Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience

This is an essential reference for the new discipline of evolutionary cognitive neuroscience that defines the field´s approach of applying evolutionary theory to guide brain-behavior investigations. Since Darwin we have known that evolution has shaped all organisms and that biological organs - including the brain and the highly crafted animal nervous system - are subject to the pressures of natural and sexual selection. It is only relatively recently, however, that the cognitive neurosciences have begun to apply evolutionary theory and methods to the study of brain and behavior. This landmark reference documents and defines the emerging field of evolutionary cognitive neuroscience. Chapters by leading researchers demonstrate the power of the evolutionary perspective to yield new data, theory, and insights on the evolution and functional modularity of the brain. Evolutionary cognitive neuroscience covers all areas of cognitive neuroscience, from nonhuman brain-behavior relationships to human cognition and consciousness, and each section of "Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience" addresses a different adaptive problem.After an introductory section that outlines the basic tenets of both theory and methodology of an evolutionarily informed cognitive neuroscience, the book treats neuroanatomy from ontogenetic and phylogenetic perspectives and explores reproduction and kin recognition, spatial cognition and language, and self-awareness and social cognition. Notable findings include a theory to explain the extended ontogenetic and brain development periods of big-brained organisms, fMRI research on the neural correlates of romantic attraction, an evolutionary view of sex differences in spatial cognition, a theory of language evolution that draws on recent research on mirror neurons, and evidence for a rudimentary theory of mind in nonhuman primates. A final section discusses the ethical implications of evolutionary cognitive neuroscience and the future of the field.

Contributors ix
Preface xiii
I. Introduction and Overview 1
1. Introduction to Evolutionary Theory and Its Modern Application to Human Behavior and Cognition Aaron T. Goetz and Todd K. Shackelford 5
2. Brain and Cognition in Evolutionary Perspective
Robin I. M. Dunbar 21
3. Introduction to Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience Methods
Shilpa Patel, Katie L. Rodak, Euginia Mamikonyan, Kyra Singh and Steven M. Platek 47
II. Neuroanatomy: Ontogeny and Phylogeny 63
4. The Evolution of Ontogeny and Human Cognitive Uniqueness Selection for Extended Brain Development in the Hominid Line
Valerie E. Stone 65
5. Hemispheric Specialization in Chimpanzees Evolution of Hand and Brain
William D. Hopkins 95
6. The Evolution of Brain Size and Intelligence
J. Philippe Rushton and C. Davidson Ankney 121
7. The Evolution of the Brain and Cognition in Cetaceans
Lori Marino 163
III. Reproduction and Kin Selection 195
8. The Social Control of Reproduction Physiological, Cellular, and Molecular Consequences of Social Status
Russell D. Fernald 197
9. Neural Correlates of Facial Resemblance
Steven M. Platek and Jaime W. Thomson 221
10. Lust, Romance, Attachment Do the Side-Effects of Serotonin-Enhancing Antidepressants Jeopardize Romantic Love, Marriage, and Fertility?
Helen E. Fisher and J. Anderson Thomson, Jr. 245
11. Self-Perceived Survival and Reproductive Fitness Theory Substance Use Disorders, Evolutionary Game Theory, and the Brain
David B. Newlin 285
IV. Spatial Cognition and Language 327
12. Sex Differences in Spatial Ability Evolution, Hormones, and the Brain
David Andrew Puts, Steven J. C. Gaulin and S. Marc Breedlove 329
13. The Evolution of Sex Differences in Spatial Cognition
Ruben C. Gur, Sarah L. Levin, Farzin Irani, Ivan S. Panyavin, Jaime W. Thomson and Steven M. Platek 381
14. The Evolution of Language From Hand to Mouth
Michael C. Corballis 403
V. Self-Awareness and Social Cognition 431
15. The Evolution of Human Mindreading
How Nonhuman Primates Can Inform Social Cognitive Neuroscience
Laurie R. Santos, Jonathan I. Flombaum and Webb Phillips 433
16. Social Cognition and the Evolution of Self-Awareness
Farah Focquaert and Steven M. Platek 457
17. The Assortative Mating Theory of Autism
Simon Baron-Cohen 499
18. Deception, Evolution, and the Brain
Sean T. Stevens, Kevin Guise, William Christiana, Monisha Kumar and Julian Paul Keenan 517 19. On the Evolution of Human Motivation
The Role of Social Prosthetic Systems
Stephen M. Kosslyn 541
VI. Theoretical, Ethical, and Future Implications for Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience 555
20. Philosophical, Ethical, and Social Considerations of Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience Michael B. Kimberly and Paul Root Wolpe 559
21. Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience
Julian Paul Keenan, Austen L. Krill, Steven M. Platek and Todd K. Shackelford 579
Index