The PaleoBRAIN project is financed by the French research agency (ANR-20-CE27-0009), its title is

Bringing the brain of Homo erectus and Neandertals back to life 

The question of the correspondence between cerebral and endocranial features is crucial for applications in palaeoneurology and has never been addressed. To do so, we will investigate for the first time the correlation between the shapes of the brain and the endocast within a sample of modern humans using MRI acquisitions, including some with a specific sequence (UTE) that allows the characterisation of bone tissues. This input will be decisive for detailed study of neurological information from fossil humans. We will then reconstruct for the first time the H. erectus brain and Neandertal brain, as well as their respective growth pattern, taking into account the specificities of these species. Understanding brain morphology and ontogeny of extinct hominins will also enhance the understanding of the emergence of the modern human brain. Pluridisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity will be strong components of PaleoBRAIN and an essential condition to achieve the scientific objectives.

The project is divided in 4 scientific tasks that are described below. Our scientific production is listed here.

1. Palaeoanthropology, Virtual Anthropology and real Open Science (Task 1: Virtual data acquisition and management: fossil, MRI on living humans, ethics and diffusion).

A true multidisciplinary approach is implemented for this task as complementary imaging data on living humans will be acquired in the perspective of their application in neuroanatomical studies of fossil hominins. A specific methodology, adapted to our requirements, has been defined. Moreover, in the context of current discussions about Open Science, the accessibility of the fossil specimens and their imaging data is a longstanding problem in anthropology. How can we contribute to a real open science policy at the scale of institutions and among a scientific community (Q1)? This project aims to be ground-breaking relatively to the old habits in the field. All the virtual imaging datasets produced during the project will be made available for scientific research to other scientists.

2. Brain vs. Endocast, applications to Palaeoneurology (Task 2: Correlation between the shapes of the brain and the endocast in living humans).

How can we compare the brain and the endocast in living humans (Q2)? How good a proxy is the endocast for studying the evolution of the brain (Q3)? We have developed specific collaborations with specialists of neuroscience, mathematics, biology and palaeontology to bring the most robust contextual information to the study of the brain of fossil hominins. A specific final product of this task will be the production of an average model for the difference between the endocast and the brain, as well as a precise characterisation of the variation in detailed anatomical features of these two objects. 

3. Bringing the brain of fossil hominins back to life (Task 3: Applications to fossil hominins: T3.1. Reconstruction of their brain; 3.2. patterns of brain growth in fossil hominin species; 3.3 Study of the bilateral variation of the brain in living humans and fossil hominins).

In this task we will revolutionise our knowledge of the brain of fossil hominins, studying the largest samples ever analysed of H. erectus, H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens fossils with the support of the robust evidence consolidated during task 2. How different (or similar) was the external cerebral organisation of H. erectus to that of largerbrained Neandertal (Q4)? How different (or similar) is the cerebral organisation of H. sapiens to H. erectus and Neandertal (Q5)? When did the anatomical pattern of cerebral asymmetry known in H. sapiens emerge (Q6)? As a result, we will address key aspects in palaeoanthropology, related to variation, changes in structure, growth and development, brain asymmetries and behaviours with the certitude to expand our knowledge on those aspects to an unprecedented extension. The key challenging and important production of this task for future independent research and for public dissemination is the creation of a mean reconstruction of a model of an H. erectus brain and of a Neandertal brain. 

4. Integration: confrontation of the results with a wider scientific framework, from new perspectives in biological sciences to new questions about human evolution and fossil hominin behaviours. (Task 4: Integration of the results, implications for the study of the emergence of the human cognition).

How did evolve the brain in the hominin clade (Q7)? Can we discuss the relationship between past behaviours and brain morphology (Q8)? What are the new perspectives opened in biological and palaeoanthropological sciences (Q9)? We expect to identify new anatomical characteristics of H. erectus and Neandertals, but also for our own species, based on the evidence gathered from fossil samples and on living individuals. Moreover, we hope to bring original data about brain-related capacities such as manual lateralisation, language and their emergence during hominin evolution.