Dean Falk | |
|---|---|
 Falk in 2017 | |
| Born | June 25, 1944 (age 80) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Occupation | Anthropologist |
| Organization | Florida State University |
Dean Falk (born June 25, 1944) is an American academic neuroanthropologist who specializes in the evolution of the brain and cognition in higher primates. She is the Hale G. Smith Professor of Anthropology and a Distinguished Research Professor at Florida State University.
As an undergraduate, Falk studied mathematics and anthropology. Since receiving her PhD degree from the University of Michigan in 1976, she has taught courses in anatomy, neuroanatomy, and anthropology. Falk is interested in the evolution of the brain and cognition. She formulated the "radiator theory" that cranial blood vessels were important for hominin brain evolution, and the "putting the baby down" hypothesis that prehistoric mothers and infants facilitated the emergence of language.
She and colleagues described the brain of Homo floresiensis ("Hobbit") in 2005. In 2013, Falk and colleagues described the cerebral cortex of Albert Einstein from recently emerged photographs of his whole brain. In 2017, Falk coauthored a study with Charles Hildebolt on warfare in small-scale and state societies, which found that people are no less violent today than they were in the past. Falk coauthored a 2018 book on Asperger's syndrome with her 24-year-old granddaughter who has Asperger's, [1] and, in 2019, published a refutation of the allegation that Hans Asperger was a Nazi sympathizer.[ citation needed ] This was in turn refuted by the original author, Herwig Czech, who opined that Falk's paper abounded "with mistranslations, misrepresentations of the content of sources, and basic factual errors, and omits everything that does not support the author’s agenda of defending Hans Asperger’s record." He declared that the paper should never have passed the peer review process and should be retracted. Czech summarizes: "While her [Falk's] paper does not contain a single relevant piece of new evidence, large parts of her argument—for example with regards to Asperger’s apparent reluctance to report his patients for forced sterilization—actually rely on evidence provided in my paper, all the while ignoring the elements that do not support her narrative (Czech 2018, p. 18–19)." [2] Falk responded to Czech’s refutation point-by-point, enumerated numerous factual errors that it contained, and concluded that Czech’s "criticism of the anonymous peer reviewers of my paper (who were quite helpful) and his call for its retraction are, at best, unconstructive. Because of the xenophobic and racist prejudices that shape current political events in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, it is essential that details about Nazism, including the Nazi euthanasia program, continue to be deliberated. I, for one, am grateful to JADD [the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders] for publishing the present back-and-forth discussion, and I stand by my paper." [3]
After the skeletal remains of a "Hobbit"-sized human (museum number LB1) that are now dated to over 65,000 years ago were discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2003 they were identified as a new species labelled Homo floresiensis ("Hobbit"). Some scientists thought that the specimen must have been a pygmy or a microcephalic — a human with an abnormally small skull. Falk undertook a collaborative study in 2005 that described Hobbit's endocast and supported the claim that the find represented a new species.
Falk's 2005 study was criticized by other experts. [4] In response, in 2007 with an international team of experts, Falk compared detailed maps of imprints left on the ancient hominid's braincase (endocasts) with those from microcephalic individuals and concluded that LB1, indeed, represented a new species that may have been descended from either Homo erectus or an earlier small-bodied hominin.[ citation needed ] Falk's team have repeatedly asserted that their findings confirm that the species cataloged as LB1, Homo floresiensis, is definitely not a human born with microcephalia — a somewhat rare pathological condition that still occurs today. She has also participated in other studies that refute the idea that LB1 had Laron syndrome or Down syndrome. Today, most experts do not think that LB1 was a diseased human. As noted by Westaway et al. (MC Westaway et al. [2015]. Mandibular evidence supports Homo floresiensis as a distinct species. PNAS 112[7], E604-E605), "Many interesting questions about the Liang Bua fossils remain unanswered, but whether LB1 is a pathological H. sapiens is not one of them".
Falk led a team that described the entire cerebral cortex of Albert Einstein in 2013, [5] and collaborated with Weiwei Men et al. in analyzing his corpus callosum. [6]
In 2014, Falk published her work on "Interpreting sulci on hominin endocasts: old hypotheses and new findings in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience". Her work summarized what paleoneurologists could potentially learn about human brain evolution from fossils, which is confined to information about the evolution of brain size and how limited parts of the cerebral cortex became reorganized during evolution. Falk noted that the cerebral cortex is a highly evolved part of the human brain and that it facilitates conscious thought, planning, language, social skills, and scientific, artistic, and musical creativity. The cerebral cortex may leave imprints in skulls which are sometimes reproduced on endocasts. Falk observed that these studies exclude the internal brain structures that cannot be described by paleoneurologists because they do not show up on endocasts. These parts of the brain also evolved, and they are extremely important for processing memories, gut-level feelings, and social interactions in ways that set humans apart from other animals.
In 2018, Falk and colleagues published an in vivo magnetic resonance imaging study of the cerebral cortices of eight adult chimpanzees in which they identified sulcal patterns and compared them to those known from australopithecines and Homo naledi. This study showed that the frontal lobe sulcal patterns of australopiths (and H. naledi) were not derived compared to extant apes, contrary to Falk's 2014 paper.Falk, D.; Zollikofer, C.P.E.; Ponce de Leon, M.; Semendeferi, K.; Warren, J.L.A.; Hopkins, W.D. (2018). "Identification of in vivo sulci on the external surface of eight adult chimpanzee brains: Implications for interpreting early hominin endocasts". Brain Behavior and Evolution. 91 (1): 45–58. doi:10.1159/000487248. PMID 29533941.
