A new research article makes two important points:
(1) It is not the number of neurons in the prefrontal cortex (PFC)
that is important but the total number of neurons humans have
that is important. The PFC is importantly engaged in a number
of activities but having more neurons there appears not to be
such a big deal.
(2) The ability to cook food instead of "grazing" (a popular
habit among some folks) allowed humans to increase the
amount of food that humans could eat over time and allow
structural changes in the brain that required additional energy.
Grazing fulfils immediate energy needs but cooking provides
for multiple meals, so provides a greater return for energy
expended (at least that's my interpretation).
A popular media account of the research is available here:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160810143716.htm
The original research article is available here:
Mariana Gabi, Kleber Neves, Carolinne Masseron, Pedro F. M.
Ribeiro, Lissa Ventura-Antunes, Laila Torres, Bruno Mota,
Jon H. Kaas, Suzana Herculano-Houzel. No relative
expansion of the number of prefrontal neurons in primate
and human evolution.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
2016; 201610178 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1610178113
-Mike Palij
New York University
m...@nyu.edu
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