specific to humans may point to adaptations where former
chemosensory regions are repurposed for inferential processing
as postulated by the IBH. These conclusions are limited since
the many species are represented by a single individual
potentially obscuring significant intraspecies variation.
Neuropsychological Methods Applied to
Evolutionary Neurobiology
Understanding what is known about human evolution can
allow us to make speculations and formulate testable
hypotheses in human neuropsychology (such as the IBH)
Our theories and hypotheses are ultimately limited by the
quality of the data we collect: better predictions can be made
with better knowledge, which is attained in turn through
better observation. That being said
comparative neuro-
science has made revolutionary insights into brain function
Primate studies (especially lesion studies and single cell
recording methodologies which are mostly untenable in
humans) have provided insight into major cognitive processes
and their neuroanatomy, including: dorsolateral prefrontal
cortex contributions to working memory (for a review, see
Levy & Goldman-Rakic, 2000), the conceptualization of dual
what" and "where" visual processing streams (Mishkin
Ungerleider, & Macko, 1983), the contribution of medial