BrainWeb

Brains do not fossilise, but as they grow and expand during fetal and infant development, they leave an imprint in the bony braincase. Such imprints of fossilised braincases provide direct evidence of brain evolution, but the underlying biological changes have remained elusive. Combining data from fossil skulls, ancient genomes, brain imaging and gene expression helps shed light on the evolutionary changes shaping the human brain. I will highlight two examples separated by more than 3 million years: the evolution of brain growth in Lucy and her kind, and differences between modern humans and Neanderthals.

In this talk I will introduce the central notions of the theory of autonomy, as it is being currently developed in biology and cognitive science. The theory of autonomy puts forward the capacity of self-determination of organisms as whole systems, and constitutes thereby an alternative to more reductionist and mechanistic approaches. I will discuss how the theory of autonomy provides a justification for the scientific use of notions as function, norm, agency and teleology, whose epistemological legitimacy is highly debated. I will conclude by describing the difficult challenges that poses the transition from biological to cognitive autonomy.

Tinbergen encouraged ethologists to address animal behaviour by answering four questions, covering physiology, adaptation, phylogeny, and development. This broad approach has implications for neuroscience and psychology, yet, questions about phylogeny are rarely considered in these fields. Here I describe how phylogeny can shed light on our understanding of brain structure and function. Further, I show that we now have or are developing the data and analytical methods necessary to study the natural history of the human mind.