Homininae, is a subfamily of the family Hominidae (hominids). This subfamily includes two tribes, Hominini and Gorillini, both having extant species as well as extinct species.
Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a term formerly used to describe a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. Asperger syndrome has been merged with other conditions into autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and is no longer considered a diagnosis. It was considered milder than other diagnoses which were merged into ASD due to relatively unimpaired spoken language and intelligence.
The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. It is the largest site of neural integration in the central nervous system, and plays a key role in attention, perception, awareness, thought, memory, language, and consciousness. The cerebral cortex is the part of the brain responsible for cognition.
Brodmann area 10 is the anterior-most portion of the prefrontal cortex in the human brain. BA10 was originally defined broadly in terms of its cytoarchitectonic traits as they were observed in the brains of cadavers, but because modern functional imaging cannot precisely identify these boundaries, the terms anterior prefrontal cortex, rostral prefrontal cortex and frontopolar prefrontal cortex are used to refer to the area in the most anterior part of the frontal cortex that approximately covers BA10—simply to emphasize the fact that BA10 does not include all parts of the prefrontal cortex.
Homo floresiensis( also known as "Flores Man" or "Hobbit" after the fictional species) is an extinct species of small archaic human that inhabited the island of Flores, Indonesia, until the arrival of modern humans about 50,000 years ago.
Liang Bua is a limestone cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia, slightly north of the town of Ruteng in Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. The cave demonstrated archaeological and paleontological potential in the 1950s and 1960s as described by the Dutch missionary and archaeologist Theodor L. Verhoeven.
High-functioning autism (HFA) was historically an autism classification to describe a person who exhibited no intellectual disability but had some difficulty in communication, emotion recognition, expression, and/or social interaction. However, many in medical and autistic communities have called to stop using the term, finding it simplistic and unindicative of the difficulties some austistic people face.
In neuroanatomy, a gyrus is a ridge on the cerebral cortex. It is generally surrounded by one or more sulci. Gyri and sulci create the folded appearance of the brain in humans and other mammals.
Pachygyria is a congenital malformation of the cerebral hemisphere. It results in unusually thick convolutions of the cerebral cortex. Typically, children have developmental delay and seizures, the onset and severity depending on the severity of the cortical malformation. Infantile spasms are common in affected children, as is intractable epilepsy.
The brain of Albert Einstein has been a subject of much research and speculation. Albert Einstein's brain was removed within seven and a half hours of his death. His apparent regularities or irregularities in the brain have been used to support various ideas about correlations in neuroanatomy with general or mathematical intelligence. Studies have suggested an increased number of glial cells in Einstein's brain.
The size of the brain is a frequent topic of study within the fields of anatomy, biological anthropology, animal science and evolution. Measuring brain size and cranial capacity is relevant both to humans and other animals, and can be done by weight or volume via MRI scans, by skull volume, or by neuroimaging intelligence testing.
In human brain anatomy, an operculum, may refer to the frontal, temporal, or parietal operculum, which together cover the insula as the opercula of insula. It can also refer to the occipital operculum, part of the occipital lobe.
The empathising–systemising (E–S) theory is a controversial theory on the psychological basis of autism and male–female neurological differences originally put forward by English clinical psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen. It classifies individuals based on abilities in empathic thinking (E) and systematic thinking (S). It measures skills using an Empathy Quotient (EQ) and Systemising Quotient (SQ) and attempts to explain the social and communication symptoms in autism spectrum disorders as deficits and delays in empathy combined with intact or superior systemising.
Post-canine megadontia is a relative enlargement of the molars and premolars compared to the size of the incisors and canines. This phenomenon is seen in some early hominid ancestors such as Paranthropus aethiopicus.
The evolution of the brain refers to the progressive development and complexity of neural structures over millions of years, resulting in the diverse range of brain sizes and functions observed across different species today, particularly in vertebrates.
In brain anatomy, the lunate sulcus or simian sulcus, also known as the sulcus lunatus, is a fissure in the occipital lobe variably found in humans and more often larger when present in apes and monkeys. The lunate sulcus marks the transition between V1 and V2.
Paleoneurobiology is the study of brain evolution by analysis of brain endocasts to determine endocranial traits and volumes. Considered a subdivision of neuroscience, paleoneurobiology combines techniques from other fields of study including paleontology and archaeology. It reveals specific insight concerning human evolution. The cranium is unique in that it grows in response to the growth of brain tissue rather than genetic guidance, as is the case with bones that support movement. Fossil skulls and their endocasts can be compared to each other, to the skulls and fossils of recently deceased individuals, and even compared to those of other species to make inferences about functional anatomy, physiology and phylogeny. Paleoneurobiology is in large part influenced by developments in neuroscience as a whole; without substantial knowledge about current functionality, it would be impossible to make inferences about the functionality of ancient brains.
Sex and gender differences in autism exist regarding prevalence, presentation, and diagnosis.
Roberto Toro is a neuroscientist of Chilean origin, and is now Director of Research at the Neuroscience Department of the Institut Pasteur in Paris. His research focuses on the development and evolution of the brain, specifically using mathematical modelling, magnetic resonance imaging and genetics to better understand the origin of neocortical organisation. He develops computational neuroanatomy methods to analyse the normal diversity of human brain anatomy, and to look for differences associated with neurodevelopmental pathologies, in particular autism spectrum disorders. Roberto is an open science advocate and aims at a more collaborative and open science, allowing anyone to take part in the research process.
Francisco Aboitiz is a Chilean neuroscientist, academic, and author. He is a professor at the Medical School and the Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Neuroscience NeuroUC at Pontificia Universidad Católica (PUC) de Chile.
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