Doctoral Dissertation Research: Encephalic Arterial Canals and their Functional Significance

博士论文研究：脑动脉管及其功能意义

基本信息

批准号：
1825129
负责人：
Douglas Boyer
金额：
$ 2.76万
依托单位：
Duke University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2018
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2018-08-15 至 2020-07-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1825129&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Doctoral Dissertation Research Encephalic Arterial

项目摘要

The cost of evolving a large brain, like the human brain, is hypothesized to require energetic trade-offs, such that increases in brain metabolism may require reductions in energy used for growth and reproduction. However, additional comparative data on brain metabolism (the rate at which energy is used) are needed to better investigate these potential trade-offs. Because direct measurements are difficult to obtain for most living species and impossible for extinct ones, this doctoral dissertation project will use measurements obtained from skeletal features affected by brain metabolic demands to infer rates of brain metabolism in a broad group of mammals. Comparing how and why mammals may vary in the energy they expend on the brain relative to their body's metabolism will advance knowledge in primate and human biology and brain evolution. This project will generate numerous 3D scans of skulls that will be used for student mentoring and public outreach at Duke University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. These data will also be released for public access on the digital archive MorphoSource, which will yield further research and educational utility.Previous studies suggest that the size of foramina that transmit the brain's arteries may be used to predict brain glucose utilization rates in euarchontans. This project aims to further evaluate the use of these foramina to test energetic hypotheses of brain size evolution. Diameters of the transverse foramina (which transmit the vertebral artery) and carotid canals (which transmit the internal carotid artery) will be measured from osteological and 3-D digitized specimens obtained from high-resolution computed tomography scans, respectively, in a broad taxonomic sample of marsupials, glirans, afrotheres, xenarthrans, and some carnivorans. A study of bony canal area and predicted blood flow rate change through ontogeny in a cadaveric osteological sample of humans will also be conducted to further elucidate the relationship between foramen size, brain size, and brain metabolism. Using these data, this project will test the extent to which large brains in primates and other mammals are sustained by increasing the body's metabolic rate. This research will further the understanding of human brain evolution within the context of mammalian brain evolution.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

据推测，进化一个大大脑（如人脑）的成本需要能量权衡，因此大脑新陈代谢的增加可能需要减少用于生长和繁殖的能量。然而，需要更多关于大脑新陈代谢（能量使用率）的比较数据，以更好地研究这些潜在的权衡。由于直接测量对于大多数现存物种来说很难获得，对于已经灭绝的物种来说也是不可能的，因此这个博士论文项目将使用从受大脑代谢需求影响的骨骼特征中获得的测量结果来推断广泛的哺乳动物的大脑代谢率。比较哺乳动物大脑消耗的能量相对于身体新陈代谢的方式和原因可能会有所不同，这将增进灵长类动物和人类生物学以及大脑进化的知识。该项目将生成大量头骨 3D 扫描，用于杜克大学和北卡罗来纳州自然科学博物馆的学生指导和公共宣传。这些数据也将在数字档案 MorphoSource 上发布供公众访问，这将产生进一步的研究和教育实用性。先前的研究表明，传输大脑动脉的孔的大小可用于预测真孔坦人的大脑葡萄糖利用率。该项目旨在进一步评估这些孔的用途，以测试大脑大小进化的能量假设。横孔（传输椎动脉）和颈动脉管（传输颈内动脉）的直径将分别通过高分辨率计算机断层扫描获得的骨学样本和 3D 数字化样本进行测量，在广泛的分类样本中有袋动物、格里兰动物、非洲其他动物、异体动物和一些食肉动物。还将对人类尸体骨学样本中的骨管面积和个体发育过程中预测的血流量变化进行研究，以进一步阐明孔大小、大脑大小和大脑代谢之间的关系。利用这些数据，该项目将测试灵长类动物和其他哺乳动物的大大脑在多大程度上通过提高身体的新陈代谢率来维持。这项研究将在哺乳动物大脑进化的背景下进一步了解人类大脑的进化。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。