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Quick evolution of cerebellum noted in apes, humans

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From Phys.org:

A new study published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 2 could rewrite the story of ape and human brain evolution. While the neocortex of the brain has been called “the crowning achievement of evolution and the biological substrate of human mental prowess,” newly reported evolutionary rate comparisons show that the cerebellum expanded up to six times faster than anticipated throughout the evolution of apes, including humans.

The cerebellum had been seen primarily as a brain region involved in movement control, adds Chris Venditti of the University of Reading. But more recent evidence has begun to suggest that the cerebellum has a broader range of functions. The cerebellum also contains an intriguingly large number of densely packed neurons.

“In humans, the cerebellum contains about 70 billion neurons—four times more than in the neocortex,” Barton says. “Nobody really knows what all these neurons are for, but they must be doing something important.”

Barton and Venditti say that the cerebellum seems to be particularly involved in the temporal organization of complex behavioral sequences, such as those involved in making and using tools, for instance. Interestingly, evidence is now emerging for a critical role of the cerebellum in language, too.

Stay tuned.

Whatever happened there didn’t seem to make that much difference to apes. So the main issue is still on the table.

See also:

Human origins: The war of trivial explanations

and

Why human evolution happened only once: the question no one has to answer

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Comments
The brains of apes and humans evolved unusually quickly when it came http://bestbowsforsale.com/starc2t
March 3, 2015
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This study is pseudoscience at its best.Mapou
October 3, 2014
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Dionisio asks a good question at 3. Why did analysts "anticipate" it would be slow?News
October 3, 2014
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Anyone with this kind of creative imagination could easily become a famous bestselling author in the fiction genre: A series of fortuitous genetic events? http://www.the-scientist.com//?articles.view/articleNo/41055/title/The-Rainbow-Connection/Dionisio
October 3, 2014
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I have a totally off topic request or idea. I would like to have a list of several videos put together into a resources page that has debates of notable people on the ID topic. Either I can put it together if yall will send them to me or if one of you wants to put them together. Looking at them on youtube is different since some are cut short, or mis labelled, etc. I think this could be a very useful and helpful "video library"MrCollins
October 3, 2014
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They need to start prefacing these reports with "Assuming evolution is true, then...". Because you know some evo-pusher is going to use this story to assert that our knowledge of the brain "proves" evolution is true, or that we "evolved from apes".drc466
October 3, 2014
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#2 awstar
How much further does the cerebellum have to expand before humans are no longer stupid?
Good question. Thank you. I believe that issue has no natural remedy. True wisdom comes exclusively from a unique source, which has nothing to do with the cerebellum. :)Dionisio
October 3, 2014
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News, When they say: "...up to six times faster than anticipated" any idea why they anticipated it up to 6 times slower?Dionisio
October 3, 2014
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A new study published in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 2 could rewrite the story of ape and human brain evolution. While the neocortex of the brain has been called “the crowning achievement of evolution and the biological substrate of human mental prowess,” newly reported evolutionary rate comparisons show that the cerebellum expanded up to six times faster than anticipated throughout the evolution of apes, including humans.
How much further does the cerebellum have to expand before humans are no longer stupid?awstar
October 3, 2014
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OT? Wanna have fun? Check this out: https://uncommondescent.com/evolution/a-third-way-of-evolution/#comment-517542Dionisio
October 3, 2014
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