“Of Marine Mammal Neuroscience and Men”: Needs and Perspectives in Marine Mammal Neuroscience

As neuroscience techniques become increasingly sophisticatedand accessible, their application to marine mammal research remainsunderdeveloped and fragmented. Cetacean and pinniped brains exhibit remarkableevolutionary specializations; yet systematic, reproducible data across speciesare scarce. Ethical, logistical, and methodological constraints hinder samplingand analysis of central nervous system tissues, often limiting studies to smallcohorts and reducing diagnostic accuracy in neuropathological investigations.Gaps persist in understanding neuroanatomical organization, pathogeneticmechanisms of neurodegeneration, and the effects of acoustic and environmentalstressors on brain health. Noninvasive neuroimaging methods such as post-mortemmagnetic resonance imaging and diffusion-weighted imaging offer promise butsuffer from incompatible protocols and limited standardization. In-vitro andmolecular techniques including cellular reprogramming may provide new avenuesfor translational researc...