脑膜中动脉的形态变异及其在人类进化上的意义

对现代人、直立人、早期智人、晚期智人脑膜中动脉前支和后支压迹的形态的观察和对比发现：从直立人到现代人脑膜中动脉管径从粗到逐渐变细,分枝从简单到逐渐复杂,前支趋向于增大,后支趋向于缩小,呈现出一定的规律性,有地域性差异。作者认为脑膜中动脉的这种分布形式间接地反映了直立人向智人演化及现代人类形成过程中,大脑各部分比例的变化和功能的日益复杂对供血需求的影响。在研究颅骨与大脑之间的关系上及脑演化上,脑膜中动脉有一定的意义。

MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATION OF MIDDLE MENINGEAL ARTERY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN HUMAN EVOLUTION

The impressions of middle meningeal arteries were observed and compared to study the morphological variation and temporal changes. The specimens used include either skull or endocasts of 45 Homo erectus, 15 archaic Homo sapiens,18 Late Homo sapiens and 62 modern humans. The results obtained are as follows. Form Homo erectus to modern humans the diameter of middle meningeal arteries decreased, the pattern of ramifications becames more complex, the diameter anterior branch of the middle meningeal artery tends to increase and posterior branch tends to decrease. So, from the early hominids to modern humans the ramification of middle meningeal arteries becomes gradually shrink on the area other than the parietals. The present study also indicate that the morphological characteristics of human middle meningeal arteries have certain geographical variations. The anthor believes that the morphological patterns of the middle meningeal arteries found in present study reflect the increasing of blood requirements of different brain components in changing proportion and sophistication of cerebral function during the evolutionary process from Homo erectus to modern humans. The middle meningeal artery plays important role in the study of relationship between skull and brain, and brain evolution.