Re:Bigger brains are smarter, but not by much
by akvadrako on Sunday December 02, 2018 @07:37AM
(#18582064)
Yes, large brains are obviously very important.
The article says the maximum difference is 100 cm³ while the largest brains are about 1500 cm³, so on average 7% larger means 2% smarter.
But I think a couple of things come into play - one is that our genes might be optimised for a certain size and it's not simple to scale, but requires reprogramming. At least in some species, larger brains just means larger neurons, not more of them.
The article says the maximum difference is 100 cm³ while the largest brains are about 1500 cm³, so on average 7% larger means 2% smarter.
But I think a couple of things come into play - one is that our genes might be optimised for a certain size and it's not simple to scale, but requires reprogramming. At least in some species, larger brains just means larger neurons, not more of them.