E-raamat: Evolutionary Roots of Human Brain Diseases

"Traditionally, studies and textbooks in Neurology or Psychiatry, as well as allied disciplines, deal with proximate causes of diseases and therapies, but remain mute or minimally interested in their ultimate causes including the phylogeny and adaptive significance of disease manifestations. Yet, as clinicians or basic researchers, we are conscious of potential evolutionary roots of neurological and psychiatric symptoms, often offering a rudimentary explanation but never delving deeply into the current role of evolutionary science as it relates to health and disease. We may miss appreciation of the role of adaptive properties, evolutionarily based neuronal circuitries, unbalanced cellular energy demands, and the potential health consequences of residual syndromic behaviors that were possibly useful in early times of human development, but presently are obsolete and pathological. The problem is amplified, because there is often no interdisciplinary dialogue between anthropology and evolutionary biology onone side and clinical sciences on the other side. However, the evolutionary tracing back of disease pathways may disclose unexpected insights and trigger the design of innovative research as well as propel the development of new therapeutic interventions. There could also be a better apprehension of compensatory behaviors, both at the cellular level as well as the systemic the behavioural levels, that could be the expected fruits of such collaborations. So far scientists fall short in modeling the complexity of human (social) life, human language, or manual dexterity, and mental or emotional behaviors that typify human neurological or psychological function and dysfunction. Finally, there remain obstacles in the form of poor animal modeling for human brain diseases and for human longevity. The present book aims to fill these gaps by presenting an evolutionary view of neurological and psychiatric conditions that is meant to complement and enrich existing medical perspectives"--

Richly illustrated with figures and examples and supplemented with a glossary of terms, The Evolutionary Roots of Human Brain Diseases assembles recent findings in clinical neuroscience, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and cellular biology to elucidate the origins of human brain diseases and how evolution has given rise to exclusive impacts on brain health only in humans. The book is succinct, up-to-date, and written by researchers across numerous disciplines, making it a compulsory read for clinical neurologists, psychologists, and all medical researchers interested in the brain.

The book's 22 chapters cover basic science concepts behind cerebral cellular specificities or human-specific network developments, detailed discussions of neurological or psychiatric diseases and their clinical expression with an evolutionary focus, the newest imaging techniques to study the brain, future medication developments, as well as cultural and societal repercussions. Evolutionary concepts ranging from genetic pleiotropic antagonism to disease remnants of ancient behaviours crucial for survival are also presented. Insightful and innovative in its approach, this book offers a fascinating interdisciplinary dialogue on the potential repercussions of ongoing human brain evolution.

The Evolutionary Roots of Human Brain Diseases assembles recent findings in clinical neuroscience, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and cellular biology to elucidate the origins of human brain diseases and how evolution has given rise to exclusive impacts on brain health only in humans. The book is succinct, up-to-date, and written by researchers across numerous disciplines, making it a compulsory read for clinical neurologists, psychologists, and all medical researchers interested in the brain.