Nancy L. Barrickman
- Education:
- Ph.D. candidate, Duke University, 2006
- M.A., Colorado State University, 2002
- M.S., Colorado State University, 2001
Research Interests:
I am interested in the broad question of the evolution of language and cognition in humans. I am approaching this question by investigating the mechanisms by which the biological capacity for complex thought can appear within a given species. I suspect that brain size and/or specialized neuronal circuits are not the only explanatory factors. Extended brain growth and life history are also crucial components. Brain size is probably limited by developmental constraints, and a close examination of the patterns of brain growth will reveal the natural history parameters of a species in which large brain size and complex thought is most likely to evolve. In addition, neuroplasticity during brain growth is quite extensive, particularly in large brained species, so the selection of very specific neuronal circuits is unlikely. Instead, the development of the brain is highly subject to environmental input, suggesting that species with large amounts of brain growth during periods of extensive learning are most likely to possess the neural circuitry necessary to a complex cognitive task such as language.
Currently, I am investigating the relationship between life history and brain growth in primates. I am currently collecting data on the ontogenetic trajectories of brain size and body size in a range of primate species and comparing these results to life history variables such as age at weaning and age at first reproduction. Eventually, I would like to apply the results of my studies to the fossil record to determine when and where changes in extended life history and extended brain growth occurred during human evolution.
Current projects:
Dental, cranial, and skeletal growth in anthropoids: collecting dissertation data from immature specimens of the anthropoid skeletal specimens (August 2004 – present), , , National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C., American Museum of Natural History in New York, NY, Anthropologisches Institut in Zürich, Dart Collection at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, Stanley Field Museum in Chicago, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, , , , Cranial growth in prosimians: longitudinal study of head and body growth in infant and juvenile prosimian species (December 2003 – present), Duke University Primate Center, , Archaeological virtual model: developing a GIS spatial database to store, retrieve, analyze, and display the data collected during excavation (May 2004 – present)., Plovers Lake, Middle Stone Age site in South Africa, , Body mass and skeletal size in howling monkeys: determining the measurements of the skeleton that best predict body mass in howling monkeys from La Pacifica, Costa Rica; specimens collected by Dr. Ken Glander, who has studied the population in the wild and has known body mass and other life history variables for each individual. In collaboration with A. Hartstone-Rose and J.M.G. Perry. (October 2005 – present).
- Recent Publications
(More Publications)
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- van Schaik, C., Barrickman, N.L., Bastian, M., Krakauer, E., van Noordwijk, M "Primate life histories and the role of brains." Evolution of Human Life History. Ed. K. Hawkes and R. Paine SAR Press, Santa Fe, NM, in press [abs]
- N.L. Barrickman, Bastian, M., Isler, K., van Schaik, C. (Submitted, in review). Life history costs and benefits of increased brain size: a comparative test using primates. Journal of Human Evolution. [abs]
- N.L. Barrickman "The ontogeny of cranial capacity and dental development: a study of growth patterns in primates." 2005: 72.
- Lewis, P.J. Steininger, C.M. Barrickman, N.L. Berger, L.R. and Churchill, S.E. "A preliminary assessment of the microfaunal assemblage from the Coopers D deposit, Gauteng, South Africa." 2004: 135.
- N.L. Barrickman "Morphological variation of the lumbar vertebrae of A. africanus: Implications for locomotor differences between small and large individuals." 2003: 63.
01 Biological Sciences Building
Office Phone:
+1 919 660 7267
Email Address:
nancy.barrickman@duke.edu
Mailing Address:
Box 90383 Durham, NC 27708-0383