Also Read: The Science Behind Sleep<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our traits as a species exist today due to natural selection. Over the course of our evolution, favorable traits managed to stick around, and this applies to our brain too. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n The elaborate process of information conduction in our organs, has its roots in the development of ion channels in bacteria that existed nearly three and a half billion years ago. The fundamental function of synapses, wherein information travels from one neuron to another, utilizes several proteins. Some of these proteins can be traced to the sponges which use them to form colonies, thus establishing connections. With the appearance of fish came the rudimentary spinal cords and simpler brains. The forebrain (a part of our brains) can be seen in amphibians and mammals. Our brain as an organ has been evolving with life for billions of years.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to human evolution<\/a> in detail, our understanding of it is an incomplete story. We’ve figured out the milestones but several dots still require manual\u00a0connection.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Fossils are our windows to the past. And in the human evolutionary trail, the skull, the house of our brain, helps us to better understand the changes that have occurred in our brain as we have evolved. A general trend that one observes is that the early hominids had a smaller brain capacity and it has increased with each step. As a result, the brain of early Hominids weighed around 400 grams, and today, our brains weigh 1500 grams on average.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is believed that our intelligence developed and was enhanced due to this increase in brain size. Is this trend going to continue? It is a common notion that a bigger brain equals higher intelligence. This idea has transcended into science fiction works. One of the popular alien figures has been of a form with enormous heads. Many people imagine that even we are on a path to a large head with huge brains with increased abilities. But is an enlarged brain on card in our future? <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: What’s next in human evolution?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Is the adage \u2018the bigger the better\u2019 true when it comes to brains too?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Only if brain size were the only<\/strong><\/span> parameter for intelligence. The whale has a brain weighing 6 kilograms. Does that imply that it is more complex in its thoughts and behavior than humans? On the other end of the spectrum, even \u2018bird brains\u2019 are capable of amazing feats like migration over large distances, elaborate nest formations and elaborate mating behaviors.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Comparable physiology helps us out of this conundrum. While larger brains are indicative of complex behavior, it is the size of brain with respect to the body mass<\/em> that is more indicative of the animal\u2019s intelligence. The 6 kg brain of a whale is only 0.01% of the gigantic 60,000 kg whale!! On the other hand, our brain accounts for 1.9% our body mass.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n To better understand the genetic basis of the evolution of human brain, scientists look at cases where the brain size is smaller than the expected. Genes that are at work here can be said to play a role in brain size determination. One such gene that has come up is ASPM – which results in brain size anomalies when mutated. APMS is present in other mammals too. Its evolution, though, has happened at a greater pace in primates than say, in rodents. Microcephalin is another gene said to be involved in brain size determination. But these are not only determining genes when it comes to the brain size. But these are the few that are recognized and prone to scrutiny.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"yaaobt_brain_2\"](\"https:\/\/yaabot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/yaaobt_brain_2.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe Human Brain has Grown<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Size = Intelligence?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"yaabot_brain_3\"](\"https:\/\/yaabot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/yaabot_brain_3.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe Genes behind Intelligence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"yaabot_brain_4\"](\"https:\/\/yaabot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/yaabot_brain_4.png\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"yaabot_brain_5\"](\"https:\/\/entropymag.co\/wp-content\/plugins\/trx_addons\/components\/lazy-load\/images\/placeholder.png\")
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