The Relevance Of Brain Evolution For The Biomedical Sciences

Main Category: Biology / Biochemistry
Also Included In: Veterinary;  Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 22 Oct 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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Understanding the human brain in health and disease is an important endeavour in biomedical research. Much of the research, however, happens in other animals.

The extrapolation of results found in other animals to humans is crucially dependent on a correct understanding of brain evolution.

All brains are the results of millions of years of evolution, and only a comparative approach of a number of different species can help us to understand which brain properties have evolved under which circumstances, and hence which knowledge gained from laboratory animals can be applied to human brains and which cannot.

Royal Society Journal Biology Letters

Biology Letters publishes short, innovative and cutting-edge research articles and opinion pieces accessible to scientists from across the biological sciences. The journal is characterised by stringent peer-review, rapid publication and broad dissemination of succinct high-quality research communications.

www.publishing.royalsociety.org/biologyletters

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