Muhammad A Spocter
Research:I am a broadly trained biological anthropologist with a primary research interest in the comparative neuroanatomy of large brained, social species. I am passionate about community engaged scholarship and as a first generation college student I am an ardent supporter of initiatives that help to expand STEM education.
My primary research goals are in comparative neuroanatomy and the use of cytoarchitecture to identify and quantify the extent of cortical areas in social species. You can read more about my research and the ongoing collaborative projects at The Evolving Brain Laboratory (EBL)
Background: I am from South Africa and completed my graduate training at the University of Witwatersrand (Ph.D. 2007, MSc. 2004) under the supervision of Dr. Paul Manger. I relocated to the USA and subsequently started postdoctoral training under the guidance of Dr. Chet Sherwood at The George Washington University. In the Fall of 2011, I joined the Anatomy Department at Des Moines University and established the Evolving Brain Lab with the goal of expanding our understanding of the mammalian brain and its evolutionary history.
Specialties: stereology, neuroanatomy, and musculoskeletal anatomy, histological methods applied to neuroanatomy, statistical analysis and phylogenetic methods, probablistic mapping and 3D modelling of the brain. Current interests - The effects of domestication on the mammalian brain, hemispheric asymmetry in primate cortical and subcortical structures, neuropil space and the evolution of the cortical column
Phone: 515-271-1577
Address: Dr. Muhammad A. Spocter
Associate Professor of Anatomy
Department of Anatomy
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Des Moines University
3200 Grand Ave
Des Moines, IA 50312
Honorary Research Associate
School of Anatomical Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
University of Witwatersrand
7 York Road, Parktown
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Affiliate Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Sciences
College of Veterinary Medicine
Iowa State University, Ames Iowa
My primary research goals are in comparative neuroanatomy and the use of cytoarchitecture to identify and quantify the extent of cortical areas in social species. You can read more about my research and the ongoing collaborative projects at The Evolving Brain Laboratory (EBL)
Background: I am from South Africa and completed my graduate training at the University of Witwatersrand (Ph.D. 2007, MSc. 2004) under the supervision of Dr. Paul Manger. I relocated to the USA and subsequently started postdoctoral training under the guidance of Dr. Chet Sherwood at The George Washington University. In the Fall of 2011, I joined the Anatomy Department at Des Moines University and established the Evolving Brain Lab with the goal of expanding our understanding of the mammalian brain and its evolutionary history.
Specialties: stereology, neuroanatomy, and musculoskeletal anatomy, histological methods applied to neuroanatomy, statistical analysis and phylogenetic methods, probablistic mapping and 3D modelling of the brain. Current interests - The effects of domestication on the mammalian brain, hemispheric asymmetry in primate cortical and subcortical structures, neuropil space and the evolution of the cortical column
Phone: 515-271-1577
Address: Dr. Muhammad A. Spocter
Associate Professor of Anatomy
Department of Anatomy
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Des Moines University
3200 Grand Ave
Des Moines, IA 50312
Honorary Research Associate
School of Anatomical Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
University of Witwatersrand
7 York Road, Parktown
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Affiliate Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Sciences
College of Veterinary Medicine
Iowa State University, Ames Iowa
less
InterestsView All (14)
Uploads
Research Articles by Muhammad A Spocter
nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), and the nucleus of the accessory olfactory tract (NAOT). Volumetric analysis of the relative size of the MOB and PIR indicate that the tree pangolin has an olfactory system that occupies a proportion of the brain typical for the majority of mammals. Within the MOB, the glomeruli of the tree pangolin, at 200 μm diameter, are larger than observed in most other mammalian species, and the MOB lacks a distinct internal plexiform layer. In addition, the laminate appearance of the NLOT was not observed in the tree pangolin.The accessory olfactory system appears to lack the posterior compartment of the accessory olfactory bulb. These observations are contextualized in relation to olfactory-mediated behaviours in pangolins.
We examined the effect of chronic prenatal alcohol exposure on the process of adult neurogenesis in C57BL/6J mice at early adulthood (PND 56). Pregnant mice, and their in utero litters, were exposed to alcohol, through oral gavage, on gestational days 7 – 16, with recorded blood alcohol concentrations averaging 184 mg/dL (CA group). Two control groups, sucrose (CAc) and non-treated (NTc) control groups were also examined. At PND 56, the pups from each group were sacrificed and the left hemisphere of the brain sectioned in a sagittal plane, and stained for Nissl substance with cresyl violet, and immunostained for Ki-67 which labels proliferative cells and doublecortin (DCX) for immature neurons. Morphologically, the neurogenic pattern was identical in all three groups studied, and similar to arrangements in mammals and laboratory rodents. Populations of Ki-67 immunopositive cells in the dentate gyrus were not statistically significantly different between the experimental groups. Thus, the prenatal alcohol exposure in this study does not appear to have a strong effect on the proliferative process in the adult hippocampus. In contrast, the numbers of immature neurons, labeled with DCX, was statistically significantly lower in the mice exposed to prenatal alcohol compared with the two control groups. This indicates that the prenatal alcohol exposure appears to lower either the rate of conversion of proliferative cells to immature neurons or the survival of immature neurons within the hippocampus. This lowered number of immature neurons, and their associated function, appears to mirror the memory dysfunctions observed in FASD children.
