Dissertation Defense: "A Canine Window into Human Evolution: Brain Morphology, Asymmetry, and Plasticity"

HEB grad student Sophie Barton will defend her dissertation entitled "A Canine Window into Human Evolution: Brain Morphology, Asymmetry, and Plasticity".

Abstract:

A central challenge in evolutionary neuroscience is understanding how selection on behavior shapes brain organization and interacts with experience-dependent plasticity. Throughout human evolution, the construction of and adaptation to a complex anthropogenic niche drove selection for flexible cognition. Domestic dogs occupy a unique space in this evolutionary narrative; through domestication and prolonged cohabitation, they have co-evolved to thrive within this same human-built ecology. Consequently, dogs provide a powerful comparative model, exhibiting exceptional within-species variation in behavior and brain organization that parallels many major transitions in human evolution. Using structural and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging, this dissertation examines how adaptation to the human niche has shaped the canine brain. It focuses on three key themes: the covariation between skull morphology and brain anatomy, patterns of neuroanatomical asymmetry, and the effects of recent artificial selection on neuroplasticity. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that dog brains combine evolved predispositions with pronounced plasticity. This neural phenotype shares significant similarities with the human brain, offering a compelling comparative framework for understanding the evolution of cognition and behavior within the anthropogenic niche.