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Chapter 14: - Brain Evolution

from Part I - Introduction to the Scientific Perspective on the Past

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2022

Brian Villmoare
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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Summary

This chapter discusses the ways in which natural selection has acted on the animal and primate brain, demonstrating that the human brain is better at some tasks, whereas other animals are better at certain others (e.g. special memory and chimpanzees). Human brains are the results of selection for very specific tasks, largely relating to social information. It also discusses the role of metabolism in brain evolution, reviewing the ‘expensive tissue hypothesis’. It summarizes brain anatomy, and shows that, anatomically, the human brain is essentially a scaled-up primate brain. Finally, it discusses the idea of consciousness, the ways we evaluate it in other animals, and how it may have arisen.

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Chapter
Information
The Evolution of Everything
The Patterns and Causes of Big History
, pp. 192 - 207
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • Brain Evolution
  • Brian Villmoare, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Book: The Evolution of Everything
  • Online publication: 03 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108862530.015
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  • Brain Evolution
  • Brian Villmoare, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Book: The Evolution of Everything
  • Online publication: 03 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108862530.015
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Brain Evolution
  • Brian Villmoare, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
  • Book: The Evolution of Everything
  • Online publication: 03 November 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108862530.015
Available formats
×