For millions of years, for which humans and chimpanzees have separated into the evolutionary tree, our brains have literally tripled their size, whereas the monkeys have remained virtually the same. What has not been clear to science so far is how exactly homo sapiens has developed his brain to its current size. In a new study, scientists have made a model that shows how the amount of gray matter has evolved over time. A number of hypotheses challenge the validity of explanations in science, diet changes, improved blood flow to metabolic changes to feed new neurons.
All of them, however, fail to say much about the forces themselves that have driven the growth of the brain. According to the results of the new study, the current understanding behind almost all theories that the evolution of the brain was stepped, and gradually made our ancestors smarter, misses something important. "It's no surprise that reality is significantly more complicated, and there is no clear link between brain size and behavior," explains Bernard Wood of the University of Washington. In the model of their team, smaller brain populations were gradually displaced by larger brain populations. But what's new and interesting is that the process has been slower and more gradual, not step-wise, as has been thought so far.
Source: www.sciencealert.com , www.pexels.com
