really interesting.
28.07.2025 13:43 β π 4 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0
Neuroanatomical similarity due to mechanical morphogenesis should definitely be a component to take into account! We did test within humans and observed an effect in that direction (writing that up right ATM). But we may not have enough behavioural data for other hominins. Do you? π
28.07.2025 16:08 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Lovely work and great thread. I just read another work today who needs to cite this already!
28.07.2025 13:54 β π 5 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
This is a really cool lens for understanding changes in brain function and behavior across species. This concept of mechanical morphogenesis is not something Iβd thought about in this way - really cool work and the π§΅ and illustrations are π₯!
28.07.2025 12:18 β π 9 π 4 π¬ 0 π 0
Incredible. Beautiful work
28.07.2025 10:10 β π 7 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0
Fascinating work but equally a masterclass in science communication
28.07.2025 07:51 β π 29 π 5 π¬ 0 π 0
Yes, could be! With a larger brain comes more folding, and hence there will be more U-fibers connecting these additional gyri as a result of mechanical morphogenetic processes, adding to the intrahemispheric connectivity. Also, the hypoallometry of the corpus callosum may add to the picture.
27.07.2025 21:49 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Thanks π₯° Yes, you can send an email if you like :) Looking forward to reading from you!
27.07.2025 21:38 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
Really interesting work showing "behavioural similarity was substantially more correlated with brain similarity than with genetic similarity". Would be interesting to see if ontogenetic feedback processes also cause behavioral similarities to structure patterns of neural development (Γ la Lehrman).
27.07.2025 20:46 β π 22 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0
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Thanks so much again to everyone involved! Thanks also to
@pasteur.fr @mnhn.fr @institutducerveau.bsky.social @ec.europa.eu @agencerecherche.bsky.social @erc.europa.eu βͺ
27.07.2025 17:59 β π 5 π 0 π¬ 2 π 0
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Extra bonus: Fly-through of the whole-brain tractographies of the 4 large-brained species capuchin, colobus, macaque and mangabey. π₯°
27.07.2025 17:51 β π 21 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0
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This was a long, fantastic journey w/ an awesome team: @nicolas-traut.bsky.social , @leandrist.bsky.social , S. Faezeh Alavi, Marc Herbin, @neuroecologylab.bsky.social , @rajeevmsn.bsky.social , Shaghayegh Najafipashak, Tomoko Sakai, Mathieu Santin, @borrell-lab.bsky.social & @r3rt0.bsky.social
27.07.2025 17:48 β π 12 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
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Thank you for staying with us until now! What do you think? Weβd love to hear from you and discuss. π₯°
27.07.2025 17:47 β π 22 π 0 π¬ 4 π 0
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Our observations represent an important challenge to purely gene-centric explanations, adding a new fundamental principle to the causal pillars supporting the development and evolution of neocortical organisation and behaviour: inheritance, experience and emergence.
27.07.2025 17:45 β π 26 π 1 π¬ 1 π 1
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The consequences of the emergent structures induced by mechanical morphogenesis can go well beyond folding, influencing also cytoarchitectonic development, connectivity and behaviour.
27.07.2025 17:44 β π 15 π 0 π¬ 2 π 0
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Mechanical morphogenesis provides a more parsimonious explanation for this similarity than the parallel evolution of identical genetic encodings in New World and Old World monkeys.
27.07.2025 17:44 β π 18 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
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All this suggests that mechanical morphogenesis may be a major 3rd causal determinant of the development and evolution of brain organisation in primates.
27.07.2025 17:43 β π 36 π 5 π¬ 2 π 1
Prof. @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social βͺ- Runs a lab slslab.org - Works on computation, neuroscience, behavior, vision, optics, imaging, 2p / multiphoton, optical computing, machine learning / AI - Blogs at labrigger.com - Founded @pacificoptica.bsky.social
Max Planck Research Group Leader at MPI for Biological Cybernetics in TΓΌbingen
FRS-FNRS Senior Researcher; Prof. UCLouvain.
Study the multisensory nature of brain networks and how sensory deprivation impacts their development.
Does different sensation means different conception?
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K. Lisa Yang Brain-Body Center Postdoctoral Fellow at Steve Flavell's Lab @Picower Inst, MIT | PhD from Michael Hendricks' Lab @IPN, McGill Univ | Animal behavior | Neuroscience | Open science
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Development and plasticity of visual circuits
Postdoc, Lab-Jacquemont, CHUSJ Research Center, University of Montreal. Investigating the impact of CNVs on the human brain. IIT-Engineer-ISRO-Neuro-Genetics.
Paradigmatically promiscuous scientist. Modeler of cultural evolution and related topics. Professor at UC Merced and the Santa Fe Institute.
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I did a PhD on 3D #TractionForceMicroscopy.
ScienceCommunication coordinator at cebebelgica.es/en_GB/
Translational neuroscience; non-motor functions of the cerebellum; psychopharmacology
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(Finishing) PhD in neuroAI at the Donders Institute (NL). Working on computational neuroscience and deep learning. Also into physics, ALife, complexity, filmmaking, philosophy, and space exploration.