This first lecture opens with the discovery by a team co-directed by Jean-Jacques Hublin and Abdelouahed Ben-Ncer of a 300,000-year-old sapiensskeleton , pushing back by 100,000 years the age of the first sapiens, who are virtually indistinguishable from present-daysapiens. He emphasizes the originality of the dating techniques used. It continues with an analysis of journal articles devoted to the evolution of the cortex, focusing not only on the size of the cortex and the number of cells that make it up (not forgetting, in addition to neurons, glial and vascular cells), but also on new connections and the complexity of axonal and dendritic arborizations. The different types of mutations that have led to these changes are described: point mutations, insertions and deletions of large DNA fragments, gene duplications, appearance of new genes. The focus is on regulatory regions, which account for over 98% of the genome. Recent genome and epigenome analysis techniques are described. The notion of neoteny in human brain development is introduced, with its consequences on the role of the societal and cultural environment on the development of the cerebral cortex.
17:00 - 18:30
