Towards digital reconstruction of fossil crania and brain morphology

Naomichi Ogihara; Hideki Amano; Takeo Kikuchi; Yusuke Morita; Kunihiro Hasegawa; Takanori Kochiyama; Hiroki C. Tanabe

doi:10.1537/ase.141109

Towards digital reconstruction of fossil crania and brain morphology

Naomichi Ogihara, Hideki Amano, Takeo Kikuchi, Yusuke Morita, Kunihiro Hasegawa, Takanori Kochiyama, Hiroki C. Tanabe

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In order to discuss possible differences in brain anatomy between Neanderthals and early modern humans, the original antemortem appearance of fossil crania that enclosed the brain must somehow be correctly restored, as soft tissues such as the brain are generally not fossilized. However, crania are typically fractured, fragmented, and deformed due to compaction and diagenesis. Furthermore, recovery of all component fragments of fossil crania is rare. Restoration of the brain morphology of fossil crania therefore necessitates correct assembly of the available fragments, eliminating distortions, and compensating for missing parts as a first step. This paper reviews the current status of computerized reconstruction methods, then provides an overview and future directions toward digital reconstruction of fossil crania and the associated brain morphology.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	57-68
Number of pages	12
Journal	Anthropological Science
Volume	123
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1537/ase.141109
Publication status	Published - 2015 Jan 29
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Assembly
Computational neuroanatomy
Deformation
Interpolation
Virtual anthropology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Anthropology

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10.1537/ase.141109

Cite this

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title = "Towards digital reconstruction of fossil crania and brain morphology",

abstract = "In order to discuss possible differences in brain anatomy between Neanderthals and early modern humans, the original antemortem appearance of fossil crania that enclosed the brain must somehow be correctly restored, as soft tissues such as the brain are generally not fossilized. However, crania are typically fractured, fragmented, and deformed due to compaction and diagenesis. Furthermore, recovery of all component fragments of fossil crania is rare. Restoration of the brain morphology of fossil crania therefore necessitates correct assembly of the available fragments, eliminating distortions, and compensating for missing parts as a first step. This paper reviews the current status of computerized reconstruction methods, then provides an overview and future directions toward digital reconstruction of fossil crania and the associated brain morphology.",

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AU - Ogihara, Naomichi

AU - Amano, Hideki

AU - Kikuchi, Takeo

AU - Morita, Yusuke

AU - Hasegawa, Kunihiro

AU - Kochiyama, Takanori

AU - Tanabe, Hiroki C.

PY - 2015/1/29

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N2 - In order to discuss possible differences in brain anatomy between Neanderthals and early modern humans, the original antemortem appearance of fossil crania that enclosed the brain must somehow be correctly restored, as soft tissues such as the brain are generally not fossilized. However, crania are typically fractured, fragmented, and deformed due to compaction and diagenesis. Furthermore, recovery of all component fragments of fossil crania is rare. Restoration of the brain morphology of fossil crania therefore necessitates correct assembly of the available fragments, eliminating distortions, and compensating for missing parts as a first step. This paper reviews the current status of computerized reconstruction methods, then provides an overview and future directions toward digital reconstruction of fossil crania and the associated brain morphology.

AB - In order to discuss possible differences in brain anatomy between Neanderthals and early modern humans, the original antemortem appearance of fossil crania that enclosed the brain must somehow be correctly restored, as soft tissues such as the brain are generally not fossilized. However, crania are typically fractured, fragmented, and deformed due to compaction and diagenesis. Furthermore, recovery of all component fragments of fossil crania is rare. Restoration of the brain morphology of fossil crania therefore necessitates correct assembly of the available fragments, eliminating distortions, and compensating for missing parts as a first step. This paper reviews the current status of computerized reconstruction methods, then provides an overview and future directions toward digital reconstruction of fossil crania and the associated brain morphology.

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KW - Deformation

KW - Interpolation

KW - Virtual anthropology

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Towards digital reconstruction of fossil crania and brain morphology

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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