The von Economo neuron (VEN) was thought to be human-specific, until Dr. Mary Raghanti took the research into her own hands.
Dr. Raghanti is a professor at Kent State, but has spent the past 10 years studying this vastly misunderstood part of the brain.
The exact function of VENs are still unknown. However, Dr. Raghanti’s research may be steering us in the right direction. The presence of these neurons is not a new discovery. They have been observed in humans and apes since 1926, but just this past year Dr. Raghanti and her team found high levels in other mammals. Whales, deer, mice, cow, and many others were found to have these spindles that
FIGURE A (Courtesy of “Brain Structure & Function” “The final publication is available at http://www.springer.com/biomed/neuroscience/journal/429)
were supposed to be inherently human. (See FIGURE A)
“No one looked for them,” Dr. Raghanti said, ” Since they were absent in monkeys, everyone just assumed it was a human and great ape characteristic.” according to Raghanti, this isn’t an uncommon way to go about things when looking at human evolution. “However, we’ve learned through the years that we have to take a very broad comparative perspective to uncover human-specific traits,” she explained.
Dr. Raghanti does, however, have her own theory on what these neurons may be doing. She believes they have something to do with recognition.
Watch Dr. Raghanti Explain Her Theory
What Make VENs Important?
These neurons have been observed in a specific group of humans called “Superagers”. This people in this small part of the population do not lose cognitive abilities as they age. according to the Scientific American, Superagers have as many as four times the amount of VENs as everyone else.
Dr. Raghanti shows image of Chimpanzee brain tissue
On the other end of the spectrum, research by Seeley, Carlin, Allman, et al. has also shown that people suffering from neurological and psychiatric disorders have lower levels of these neurons. Alzheimer’s Disease in particular was shown to have patients with a harsh and usually early loss of the von Economo neuron. It was then suggested that there was a correlation between the symptoms of Alzheimer’s patients and the amount of VENs that are present.
[pullquote]”VENs reach adult numbers around four years of age in humans, when most cases of autism are diagnosed.” -Brainmapping: An Encyclopedic Reference[/pullquote]
VENs also seem to have a connection to social awareness. In Brainmapping: An Encyclopedic Reference, Dr. Raghanti and her colleagues say, “…VENs reach adult numbers around 4 years of age in humans, when most cases of autism are diagnosed.” They go on to say “… our findings of increased ratios of VENs to pyramidal neurons in children with autism also points to the possible participation of VENs in social–emotional developmental milestones.”
“I kind of like to call it neuro-mythology,” Dr. Raghanti said. With these studies finding higher numbers of the neurons in patients who don’t have a cognitive decline, it has lead to people jumping to many conclusions to what their function may be.
“That is interesting and it is compelling because we do see a loss in these neurons with certain types of pathologies, with Alzheimer’s Disease, and specific dementias,” she said, “But it doesn’t make up for the fact that a cow has more than humans.”
von Economo neurons in humans and other mammals(Courtesy of “Brain Structure & Function” “The final publication is available at http://www.springer.com/biomed/neuroscience/journal/429)
What Could Further Study Do For Our Health?
While Dr. Raghanti does not necessarily believe that these neurons are the key to curing diseases like dementia, she says that it could have many implications for neurological health.
“Since we don’t know what they’re doing we’re not quite sure what they’re vulnerable to,” she explained, “So there are definitely avenues of investigation to be explored in terms of disease.
Most of the cortical areas are involved in specific functions. However, some places are connected with every part of the brain, and this is where you find VENs.
Since this neuron affects the brain on a wide scale, it is important to discover its past and present. Dr. Raghanti believes that VENs are phylogenically ancient rather than a new discovery. This could fill in many blanks in the story of how we evolved.
Dr. Mary Raghanti Explains What Her Research Means For Human Evolution
at http://www.springer.com/biomed/neuroscience/journal/429)
