The Wiley Handbook of Evolutionary Neuroscience

Evolutionary neuroscience is an interdisciplinary research field that studies the evolution of brains and cognition. Drawing on both neuroscience and biology, evolutionary neuroscientists work across species in order to better understand how biology builds minds, and how this informs our scientific understanding of the human brain. The Wiley Handbook of Evolutionary Neuroscience unifies these two linked aspects of the field, embedding them in a strong theoretical framework in order to create a comprehensive reference for advanced students and researchers. 

Chapters provide a thorough overview of brain structure and development, an exploration of how brains change through evolution and experience, and a discussion of how brains interact. The text also offers a balanced view of brain anatomy, looking beyond higher vertebrates to reveal the common mechanisms that govern computation and behavior across widely disparate species. Combining a broad focus with authoritative coverage, The Wiley Handbook of Evolutionary Neuroscience is a rigorous introduction to an active and important field.

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xiii

1 The Brain Evolved to Guide Action 1
Michael Anderson and Anthony Chemero

2 The Evolution of Evolutionary Neuroscience 21
Suzana Herculano ]Houzel

3 Approaches to the Study of Brain Evolution 38
Jon H. Kaas

4 Intraneuronal Computation: Charting the Signaling Pathways of the Neuron 49
Jorge Navarro, Raquel del Moral, and Pedro C. Marijuán

5 The Evolution of Neurons 88
Robert W. Meech

6 The First Nervous System 125
Nadia Riebli and Heinrich Reichert

7 Fundamental Constraints on the Evolution of Neurons 153
A. Aldo Faisal and Ali Neishabouri

8 The Central Nervous System of Invertebrates 173
Volker Hartenstein

9 Nervous System Architecture in Vertebrates 236
Mario F. Wullimann

10 Neurotransmission Evolving Systems 279
Michel Anctil

11 Neural Development in Invertebrates 307
Roger P. Croll

12 Forebrain Development in Vertebrates: The Evolutionary Role of Secondary Organizers 350
Luis Puelles

13 Brain Evolution and Development: Allometry of the Brain and Arealization of the Cortex 388
Diarmuid J. Cahalane and Barbara L. Finlay

14 Comparative Aspects of Learning and Memory 410
Michael Koch

15 Brain Evolution, Development, and Plasticity 422
Rayna M. Harris, Lauren A. O Connell, and Hans A. Hofmann

16 Neural Mechanisms of Communication 444
Julia Sliwa, Daniel Y. Takahashi, and Stephen V. Shepherd

17 Social Coordination: From Ants to Apes 478
Anne Böckler, Anna Wilkinson, Ludwig Huber, and Natalie Sebanz

18 Social Learning, Intelligence, and Brain Evolution 495
Sally E. Street and Kevin N. Laland

19 Reading Other Minds 514
Juliane Kaminski

Index 526

Stephen Shepherd is a Research Associate in the Laboratory of Neural Systems, Rockefeller University, New York, USA, and was previously Chair of the Princeton University Postdoctoral Association. He has published his work in diverse journals including Proceedings of the Royal Society, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Neuroscience, Current Biology and Animal Cognition, and has also contributed chapters to a several books.