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Krasnow Institute > Monday Seminars > Abstracts How Did Three-Layer Cortex (archicortex) Come to Have a New Function with the EvolutionaryDevelopment of Six-Layer Cortex (neocortex): A Modern "Just-So" Story Jim Olds The mammalian brain structure known as the hippocampus, while being the subject of massive research over the past century, still has an unknown function in contrast to many other parts of the nervous system. Most investigators in the field remain convinced that the structure is intimately involved in mnemonic function, however the evidence for this involvement remains weak and somewhat problematical. Here we take a step back to look at this structure from the standpoint of brain evolution in thecontext of neuroanatomy and surmise that this three-layer archicortex's current function is a result of the rapid phylogenetic development of the six-layer neocortex in mammals. We speculate that archicortex evolved a key neocortical indexing function subsequent to and in support of the complex columnar neuroanatomy of the cerebral cortex.
The Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study |
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