Total number and volume of Von Economo neurons in the cerebral cortex of cetaceans

@article{Butti2009TotalNA,
  title={Total number and volume of Von Economo neurons in the cerebral cortex of cetaceans},
  author={Camilla Butti and Chet C. Sherwood and Atiya Y. Hakeem and John Allman and Patrick R. Hof},
  journal={Journal of Comparative Neurology},
  year={2009},
  volume={515}
}
Von Economo neurons (VENs) are a type of large, layer V spindle‐shaped neurons that were previously described in humans, great apes, elephants, and some large‐brained cetaceans. Here we report the presence of Von Economo neurons in the anterior cingulate (ACC), anterior insular (AI), and frontopolar (FP) cortices of small odontocetes, including the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), the Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus), and the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas). The total number and… 
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128 Citations

An analysis of von Economo neurons in the cerebral cortex of cetaceans, artiodactyls, and perissodactyls
TLDR
The present results demonstrated that VENs were not restricted to highly encephalized or socially complex species, and their repeated emergence among distantly related species seems to represent convergent evolution of specialized pyramidal neurons.
Evolutionary appearance of von Economo’s neurons in the mammalian cerebral cortex
TLDR
Venvon Economo’s neurons (VENs) are large, spindle-shaped projection neurons in layer V of the frontoinsular (FI) cortex, and the anterior cingulate cortex that are selectively affected in a behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia, thus associating VENs with the social brain.
Von Economo neurons: A review of the anatomy and functions
TLDR
Some researchers have shown that selective destruction of VENs in the early stages of frontotemporal dementia implies that they are involved in empathy, social awareness, and self-control which are consistent with evidence from functional imaging.
The von Economo neurons in the frontoinsular and anterior cingulate cortex
TLDR
Selective destruction of VENs in early stages of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) implies that they are involved in empathy, social awareness, and self‐control, consistent with evidence from functional imaging.
The von economo neurons in apes and humans
TLDR
The von Economo neurons (VENs) are large bipolar neurons located in frontoinsular (FI) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in great apes and humans but not other primates and found them to be more numerous in humans than in apes.
Von Economo Neurons in the Anterior Insula of the Macaque Monkey
The von Economo neurons in frontoinsular and anterior cingulate cortex in great apes and humans
TLDR
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 and the protein encoded by the gene DISC1 is preferentially expressed by the VENs.
Von Economo neurons: Cellular specialization of human limbic cortices?
TLDR
It is proposed that the restriction of VENs towards the sectors linked to limbic information processing in Homo sapiens gives them a possible functional role in relation to the structures in which they are located.
Von Economo Neurons – Primate-Specific or Commonplace in the Mammalian Brain?
TLDR
It is demonstrated that human VENs are specialized elongated principal cells with unique somato-dendritic morphology found abundantly in the FI and ACC of the human brain.
The neocortex of cetartiodactyls: I. A comparative Golgi analysis of neuronal morphology in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), and the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
TLDR
The present data suggest that certain spiny neuron morphologies may be apomorphies in the neocortex of cetaceans as compared to other mammals and that neuronal dendritic extent covaries with brain and body size.
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References

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TLDR
The VEN morphology appears to have arisen independently in hominids, cetaceans, and elephants, and may reflect a specialization for the rapid transmission of crucial social information in very large brains.
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TLDR
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TLDR
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TLDR
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