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Role of ortho‐retronasal olfaction in mammalian cortical evolution
Author(s) -
Rowe Timothy B.,
Shepherd Gordon M.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.23802
Subject(s) - olfaction , neocortex , neuroscience , biology , olfactory system , sensory system , cortex (anatomy) , anatomy
Fossils of mammals and their extinct relatives among cynodonts give evidence of correlated transformations affecting olfaction as well as mastication, head movement, and ventilation, and suggest evolutionary coupling of these seemingly separate anatomical regions into a larger integrated system of ortho‐retronasal olfaction. Evidence from paleontology and physiology suggests that ortho‐retronasal olfaction played a critical role at three stages of mammalian cortical evolution: early mammalian brain development was driven in part by ortho‐retronasal olfaction; the bauplan for neocortex had higher‐level association functions derived from olfactory cortex; and human cortical evolution was enhanced by ortho‐retronasal smell. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:471–495, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.