Evolutionary Neuroscience

Kaas's major research interests are in the evolution and functional organization of sensory-perceptual, cognitive, and motor systems, especially in primates, in the development of these systems, and in how these systems are plastic in response to injury and use in developing and adult brains. Special research emphasis is placed on studying visual, auditory and somatosensory systems, but current studies are also concerned with multimodal and sensorimotor integration in parietal and frontal cortex. Research questions are addressed with a range of electrophysiological, neuroanatomical, biochemical, and behavioral techniques. Teaching interests are in neuroscience, biological psychology, and animal behavior. Current Research: •Single and multielectrode recordings of neurons in primary somatosensory cortex of monkeys. •Optical imaging of functional subdivisions of visual cortex in monkeys. •Studies of anatomical connections of neural networks in brain systems devoted to somatosensory, visual, auditory, motor, and gustatory functions in monkeys. •Studies of brain architecture.

PART 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY, THEORY, METHODS AND CONCEPTS Striedter: History of Ideas on Brain Evolution; Albert: Phylogenetic Character Reconstruction; Reichert, Hirth: Basic Nervous System "Types": One or Many?; Reichert, Lichtneckert: Origin and Evolution of the First Nervous System; Marín, López-Bendito: Neuronal Migration; Innocenti: The Role of Transient Connections in Brain Evolution; Cherniak: Neural Wiring Optimization; Stevens: Principles of Brain Scaling

PART 2 THE EVOLUTION OF BRAINS IN EARLY VERTEBRATES, FISHES, AMPHIBIANS, REPTILES AND BIRDS Fritzsch, Glover: Structure of Brains of Primitive Vertebrates (tunicates, amphioxus, lampreys) and the Basic Features of the Vertebrate Brain; Wullimann, Varnier: Evolution of the Nervous System in  Fishes; Roth, Dicke: Evolution of the Amphibian Nervous System; Bruce: Evolution of the Nervous System in Reptiles; Medina: Do Birds and Reptiles Possess Homologues of Mammalian Visual, Somatosensory and Motor Cortices?; Jarvis: The Evolution of Vocal Learning Systems in Birds and Humans; Martinez-Garcia, Novejarque, Lanuza: The Evolution of the Amygdala in Vertebrates; Fernald: The Evolution of Vertebrate Eyes; Eisthen, Polese: Vertebrate Olfactory Subsystems and their Evolution; Finger: The Evolution of Taste Systems; Soares, Carr: Shared and Convergent Features of the Auditory System of Vertebrates 

PART 3 EVOLUTION OF MAMMALIAN BRAINS Jerison: How Can Fossils Tell us About the Evolution of the Neocortex?; Molnár, Tavare, Cheung: The Origin of Neocortex: Lessons from Comparative Embryology; Kaas: Reconstructing the Organization of the Forebrain of the First Mammals; Krubitzer, Hunt: Captured in the net of space and time:  Understanding cortical field evolution; Kaas: The Evolution of the Dorsal Thalamus in Mammals; Reiner: The Evolution of the Basal Ganglia in Mammals and other Vertebrates; Eichenbaum: The Evolution of the Hippocampus; Glickstein, Oberdick, Voogd: The Evolution of the Cerebellum; Illig: Olfactory Cortex: Comparative Anatomy; Graf: Vestibluar System; Simon, Nicolelis, Araujo: Evolution of Gustation; Catania: The Evolution of the Somatosensory System; Zook: Somatosensory Specializations of Flying Mammals; Nudo: The Evolution of Motor Cortex and Motor Systems; Lyon: The Evolution of Visual Cortex and Visual Systems

PART 4 PRIMATE BRAIN EVOLUTION Preuss: Primate Brain Evolution; Ross, Martin: The Role of Vision in the Origin and Evolution of Primates; Kaas: The Evolution of Sensory and Motor Systems in Primates; Casagrande: The evolution of parallel pathways in the brains of primates; Hackett: The evolution of the primate and human auditory system; Deacon: The evolution of language systems in the human brain; Corballis: The evolution of hemispheric specializations of the human brain; Frey: Neurological specializations for manual gesture and tool use in humans; Allman: Frontal Cortex Evolution in Primates