PNAS publishes another evolution issue

PNAS published another special evolution issue this week, focusing on the nervous system.  I'm looking forward to checking out quite a few of these, especially Zakon's look at sodium channels (because I'm a biochemist) and Herculano-Houzel's brain paper (because I think my brain is pretty special). Here's the table of contents:


In the light of evolution VI: Brain and behavior
Georg F. Striedter, John C. Avise, and Francisco J. Ayala      


Functionalization of a protosynaptic gene expression network
Cecilia Conaco, Danielle S. Bassett, Hongjun Zhou, Mary Luz Arcila, Sandie M. Degnan, Bernard M. Degnan, and Kenneth S. Kosik
Adaptive evolution of voltage-gated sodium channels: The first 800 million years
Harold H. Zakon
Evolution of centralized nervous systems: Two schools of evolutionary thought
R. Glenn Northcutt
Evolving specialization of the arthropod nervous system
Erin Jarvis, Heather S. Bruce, and Nipam H. Patel
Expansion, folding, and abnormal lamination of the chick optic tectum after intraventricular injections of FGF2
Luke D. McGowan, Roula A. Alaama, Amanda C. Freise, Johnny C. Huang, Christine J. Charvet, and Georg F. Striedter
Cortical evolution in mammals: The bane and beauty of phenotypic variability
Leah A. Krubitzer and Adele M. H. Seelke
Evolution of columns, modules, and domains in the neocortex of primates
Jon H. Kaas
The remarkable, yet not extraordinary, human brain as a scaled-up primate brain and its associated cost
Suzana Herculano-Houzel
Homology and homoplasy of swimming behaviors and neural circuits in the Nudipleura (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia)
James M. Newcomb, Akira Sakurai, Joshua L. Lillvis, Charuni A. Gunaratne, and Paul S. Katz
Shared developmental and evolutionary origins for neural basis of vocal–acoustic and pectoral–gestural signaling
Andrew H. Bass and Boris P. Chagnaud
To flock or fight: Neurochemical signatures of divergent life histories in sparrows
James L. Goodson, Leah C. Wilson, and Sara E. Schrock
From chemotaxis to the cognitive map: The function of olfaction
Lucia F. Jacobs
Evolution of brains and behavior for optimal foraging: A tale of two predators
Kenneth C. Catania
Human brain evolution: From gene discovery to phenotype discovery
Todd M. Preuss
Integration of faces and vocalizations in ventral prefrontal cortex: Implications for the evolution of audiovisual speech
Lizabeth M. Romanski
Math, monkeys, and the developing brain
Jessica F. Cantlon
A hierarchical model of the evolution of human brain specializations
H. Clark Barrett      


Feedback? Email me at toddcharleswood [at] gmail [dot] com.