The Neurobiology of Australian Marsupials: Brain Evolution in the Other Mammalian Radiation

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 9
Contributors......Page 11
Preface......Page 13
Acknowledgements......Page 15
Part I Introduction and overview......Page 17
Introduction: what’s in a name?......Page 19
The relationship between monotremes, marsupials and placentals......Page 20
Anatomical and physiological characteristics of marsupials......Page 21
Classification of marsupials......Page 22
Origins of Australian marsupials......Page 24
Marsupials and the history of Australia and New Guinea......Page 25
Marsupial carnivores: small, large and strange......Page 27
Bandicoots and bilbies......Page 30
Feathertail glider......Page 31
Macropods......Page 32
Concluding remarks......Page 33
The central and peripheral nervous systems......Page 34
The brainstem......Page 35
The cerebellum......Page 37
External morphology of marsupial brains......Page 39
Brain size of marsupials: graphical plots......Page 41
Encephalisation of marsupials: numerical comparisons......Page 45
The significance of marsupial encephalisation......Page 47
Absolute brain size vs. encephalisation......Page 48
What major features of marsupial brains make them different?......Page 49
Evolution of therian brains, with special attention to marsupials......Page 50
What remains unknown?......Page 53
Prenatal development and neuromeric organisation......Page 56
The pace of systems development in prenatal marsupials......Page 60
Neural systems available at birth for the transfer to the pouch......Page 62
Pre- vs. postnatal neurogenesis......Page 63
Timing of tract development in the tammar wallaby......Page 65
Timing of tract development compared to placental mammals......Page 66
Development of the blood–brain and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barriers......Page 67
Correlation of structural and behavioural development......Page 69
Sexual dimorphism in the brains of marsupials......Page 71
What remains unknown?......Page 72
Part II Regional neurobiology......Page 75
Introduction to the hindbrain......Page 77
Dorsal column nuclei......Page 79
Trigeminal sensory nuclei......Page 81
Oromotor nuclei......Page 83
Reticular formation of the hindbrain......Page 85
Cytoarchitectural and connectional development......Page 86
Development of respiratory function......Page 87
Locus coeruleus......Page 88
Parabrachial nuclei......Page 89
Red nucleus......Page 90
Superior colliculus and accessory optic system......Page 92
Oculomotor and trochlear nuclei......Page 93
Neurogenesis and immunoreactivity......Page 95
Development of the retinocollicular pathway......Page 96
What remains unknown?......Page 97
Introduction......Page 98
External features of the cerebellum......Page 99
Anatomical and functional subdivisions of the cerebellum......Page 101
Inferior olivary nucleus and olivocerebellar projection......Page 103
Lateral reticular nucleus......Page 105
Development of the cerebellum......Page 107
Development of the vestibular system......Page 108
What remains unknown?......Page 109
Introduction: subdivisions of the diencephalon......Page 111
General comments on thalamic organisation......Page 112
Association thalamic nuclei......Page 114
Dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus......Page 115
Ventral anterior and ventral lateral nucleus......Page 117
Development of the prethalamus and thalamus in marsupials......Page 118
Function and organisation of the mammalian hypothalamus......Page 120
Functional organisation of the marsupial hypothalamus......Page 123
Development of the hypothalamus in diprotodont marsupials......Page 125
Adult structure and function......Page 126
Development of the pituitary......Page 127
Organisation and function of the adult epithalamus......Page 128
Organisation and function of the pretectal area in adult marsupials......Page 130
What remains unknown?......Page 131
Introduction......Page 135
Development of the striatum in Australian marsupials......Page 136
Organisation of the adult amygdala......Page 138
Arrangement and chemoarchitecture of the septal nuclei......Page 139
Subfornical organ......Page 143
What remains unknown?......Page 144
Introduction......Page 145
General comments on the cortical organisation of Australian marsupials......Page 146
Somatosensory cortex......Page 149
Visual cortex......Page 153
Sensory cortical organisation of small Australian polyprotodonts......Page 154
Sensory cortical organisation of large Australian polyprotodonts......Page 155
Motor cortex and sensorimotor overlap......Page 156
Organisation of orbital, transition and cingulate cortex in Australian marsupials......Page 157
Topographic and laminar variation in neurofilament protein immunoreactivity......Page 159
Topographic and laminar variation in calcium-binding protein immunoreactivity......Page 160
Hippocampal region......Page 161
General features and time-course of development......Page 162
The pallial subventricular zone and marsupial 
cortical neurogenesis......Page 163
Development of GAP-43 immunoreactivity in marsupial cortex......Page 164
Epigenetic factors in the development of cortical functional topography......Page 165
What remains unknown?......Page 166
Part III Systems neurobiology......Page 169
Introduction......Page 171
Visual fields......Page 172
Pupillary mobility......Page 173
Photoreceptors......Page 175
Retinal ganglion cell distribution in the retina......Page 176
Photoreceptor/retinal ganglion cell relationships......Page 177
Visual pigments......Page 178
Melanopsin and the entrainment of circadian rhythms......Page 180
Organisation along the visual pathway......Page 181
Conclusion......Page 182
Summary......Page 183
Cutaneous receptors......Page 184
Muscle and joint receptors......Page 186
Trigeminal brainstem sensory nuclei......Page 187
Ventrobasal complex......Page 188
Posterior nuclear group......Page 190
Somatosensory cortex......Page 191
Cutaneous receptors......Page 192
Somatosensory thalamus......Page 195
The whisker pathway, pattern development and plasticity......Page 196
What remains unknown?......Page 198
Acknowledgements......Page 199
General structure and function of the mammalian auditory system......Page 200
Hearing in marsupials......Page 203
(ii) Electrophysiological studies......Page 204
Anatomical development of the auditory system in marsupials......Page 206
Acknowledgements......Page 207
Introduction......Page 208
Topography and histology of the marsupial nasal cavity......Page 209
Central olfactory pathways in Australian marsupials......Page 211
Behavioural importance of olfaction for Australian marsupials......Page 215
Development of olfactory pathways in Australian marsupials......Page 216
What remains unknown?......Page 217
Introduction......Page 218
Spinal-cord grey matter topography in Australian marsupials......Page 219
Corticospinal tract......Page 223
Skilled movements in marsupial and eutherian mammals......Page 225
Muscle spindles and their innervation......Page 227
Development of the spinal cord and motor connections......Page 228
Development of ascending spinal-cord pathways......Page 229
Development of descending spinal-cord pathways......Page 230
What remains unknown?......Page 231
Part IV Australian marsupials as models......Page 233
The nervous system of Australian marsupials is typically mammalian......Page 235
Mode of reproduction: most development occurs postnatally in the pouch......Page 237
Retinocollicular development......Page 238
Auditory development......Page 239
Acknowledgements......Page 240
Marsupials......Page 241
Features of marsupial life histories......Page 242
Ageing in mammals: marsupials compared to eutherians......Page 243
The ageing marsupial brain......Page 246
Adult neurogenesis in marsupial brains......Page 247
Marsupial models for regeneration are age dependent......Page 248
Marsupial models for the effects of stress hormones and sex hormones on the nervous system......Page 249
Transthyretin familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy......Page 251
Where to from here?......Page 252
Part V Atlases......Page 255
Photomicrography and delineation......Page 257
Perfusion and blocking......Page 258
Histology and photomicrography......Page 259
Acknowledgements......Page 260
Histology, photomicrography and delineation......Page 261
List of structures and abbreviations......Page 265
Index to figures and atlas plates......Page 279
Glossary......Page 305
References......Page 315
Index to text......Page 351