Absolute brain size: Did we throw the baby out with the bathwater?

Marino, Lori

doi:10.1073/pnas.0606337103

Cited by 36 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Contrary to the view that different regions of the brain are so functionally well integrated that the whole brain acts as the unit of cognition (1), higher-order brain structures like the neocortex might represent a larger relative portion of larger brains. Our results also provide evidence for absolute brain size as an important factor in cognitive evolution (1,35).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Comparative analysis of constraints and caste differences in brain investment among social paper wasps

O’Donnell

Clifford

Molina³

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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We compared species mean data on the size of functionally distinct brain regions to test the relative rates at which investment in higher-order cognitive processing (mushroom body calyces) versus peripheral sensory processing (optic and antennal lobes) increased with increasing brain size. Subjects were eusocial paper wasps from queen and worker castes of 10 species from different genera. Relative investment in central processing tissue increased with brain size at a higher rate than peripheral structure investment, demonstrating that tissue devoted to higher-order cognitive processing is more constrained by brain size. This pattern held for raw data and for phylogenetically independent contrasts. These findings suggest that there is a minimum necessary investment in peripheral sensory processing brain tissue, with little to gain from additional investment. In contrast, increased brain size provides opportunities to invest in additional higher-order cognitive processing tissue. Reproductive castes differed within species in brain tissue investment, with higher central-to-peripheral brain tissue ratios in queens than in workers. Coupled with previous findings that paper wasp queen, but not worker, brain architecture corresponds to ecological and social variation, queen brain evolution appears to be most strongly shaped by cognitive demands, such as social interactions. These evolutionary patterns of neural investment echo findings in other animal lineages and have important implications, given that a greater investment in higherorder processing has been shown to increase the prevalence of complex and flexible behaviors across the animal kingdom.Hymenoptera | mushroom bodies | social brain | Vespidae A s brains evolve, both relative expansion of specific brain regions and general increases in absolute brain size can enable changes in animal cognitive capacity (1). Of particular note is the frequent convergent evolution of central brain regions that perform higher-order cognitive processing. Larger central processing centers are associated with enhanced capacity for learning, memory, and behavioral innovation among species (1-3). In primates, increased investment in higher-order cognitive processing structures, such as the neocortex and hippocampus, has been linked to increased cognitive performance (4), and the neocortex is five times larger in primates than in insectivores after accounting for differences in whole brain size (5). Increased hippocampal size in passerine birds has been associated with improved memory and the advent of food-storing behavior (6). Increased size and complexity of the mushroom bodies (MB), the neural centers of higher-order cognitive processing in insects, are paired with an increase in the prevalence of generalist feeding ecologies across species (7) and with social dominance status within species (8-10).Molecular evidence supports a single origin of the CNS in bilaterally symmetrical animals, including insects and vertebrates, occurring before the protostome-deuterostome split (11). ...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Comparative analysis of constraints and caste differences in brain investment among social paper wasps

O’Donnell

Clifford

Molina³

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…It should also be considered that absolute brain size can be a significant determinant of behavioral capacity, as noted by other authors [Striedter, 2005;Marino, 2006;Deaner et al, 2007]. In fact Deaner et al [2007] recently reported, in a meta-analysis of this issue, that overall brain size was a superior predictor of cognitive ability among primates, with no indication that even cerebral cortex based measures were superior than whole brain size in predicting general cognitive ability.…”

