What is von Economo neuron?
The von Economo neurons (VENs) are large bipolar neurons located in fronto-insular cortex (FI) and anterior limbic area (LA) in great apes and humans but not in other primates. Our stereological counts of VENs in FI and LA show them to be more numerous in humans than in apes.
What is the function of von Economo neurons?
| Von Economo neuron | |
|---|---|
| Function | Global firing rate regulation and regulation of emotional state |
| Presynaptic connections | Local input to ACC and FI |
| Postsynaptic connections | Frontal and temporal cortex |
| Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy |
Where are von Economo neurons located?
The von Economo neurons (VENs) are large bipolar neurons located in frontoinsular (FI) and anterior cingulate cortex in great apes and humans, but not other primates.
What is the anterior cingulate cortex?
In the human brain, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is the frontal part of the cingulate cortex that resembles a “collar” surrounding the frontal part of the corpus callosum. It consists of Brodmann areas 24, 32, and 33.
Which animals have von Economo neurons?
Allman, Hof and their colleagues have looked for von Economo neurons in more than 100 animal species, from sloths to platypuses. Only a few of them, other than primates and elephants, are known to have the cells: humpback whales, sperm whales, fin whales, orcas and bottle-nosed dolphins.
Where are spindle neurons located?
Spindle neurons have restricted distribution, and are found only in layer Vb of the ACC and the anterior insula in humans (Nimchinsky et al., 1995; Allman et al., 2010; but also see Fajardo et al., 2008 for possible spindle neurons in human BA 9), nonhuman apes (Nimchinsky et al., 1999), elephants (Hakeem et al., 2009; …
What do spindle cells do in the brain?
Spindle neurons are confined to the anterior cingulate cortex, a region of the brain that plays a role in emotion, decision-making, and autonomic functions of the brain such as the regulation of the heart rate and blood pressure. Spindle neurons are typically lost in the course of Alzheimer disease.
Which parts of the brain are most closely linked to love?
Emotions, like fear and love, are carried out by the limbic system, which is located in the temporal lobe. While the limbic system is made up of multiple parts of the brain, the center of emotional processing is the amygdala, which receives input from other brain functions, like memory and attention.
What are the symptoms of von Economo’s disease?
Von Economo described in detail the symptoms, pathology and histology of the disease which was soon called Von Economo’s Disease. Three types of this illness could be distinguished. The symptoms of the somnolent-ophthalmoplegic form were somnolence, often leading to coma and death, paralysis of cranial nerves,…
What kind of disease did Constantin von Economo have?
This encephalitis with acute inflammation of the grey matter occurred in epidemic form worldwide from 1915 until about 1924, mainly in Europe and North-America, causing lesions in the substantia nigra. Von Economo described in detail the symptoms, pathology and histology of the disease which was soon called Von Economo’s Disease.
Where did the von Economo family come from?
The Economo (Οικονόμου, Oikonomou) family originated from Edessa, in the Ottoman Sanjak of Salonica (modern Edessa, Central Macedonia, Greece) where some of Constantin’s ancestors were notables, and his family included many bishops. In 1877, the family moved to Trieste, Austria-Hungary, and Constantin spent his childhood and youth in Trieste.
What did Constantin von Economo mean by cerebration?
For von Economo, cerebration meant the evolution of the mind through generations, the increase of the brain mass, and the acquisition of new “organs of thought” due to differentiation of cortical areas. In this context, Economo was interested in “élite brains.”