1974 — 1979 |
Holloway, Ralph |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Evolution of the Human Brain |
0.915 |
1978 — 1983 |
Holloway, Ralph |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
The Evolution of the Human Brain: a Morphometric Analysis |
0.915 |
1985 — 1992 |
Holloway, Ralph |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Human Brain Evolution |
0.915 |
2002 — 2003 |
Holloway, Ralph Gannon, Patrick Hof, Patrick |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Neural Substrates of Primate Communication: a Comparative Study of Facial and Hypoglossal Nuclei
Primates use diverse sensory channels in their communication among social partners, ranging from the pungent "urine washing" of ring-tailed lemurs to the flamboyant "lip flip" gesture of gelada baboons to the complex rhythms of human speech. These signals are often highly nuanced and produced in a flexible, context-sensitive manner. Since the nervous system has a central role in the planning and execution of communicative behavior, one would expect significant species differences in the brain structures that subserve communication. To date, however, little is known about species differences in the brain's control of the orofacial system that is so vital to the production of facial expression and vocalization. This research project will contribute to our knowledge of the neural substrates underlying two important transformations in the evolution of primate communication: (1) the more dominant use of facial expressions among great apes and humans, and (2) the skilled use of the tongue and lips in the service of human spoken language. In a sample that includes New World monkeys, Old World monkeys, apes, and humans, brainstem regions that directly supply the muscles of facial expression and the tongue will be analyzed using techniques to reveal their chemical composition and cellular structure. The results of this study will help to clarify how neural organization determines species-specific communicative signals, including human speech, and will provide insights into the evolution of the primate brain
|
0.915 |
2004 — 2005 |
Holloway, Ralph L |
P41Activity Code Description: Undocumented code - click on the grant title for more information. |
@ University of California Los Angeles
model design /development
|
0.954 |
2006 — 2007 |
Holloway, Ralph |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Haplotype Variation and Linkage Disequilibrium in Sort1 and Sorl1: Implications For Human Demographic History and Late-Onset Disease
Many genetic studies have assumed that modern human populations were panmictic and genetically unstructured for much of their prehistory, especially in Africa. However, some recent evidence has suggested that prehistoric populations within continental regions were more subdivided with distinct genetic lineages and patterns of linkage disequilibrium (LD). Thus, human demographic history may arguably have been more complex than previously depicted by more simple models. However, more research is necessary in order to characterize the extent of this structure across a broader range of geographically and ethnically diverse populations. The demographic history of human populations also has implications for the evolution of genetic variation underlying complex diseases. Particularly, variants for late-onset disease (not under strong selection) are subject to the same demographic forces as neutral variation. Thus, under a model of population subdivision, alleles which predispose individuals to disease-related traits are predicted to occur at different frequencies in diverse populations, affecting the risk for acquiring disease. This project will examine SNP haplotype variation in the SORT1 and SORL1 genes, two newly identified risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's Disease (LOAD): (a) to characterize the genetic structure and patterns of LD within major continental regions (~1500 individuals from 56 populations) (b) to infer demographic models that explain observed patterns of diversity, and (c) to determine if genetic structure contributes to differential risk for LOAD in African-Americans, Caribbean-Hispanics and European-Americans (~900 cases and ethnically-matched controls). In particular, this study will test for geographic variation in haplotype frequencies among diverse populations within continents, as well as correlations between population subdivision and variance in LD. This project will also test whether or not genetic risk for LOAD is different in populations with distinct population histories. The researchers in this project will select SNPs located in coding and non-coding regions of SORT1 and SORL1 from the International HapMap Project for High Throughput Genotyping. Haplotypes will be reconstructed using two algorithms with different underlying assumptions and other analytical methods, such as Wright's Fst and Lewontin's D' parameter, will be used to calculate population divergence and variance in LD. Disease-marker association analyses between LOAD and the above genes will also be performed using cases and ethnically-matched controls. Intellectual Merit: This project represents the first study of SNP variation in both genes in a large sample of healthy individuals from diverse human groups, including 10 distinct African populations which are mostly underrepresented in genetic studies. By conducting this research, it will lead to more detailed knowledge of the demographic history of human populations, and ultimately modern human origins. Broader Impacts: On a broader scale, the effective design of therapeutic strategies for LOAD will be enhanced by more detailed information on genetic factors involved in disease susceptibility in different human groups. In the end, treatments can be developed that will effectively decrease the incidence of LOAD across the human species. This project will also directly support the training of a minority graduate student, from an underrepresented group, in molecular biology and population genetics. In addition, the data collected from this research, including SNPs, will be made available publicly to online databases.
|
0.915 |
2006 |
Holloway, Ralph L |
P41Activity Code Description: Undocumented code - click on the grant title for more information. |
None @ University of California Los Angeles |
0.954 |