Katerina Semendeferi

Katerina Semendeferi received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Iowa. A physical anthropologist interested in the evolution of the human brain and behavior, Katerina Semendeferi obtained an interdisciplinary education in Anthropology and Neuroscience followed by a postdoctoral training in neuroimaging and cognitive science in the Department of Neurology, University of Iowa. Semendeferi's research interests include:

• Evolution of emotional and cognitive processes in hominoids
• Species-specific adaptations in the organization of neocortical and limbic areas in the brain of humans and apes

Semendeferi's work emphasizes the acquisition of new comparative data on the organization of the human, chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan and gibbon brain at the macroscopic and microscopic levels using non-invasive techniques:

• 3D reconstruction of Magnetic Resonance scans of the brain of living humans and apes
• qualitative and quantitative analysis of histological sections of postmortem specimens

The National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and the Leakey Foundation for the Study of Human Origins have supported her research.

Publications

Semendeferi, K., Lu, A., Schenker, N., and Damasio, H.

(2002) Humans and great apes share a large frontal cortex. Nature Neuroscience 5(3):272-276.

Semendeferi, K.

(2001) Advances in the study of hominoid brain evolution: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and 3D reconstruction. In D. Falk and K. Gibson (Eds.) Evolutionary Anatomy of the Primate Cerebral Cortex Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, pp. 257-289.

Semendeferi, K., Schleicher, A., Zilles, K, Armstrong, E. and Van Hoesen, G.W.

(2001) Prefrontal cortex in humans and apes: A comparative study of area 10. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 114(3):224-241.

Semendeferi, K.

(2001) Before or after the split? Hominid neural specializations. In A. Nowell (Ed.) In the Mind's Eye: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on the evolution of Human Cognition. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, International Monograph Series, pp. 107-120.

Semendeferi, K. and Damasio, H.

(2000) The brain and its main anatomical subdivisions in living hominoids using magnetic resonance imaging. Journal of Human Evolution, 38:317-332.

Semendeferi, K.

(1999) On the eve of the decade of the brain (A review of Origins of the Human Brain, J.P. Changeux and J. Chavaillon (eds.). New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). American Journal of Primatology 48:161-162.

Semendeferi, K.

(1999) The frontal lobes of the great apes with a focus on the gorilla and the orangutan. In S.T. Parker, R.W. Mitchell and H.L. Miles (Eds.) The Mentality of Gorillas and Orangutans: Comparative Perspectives, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K., pp. 70-95.

Semendeferi, K., Armstrong, E., Schleicher, A., Zilles, K., and Van Hoesen, G.W.

(1998) Limbic frontal cortex in hominoids: A comparative study of area 13. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 106:129-155.

Semendeferi, K., Damasio, H., Frank, R. and Van Hoesen, G.W.

(1997) The evolution of the frontal lobes: a volumetric analysis based on three-dimensional reconstructions of magnetic resonance scans of human and ape brains. Journal of Human Evolution, 32:375-388.

Van Hoesen, G.W., Morecraft, R.J. and Semendeferi, K.

(1996) Functional neuroanatomy of the limbic system and prefrontal cortex. In B. Fogel, R.B. Schiffer and S.M. Roa (Eds.) Neuropsychiatry: A Comprehensive Textbook, William & Wilkins, Baltimore, pp. 113-143.

Although her specialization is in brain evolution and comparative primate neuroanatomy, Semendeferi has been exposed to other approaches to the study of human evolution, including the fossil record. She was involved in archeological and paleoanthropological excavations in the United States, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Viet Nam and enjoys teaching courses on human evolution and the primate brain.