Acta Scientific Neurology (ASNE) (ISSN: 2582-1121)

Research Article Volume 9 Issue 3

NeuroAI, Paleoneurology, and the Alignment of Superintelligent AIs with Human Values. Our Future Depends on It.

Margaret Boone Rappaport 1 * and Christopher J Corbally2

1 Former President, Policy Research Methods, Inc., USA
2 Vatican Observatory, University of Arizona, USA

*Corresponding Author: Margaret Boone Rappaport, Former President, Policy Research Methods, Inc., USA.

Received: January 29, 2026; Published: February 28, 2026

Abstract

Importance: This research paper emphasizes the need for knowledge of biology, neurology, and evolutionary science in order to assist artificial intelligence engineers in the alignment of superintelligent AIs (ASIs) with human values. A fundamental background in these natural sciences will hopefully lead to installation of capacities in artificial units that are similar to natural capacities in the human species. This background in the natural sciences will help to ensure that artificial units have similar “neurological” features, compared to humans, and that they will be aligned with human values. The capacities in artificial units will not be exactly the same as natural neurological capacities, but they will achieve a certain similarity—which is essential to the future of the human species. It is important that artificial units are as similar as possible to their human originators. Similarity creates safety.

Objective: A sequence of neurological features on the evolutionary line leading to humans, beginning 55-65 million years ago with appearance of the Order Primates, is presented as a guide for an in-depth alignment of ASIs with human values and capacity for culture—and perhaps even emotions, if artificial units are instructed in the importance of human emotions in their motivations and their accomplishments. Initially, artificial units will have difficulty comprehending the importance of values and emotions in humans, but this paper proposes that instruction in the importance of human values may be possible. In addition, and perhaps even more important, the paper proposes that the alignment of ASIs will be an educational opportunity to determine if the artificial units have moral decision-making and a capacity for moral adjudication. This discussion takes place within the context of the new field of NeuroAI, which captures the mutual influence of neuroscience and AI engineering. Ethical and safety issues are included throughout, as well as an emphasis on the critical importance of alignment in the future of humankind.

Keywords: NeuroAI; Superintelligent AIs; Theory of Mind; Goldilocks Evolutionary Sequence; Mechanistic Interpretability; LLM

Abbreviations

ANN: Artificial Neural Network; CNN: Convolutional Neural Network; DNA: Deoxyribonucleic Acid; fMRI: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; LLM: Large Language Model; OCR: Optical Character Recognition; RNN: Recurrent Neural Network; ASI: Superintelligent AI.

References

  1. Anderson C. “The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete”. Wired (2008).
  2. Rappaport MB and Corbally CJ. “The Emergence of Religion in Human Evolution”. 1st Routledge (2020).
  3. Bostrom N. “Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies”. Oxford University Press. (2014).
  4. Rappaport MB and Corbally CJ. “Hypothesis and Thought Experiment: Comparing Cognitive Competition of Neanderthals and Early Humans, to Our Coming Contest with Ais”. Journal of Social Computing 1 (2024): 1-10.
  5. Rappaport MB and Corbally CJ. “Hypothesis and Thought Experiment: Can We Program AI Forms with the Foundations of Sentience to Protect Humanity?”. Journal of Social Computing3 (2024): 95-205.
  6. Sadeh S and Clopath C. “The emergence of NeuroAI: bridging neuroscience and artificial intelligence”. Nature Reviews Neuroscience10 (2025): 583-584.
  7. Bobrowsky M. “He’s Been Right About AI for 40 Years. Now He Thinks Everyone Is Wrong”. Wall Street Journal (2025).
  8. Hindley H. “University of Arizona astronomer develops novel method to make AI more trustworthy”. University of Arizona News (2026).
  9. Bruner E and Iriki A. “Extending mind, visuospatial integration, and the evolution of the parietal lobes in the human genus”. Quaternary International 405 (2016): 98-110.
  10. Hublin JJ, et al. “New fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco and the pan-African origin of Homo sapiens”. Nature 546 (2017): 7657.
  11. Chen C. “DeepSeek may have found a new way to improve AI’s ability to remember”. MIT Technology Review (2026).
  12. Tanabe HC., et al. “Cerebellum: Anatomy, Physiology, Function, and Evolution”. In: Bruner E, et al., eds. Digital Endocasts: From Skulls to Brains. Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Humans Series. Springer Japan; (2018): 275-289.
  13. Smaers JB., et al. “A cerebellar substrate for cognition evolved multiple times independently in mammals”. Paulin M, ed. eLife 7 (2018): e35696.
  14. Heavene WD. “OpenAI’s new LLM exposes the secrets of how AI really works”. MIT Technology Review (2026).
  15. Gao L., et al. “Weight-sparse transformers have interpretable circuits”.
  16. Gunz P., et al. “Neandertal Introgression Sheds Light on Modern Human Endocranial Globularity”. Current Biology 1 (2019): 120-127.e5.
  17. Acevedo BP., et al. “The highly sensitive brain: an fMRI study of sensory processing sensitivity and response to others’ emotions”. Brain Behavior4 (2014): 580-594.
  18. Todd RM., et al. “Deletion variant in the ADRA2B gene increases coupling between emotional responses at encoding and later retrieval of emotional memories”. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 112 (2014): 222-229.
  19. Brookshire B. “A vivid emotional experience requires the right genetics”. Science News (2025).
  20. Bruner E. “Language, Paleoneurology, and the Fronto-Parietal System”. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 11 (2017).
  21. Premack D and Woodruff G. “Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind?”. Behavioral and Brain Sciences4 (1978): 515-526.
  22. Hicks J and Coolidge F. “Role of Precuneal Expansion in the Evolution of Cognition”. (2016).
  23. MacLean EL. “Unraveling the evolution of uniquely human cognition”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences23 (2016): 6348-6354.
  24. Dean LG., et al. “Identification of the social and cognitive processes underlying human cumulative culture”. Science 6072 (2012): 1114-1118.
  25. Zeng Y., et al. “Super Co-alignment of Human and AI for Sustainable Symbiotic Society”. arXiv.org (2025).
  26. Rappaport MB and Corbally C. “Human Phenotypic Morality and the Biological Basis for Knowing Good”. Zygon3 (2017): 822-846.
  27. Busch EL., et al. “Hybrid hyperalignment: A single high-dimensional model of shared information embedded in cortical patterns of response and functional connectivity”. NeuroImage 233 (2021): 117975.

Citation

Citation: Margaret Boone Rappaport and Christopher J Corbally. “NeuroAI, Paleoneurology, and the Alignment of Superintelligent AIs with Human Val- ues. Our Future Depends on It.". Acta Scientific Neurology 9.3 (2026): 03-12.

Copyright

Copyright: ©2026 Margaret Boone Rappaport and Christopher J Corbally. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.




Metrics

Acceptance rate32%
Acceptance to publication20-30 days

Indexed In




News and Events


  • Publication Certificate
    Authors will be provided with the Publication Certificate after their successful publication
  • Last Date for submission
    Authors are requested to submit manuscripts on/before March 16, 2026, for the upcoming issue of 2026.

Contact US