Jon Kaas
Encyclopedia
Jon Kaas is a professor at Vanderbilt University
and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
. He has made discoveries about the organization of the mammalian brain
, including the description of many areas of the cerebral cortex
and their neuroplasticity
.
Work from the Kaas's laboratory is notable for its emphasis on evolutionary biology. Kaas's approach is to try to understand how complex brains evolved from ancestor forms which had relatively few areas. Some of the career highlights include:
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
. He has made discoveries about the organization of the mammalian brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
, including the description of many areas of the cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different...
and their neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is a non-specific neuroscience term referring to the ability of the brain and nervous system in all species to change structurally and functionally as a result of input from the environment. Plasticity occurs on a variety of levels, ranging from cellular changes involved in...
.
Work from the Kaas's laboratory is notable for its emphasis on evolutionary biology. Kaas's approach is to try to understand how complex brains evolved from ancestor forms which had relatively few areas. Some of the career highlights include:
- Some of the first descriptions of topographically organized areas in the extrastriate cortexExtrastriate cortexThe extrastriate cortex is the region of the occipital cortex of the mammalian brain located next to the primary visual cortex, which is also named striate cortex because of its appeareance in the microscope. The extrastriate cortex encompasses multiple functional areas, including V3, V4, V5/MT...
of primates, including the middle temporalTemporal lobeThe temporal lobe is a region of the cerebral cortex that is located beneath the Sylvian fissure on both cerebral hemispheres of the mammalian brain....
area MT, or V5 (Allman and Kaas, 1971), and the dorsomedial areaDorsomedial areaThe Dorsomedial area, also known as DM or V6, is a subdivision of the visual cortex of primates first described by John Allman and Jon Kaas in 1975...
, or V6. - Demonstration of changes in the topographic representation of sensory organs in the cerebral cortex after lesions of the sensory organs (Kaas et al. 1990; see also neuroplasticityNeuroplasticityNeuroplasticity is a non-specific neuroscience term referring to the ability of the brain and nervous system in all species to change structurally and functionally as a result of input from the environment. Plasticity occurs on a variety of levels, ranging from cellular changes involved in...
).