The Evolutionary Roots of Human Brain Diseases

Richly illustrated with figures and examples and supplemented with a glossary of terms, The Evolutionary Roots of Human Brain Diseases assembles recent findings in clinical neuroscience, evolutionary biology, anthropology, and cellular biology to elucidate the origins of human brain diseases and how evolution has given rise to exclusive impacts on brain health only in humans. The book is succinct, up-to-date, and written by researchers across numerous disciplines, making it a compulsory read for clinical neurologists, psychologists, and all medical researchers interested in the brain.

The book’s 22 chapters cover basic science concepts behind cerebral cellular specificities or human-specific network developments, detailed discussions of neurological or psychiatric diseases and their clinical expression with an evolutionary focus, the newest imaging techniques to study the brain, future medication developments, as well as cultural and societal repercussions. Evolutionary concepts ranging from genetic pleiotropic antagonism to disease remnants of ancient behaviours crucial for survival are also presented. Insightful and innovative in its approach, this book offers a fascinating interdisciplinary dialogue on the potential repercussions of ongoing human brain evolution.

Nico J. Diederich, MD, is Adjunct Professor of Neurology at the University of Cologne, Germany, and a Consultant in Neurology at the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg. His research and clinical work focus on movement disorders particularly Parkinson’s disease (PD), from visual deficits to sleep syndromes or dysautonomia.

Martin Brüne, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Head of the Division of Social Neuropsychiatry and Evolutionary Medicine at the LWL University-Hospital, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany. He was previously a Visiting Research Scientist at the Centre for the Mind, a joint venture of the Australian National University and University of Sydney.

Katrin Amunts, PhD, is Professor Director of the C. and O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, HHU Duesseldorf, and of the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Center Juelich. Since 2023, she holds the position of Joint CEO of the non-profit EBRAINS AISBL.

Christopher G. Goetz, MD, is Professor of Neurological Sciences and Pharmacology at Rush Medical College, USA and oversees Research Development and Strategic Planning for the Parkinson and Movement Disorder Program. His research specialties are in pharmacology, neurochemistry, clinimetrics, and statistical modelling. He is past President of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society and past Co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Movement Disorders.