Rare neurons discovered in monkey brains (chemistry, Neanderthal, physics, connection)

[Brian.Pearson]

The anterior insular cortex is a small brain region that plays a crucial role in human self-awareness and in related neuropsychiatric disorders. A unique cell type – the von Economo neuron (VEN) – is located there. For a long time, the VEN was assumed to be unique to humans, great apes, whales and elephants. Henry Evrard, neuroanatomist at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, now discovered that the VEN occurs also in the insula of macaque monkeys. The morphology, size and distribution of the monkey VEN suggest that it is at least a primal anatomical homolog of the human VEN. This finding offers new and much-needed opportunities to examine in detail the connections and functions of a cell and brain region that could have a key role in human self-awareness and in mental disorders including autism and specific forms of dementia.

[Six Foot Three]

I wonder what the ''we're made from aliens'' crowd think when they read a story like this?

[Brian.Pearson]

Originally Posted by 6 Foot 3

I wonder what the ''we're made from aliens'' crowd think when they read a story like this?

No telling...

[Six Foot Three]

While i definitely do not believe in the outer space aliens or the old testament theories of human creation however i admit that i'm intrigued in that how a branch of the ape family some 2 million years ago morphed into Australopithicus to which morphed into a ''human'' homo habilis hence into homo ergaster hence homo erectus hence homo neanderthal and lastly to us ''sapiens'' hence further to ''super intellgent'' class of homo sapians (space exploration, biology, physics, chemistry, inventions etc.) and many other class of humans along the 2 million year timeline.

[Brian.Pearson]

Originally Posted by 6 Foot 3

While i definitely do not believe in the outer space aliens or the old testament theories of human creation however i admit that i'm intrigued in that how a branch of the ape family some 2 million years ago morphed into Australopithicus to which morphed into a ''human'' homo habilis hence into homo ergaster hence homo erectus hence homo neanderthal and lastly to us ''sapiens'' hence further to ''super intellgent'' class of homo sapians (space exploration, biology, physics, chemistry, inventions etc.) and many other class of humans along the 2 million year timeline.

I concur with that, minus the biblical stuff.