Daniel Wolpert Asks & Answers: “Why Do We Have Brains?”

0

With all of the complex brain science findings out there, I really enjoyed this TED talk from neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert that goes back to one of the most fundamental questions about brains: why do we have them at all? Wolpert argues that the only reason we evolved our brains is because we had to move, [...]

Tags: , , ,
Posted December 9, 2011 by Karen Merzenich under Evolution of the Brain

Neanderthal Brains, Human Brains

0

There’s a lot of debate around the similarities and differences between humans and Neanderthals. Were Neanderthals truly a different species from humans, or a different type of the same species? Were they adaptive, cultural innovators like humans, or were they just the dumb cavemen often depicted? Their brains were big like ours… but did they [...]

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted November 9, 2010 by Marghi Merzenich under Evolution of the Brain, Research studies

From Chihuahuas to Great Danes: Are Dog Brains the Same?

1

Person to person, the human brain varies a little in size and shape–but not dramatically so. After all, adult human skulls are all roughly the same size and shape. But what about dogs? Does a chihuahua’s tiny skull hold the same kind of brain power as all that can fit inside a mastiff’s  giant noggin? [...]

Tags: , ,
Posted October 8, 2010 by Marghi Merzenich under Evolution of the Brain, Odds and Ends