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Introduction: Paleoneurology, Resurgent!

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Human Paleoneurology

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Bio-/Neuroinformatics ((SSBN,volume 3))

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Abstract

Much has happened in the study of paleoneurology since the turn of the 20th Century involving increasing sophistication of digital methods which permit a variety of statistical and imaging techniques that are replacing the older methods of studying endocasts, which have relied upon plaster/latex rubber copies of fossil materials and mostly qualitative statements regarding morphology and those correlations with structural and functional studies from neuroanatomy. Today, non-invasive imaging techniques allow for immediate study of b both qualitative and multivariate quantitative approaches to both fossil specimens and modern human endocranial variation. Nevertheless, a critical examination of several recent paleoneurological papers suggest that too little familiarity with actual neuroanatomy and reliance instead on digitized descriptions and statistical techniques is leading to hypotheses that fly in the face of actual neuroanatomical details. We need a much better understanding of modern human and ape neuroanatomical patterns as well as more fossil specimens, and in particular, better ethics of sharing digital information.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Ralph Holloway

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  1. Ralph Holloway
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Correspondence to Ralph Holloway .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Research Center on Human Evolution, Burgos, Spain

    Emiliano Bruner

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Holloway, R. (2015). Introduction: Paleoneurology, Resurgent!. In: Bruner, E. (eds) Human Paleoneurology. Springer Series in Bio-/Neuroinformatics, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08500-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08500-5_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08499-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08500-5

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