Introducing the brain: general (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, March 03, 2022, 15:46 (783 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: New neurons in the hippocampus are necessary as we build memories over a lifetime. They are designed to fill a specific need. Shows God's purposeful designs at work.

dhw: I have always assumed that all enlargements and complexifications occur because of a specific need, whereas for some reason you think past enlargements took place in preparation for some unknown future need. If God exists, then of course both complexification and enlargement would show his powerful designs at work. You have agreed that he designed a mechanism for autonomous complexification, and you have given no reason why he should not also have designed the mechanism for autonomous enlargement.

My reason previously given many times is in our brain many very complex pyramidal neurons appeared, requiring God's personal design. Note design in preparation:

https://www.the-scientist.com/the-literature/termite-brains-anticipate-future-visual-ch...

"Dampwood termites with the potential to leave the colony have larger optic lobes before ever being exposed to different visual environments, an example of predictive brain plasticity.

"The brains of many species, including humans, change as a consequence of the stimuli they encounter throughout life. But in addition to this type of responsive brain plasticity, research in insects has shown that the brain can also shape itself in anticipation of change, a process known as experience-expectant brain plasticity. (my bold)

"Drexel University evolutionary ecologist Sean O’Donnell recently identified this plasticity in dampwood termites (Zootermopsis angusticollis and Z. nevadensis), colonial insects that each develop into one of several different castes. Reproductive kings and queens, for example, are the only individuals to leave the nest, and require heightened visual processing capacities to cope with the bright conditions outside. However, not all nymphs with the potential to become kings or queens do, and O’Donnell and his colleagues found evidence that these nymphs still structure their brains in anticipation of light.

***

"The researchers found that the visual processing brain regions, or optic lobes, of king and queen termites were about three times larger, on average, than the optic lobes of workers or soldiers. This finding also extended to nymphs that could develop into kings or queens, whether or not they ultimately did. “We see the brain making this rather dramatic, and we assume very expensive, increase in investment without an immediate payoff,” O’Donnell says.

"Boston University evolutionary biologist James Traniello, who was not involved in the research, calls the work a “sort of pilot study” for understanding termite brain evolution, but maintains that more questions need answering, such as how brain plasticity manifests in other brain regions and how optic lobe substructures differ among castes. "

Comment: design in anticipation of use. No surprise to me.