Section: Encephalization and Playmentioning

confidence: 98%

Encephalization of Australian and New Guinean Marsupials

Ashwell¹

2008

Brain Behav Evol

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Encephalization of Australian marsupials was analyzed using the endocranial volume (ECV) of 52 species of Dasyuromorphia and Notoryctemorphia, 14 species of Peramelemorphia and 116 species of Diprotodontia from Australia and New Guinea and compared with 16 species of Ameridelphian marsupials and 3 species of native and recently introduced Australian eutherian carnivores (dingo, feral cat and feral fox). Linear regression analysis of the relationship between ECV and body weight for marsupials revealed that allometric parameters for these groups are different from those previously derived for samples of (mainly eutherian) mammals, with higher slopes for Dasyuromorphia and Diprotodontia and lower slopes for Ameridelphians and Peramelemorphia. Absolute ECV for small Australian and New Guinea marsupial carnivores (Antechinus and Sminthopsis) were found to be comparable to eutherians of similar body weight, but large marsupial carnivores such as the Tasmanian devil and thylacine had substantially smaller ECVs than eutherian carnivores of similar body weight. Similarly, members of some superfamilies within Diprotodontia (Burramyoidea, Petauroidea, Tarsipedoidea) had ECVs comparable to prosimians, whereas bandicoots, bilbies and many macropods were found to be poorly encephalized. When both encephalization quotient (EQ) and residuals from regression analysis were used to compare relative ECV of extinct/threatened species with common species there were no significant differences for any of the orders of Australian marsupials, suggesting that encephalization is not a major factor in the current extinction crisis for Australian marsupials. Similarly there were no consistent differences in relative ECV between marsupials from New Guinea and associated islands compared to Australia or between arid and non-arid Australian regions for any of the marsupial orders. The results indicate that marsupials are not uniformly poorly encephalized and that small marsupial carnivores and some members of Diprotodontia are of comparable encephalization to eutherians of similar body weight. In particular, honey possums and some gliders show an encephalization level comparable to prosimians, perhaps reflecting convergence in adaptation to similar arboreal niches.

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“…The data on innovation-brain relations have been criticized, however. Indeed, the conclusion relies fully upon the still controversial assumption that neural volumes provide a meaningful measure of information processing capacity ( [31], but see [32]). The question of whether absolute brain size or brain size corrected for allometric relations with body size is most suited to measuring brain-performance relationships [32,33] and how to measure brain size reliably [34] are on-going debates in the literature.…”

Section: Proximate Mechanisms Of Innovationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, the conclusion relies fully upon the still controversial assumption that neural volumes provide a meaningful measure of information processing capacity ( [31], but see [32]). The question of whether absolute brain size or brain size corrected for allometric relations with body size is most suited to measuring brain-performance relationships [32,33] and how to measure brain size reliably [34] are on-going debates in the literature. As outcomes will have fundamental ramifications for a large section of the non-human innovation literature, gathering empirical evidence to resolve them, as Navarette et al [35] do here, should be a priority research focus.…”

Section: Proximate Mechanisms Of Innovationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovativeness as an emergent property: a new alignment of comparative and experimental research on animal innovation

Griffin¹

2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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One contribution of 15 to a theme issue 'Innovation in animals and humans: understanding the origins and development of novel and creative behaviour'. Innovation and creativity are key defining features of human societies. As we face the global challenges of the twenty-first century, they are also facets upon which we must become increasingly reliant. But what makes Homo sapiens so innovative and where does our high innovation propensity come from? Comparative research on innovativeness in non-human animals allows us to peer back through evolutionary time and investigate the ecological factors that drove the evolution of innovativeness, whereas experimental research identifies and manipulates underpinning creative processes. In commenting on the present theme issue, I highlight the controversies that have typified this research field and show how a paradigmatic shift in our thinking about innovativeness will contribute to resolving these tensions. In the past decade, innovativeness has been considered by many as a trait, a direct product of cognition, and a direct target of selection. The evidence I review here suggests that innovativeness will be hereon viewed as one component, or even an emergent property of a larger array of traits, which have evolved to deal with environmental variation. I illustrate how research should capitalize on taxonomic diversity to unravel the full range of psychological processes that underpin innovativeness in non-human animals.

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Absolute brain size: Did we throw the baby out with the bathwater?

Cited by 36 publications

References 10 publications

Comparative analysis of constraints and caste differences in brain investment among social paper wasps

Comparative analysis of constraints and caste differences in brain investment among social paper wasps

Encephalization of Australian and New Guinean Marsupials

Innovativeness as an emergent property: a new alignment of comparative and experimental research on animal innovation

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