MacLean P D
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1985 Apr;42(4):405-17. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1985.01790270095011.
Mammals stem from the mammal-like reptiles (therapsids) that were widely prevalent in Pangaea 250 million years ago. In the evolutionary transition from reptiles to mammals, three key developments were (1) nursing, in conjunction with maternal care; (2) audiovocal communication for maintaining maternal-offspring contact; and (3) play. The separation call perhaps ranks as the earliest and most basic mammalian vocalization, while play may have functioned originally to promote harmony in the nest. How did such family related behavior develop? In its evolution, the forebrain of advanced mammals has expanded as a triune structure that anatomically and chemically reflects ancestral commonalities with reptiles, early mammals, and late mammals. Recent findings suggest that the development of the behavioral triad in question may have depended on the evolution of the thalamocingulate division of the limbic system, a derivative from early mammals. The thalamocingulate division (which has no distinctive counterpart in the reptilian brain) is, in turn, geared in with the prefrontal neocortex that, in human beings, may be inferred to play a key role in familial acculturation.
哺乳动物起源于2.5亿年前在泛大陆广泛存在的似哺乳爬行动物（兽孔目）。在从爬行动物到哺乳动物的进化过渡中，有三个关键的发展：（1）哺乳，以及母性照料；（2）用于维持母婴联系的听觉-发声交流；（3）玩耍。分离叫声可能是最早且最基本的哺乳动物发声，而玩耍最初可能起到促进巢穴和谐的作用。这种与家庭相关的行为是如何发展的呢？在进化过程中，高等哺乳动物的前脑已扩展为一种三位一体的结构，在解剖学和化学上反映了与爬行动物、早期哺乳动物和晚期哺乳动物的祖先共性。最近的研究结果表明，上述行为三联体的发展可能依赖于边缘系统丘脑扣带回部分的进化，这是早期哺乳动物的衍生物。丘脑扣带回部分（在爬行动物大脑中没有独特的对应部分）反过来又与前额叶新皮质相联系，在人类中，可以推断前额叶新皮质在家庭文化传承中起关键作用。