predicted, with body mass raised to an exponent of 0.32 (close to the predicted 1/3). While supporting the expectation formulated by Jerison that larger bodies require larger brains to operate them, our findings show that: (1) the rate of increase in brain size is very small compared to body growth; and (2) different parts of the central nervous system grow at different rates accompanying continuous body growth, with a faster increase in spinal cord mass and eye volume, than in brain mass.""""
nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), and the nucleus of the accessory olfactory tract (NAOT). Volumetric analysis of the relative size of the MOB and PIR indicate that the tree pangolin has an olfactory system that occupies a proportion of the brain typical for the majority of mammals. Within the MOB, the glomeruli of the tree pangolin, at 200 μm diameter, are larger than observed in most other mammalian species, and the MOB lacks a distinct internal plexiform layer. In addition, the laminate appearance of the NLOT was not observed in the tree pangolin.The accessory olfactory system appears to lack the posterior compartment of the accessory olfactory bulb. These observations are contextualized in relation to olfactory-mediated behaviours in pangolins.
We examined the effect of chronic prenatal alcohol exposure on the process of adult neurogenesis in C57BL/6J mice at early adulthood (PND 56). Pregnant mice, and their in utero litters, were exposed to alcohol, through oral gavage, on gestational days 7 – 16, with recorded blood alcohol concentrations averaging 184 mg/dL (CA group). Two control groups, sucrose (CAc) and non-treated (NTc) control groups were also examined. At PND 56, the pups from each group were sacrificed and the left hemisphere of the brain sectioned in a sagittal plane, and stained for Nissl substance with cresyl violet, and immunostained for Ki-67 which labels proliferative cells and doublecortin (DCX) for immature neurons. Morphologically, the neurogenic pattern was identical in all three groups studied, and similar to arrangements in mammals and laboratory rodents. Populations of Ki-67 immunopositive cells in the dentate gyrus were not statistically significantly different between the experimental groups. Thus, the prenatal alcohol exposure in this study does not appear to have a strong effect on the proliferative process in the adult hippocampus. In contrast, the numbers of immature neurons, labeled with DCX, was statistically significantly lower in the mice exposed to prenatal alcohol compared with the two control groups. This indicates that the prenatal alcohol exposure appears to lower either the rate of conversion of proliferative cells to immature neurons or the survival of immature neurons within the hippocampus. This lowered number of immature neurons, and their associated function, appears to mirror the memory dysfunctions observed in FASD children.
predicted, with body mass raised to an exponent of 0.32 (close to the predicted 1/3). While supporting the expectation formulated by Jerison that larger bodies require larger brains to operate them, our findings show that: (1) the rate of increase in brain size is very small compared to body growth; and (2) different parts of the central nervous system grow at different rates accompanying continuous body growth, with a faster increase in spinal cord mass and eye volume, than in brain mass.""""
anthropology and related sciences. This seems to be of particular importance in the education of health professionals, as recent research suggests that better knowledge of human variation can improve clinical skills. It is also argued that relatively small curricular changes relating to the teaching of human variation can produce significant educational
gains."
named Darwinian medicine, has had a major impact on
modern medical research and practice. This paper focuses
on phenomena such as evolved host defences, evolution of
virulence, genetic conflicts with other organisms, adaptations
to novel environments, and tradeoffs and constraints in
biological systems."
the D2/D4 ratio in the Palaeolithic artists has a much greater spread of values and a greater degree of sexual dimorphism. We find that living San people, who represent the minority of modern humans that have
high-variance genetics, also have a hand metric phenotype like the Palaeolithic artists, different from modern Europeans and other low-variance genetics modern humans. The increased variance and sexual
dimorphism of the phenotypic D2/D4 ratio in the San measurements are in keeping with genetic evidence that the San represent one of the oldest human lineages with the greatest genetic diversity. The findings have the implication that the European Palaeolithic cave artists may have been derived from San-like migrants who brought an established artistic tradition from Africa to Europe, only to be replaced as a population, leaving no evidence of their genetics in modern Europeans, as observed for other Palaeolithic genes such as Oase 1.