Institute for Human Evolution, University of the Witwatersrand, Palaeosciences Centre, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa.
Science. 2011 Sep 9;333(6048):1402-7. doi: 10.1126/science.1203922. Epub 2011 Sep 8.
The virtual endocast of MH1 (Australopithecus sediba), obtained from high-quality synchrotron scanning, reveals generally australopith-like convolutional patterns on the frontal lobes but also some foreshadowing of features of the human frontal lobes, such as posterior repositioning of the olfactory bulbs. Principal component analysis of orbitofrontal dimensions on australopith endocasts (MH1, Sts 5, and Sts 60) indicates that among these, MH1 orbitofrontal shape and organization align most closely with human endocasts. These results are consistent with gradual neural reorganization of the orbitofrontal region in the transition from Australopithecus to Homo, but given the small volume of the MH1 endocast, they are not consistent with gradual brain enlargement before the transition.
MH1（南方古猿源泉种）的虚拟内颅，通过高质量的同步辐射扫描获得，在前额叶显示出与南方古猿相似的一般褶皱模式，但也预示了人类额叶的一些特征，例如嗅球的后移。对南方古猿内颅（MH1、Sts 5 和 Sts 60）眶额叶尺寸的主成分分析表明，在这些内颅中，MH1 的眶额叶形状和结构与人类内颅最接近。这些结果与从南方古猿到人属的眶额叶区域的逐渐神经重组一致，但鉴于 MH1 内颅的体积较小，它们与过渡前大脑逐渐增大不一致。
