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Central Library - Vidyasagar University

“Education does not only mean learning, reading, writing, and arithmetic,

it should provide a comprehensive knowledge”

-Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar


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Adaptation and the brain / by Susan D. Healy. [electronic resource]

By: Healy, S. D. (Susan D.) [author].
Material type: TextTextSeries: Oxford series in ecology and evolution: Publisher: Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2021Description: e-book contains 162 pages.ISBN: 9780191886157.Subject(s): Brain -- Evolution | Vertebrates -- Evolution | Adaptation (Biology) | Natural selection | Brain | Evolution (Biology) | Brain | Adaptation, Biological | Biological Evolution | Vertébrés -- Évolution | Adaptation (Biologie) | Cerveau | Évolution (Biologie) | brains | evolution | Adaptation (Biology) | Brain -- Evolution | Natural selection | Vertebrates -- Evolution | Genetics and Genomics | Biological SciencesDDC classification: 573.8616 Online resources: https://academic.oup.com/book/39632 Click here
Contents:
Contents Front Matter Copyright Page Acknowledgements 1 Introduction View chapter Expand2 The Measurable Brain View chapter Expand3 The Intelligent Brain View chapter Expand4 The Ecological Brain View chapter Expand5 The Innovative Brain View chapter Expand6 The Technical Brain View chapter Expand7 The Sexual Brain View chapter Expand8 The Social Brain View chapter Expand9 Concluding Remarks View chapter End Matter References Index
Abstract: Abstract The rationale for this work is to make some sort of sense of the seeming myriad of adaptive explanations for why vertebrate brains vary in size. The role that natural selection has played in brain size has been addressed using the comparative method, which allows identification of evolutionary patterns across species. One starting assumption is that brain size is a useful proxy for intelligence and therefore that large-brained animals are more intelligent than smaller-brained animals. Five classes of selection pressure form the majority of explanations: ecology, technology, innovation, sex, and sociality. After chapters in which I describe the difficulties of measuring both brain size and intelligence (cognition), I address the evidence for each of the five factors in turn, reaching the conclusion that although ecology provides the best explanations for variation in the size of brain regions, none of the factors yet offers a robust and compelling explanation for variation in whole brain size. I end by providing the steps I consider necessary to reach such an explanation, steps that I suggest are feasible, if challenging.
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E-Book E-Book WWW
Non-fiction 573.8616 HEA/A (Browse shelf) Available EB761

Includes bibliographical references: 129-158p

Contents
Front Matter
Copyright Page
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction
View chapter
Expand2 The Measurable Brain
View chapter
Expand3 The Intelligent Brain
View chapter
Expand4 The Ecological Brain
View chapter
Expand5 The Innovative Brain
View chapter
Expand6 The Technical Brain
View chapter
Expand7 The Sexual Brain
View chapter
Expand8 The Social Brain
View chapter
Expand9 Concluding Remarks
View chapter
End Matter
References
Index

Abstract
The rationale for this work is to make some sort of sense of the seeming myriad of adaptive explanations for why vertebrate brains vary in size. The role that natural selection has played in brain size has been addressed using the comparative method, which allows identification of evolutionary patterns across species. One starting assumption is that brain size is a useful proxy for intelligence and therefore that large-brained animals are more intelligent than smaller-brained animals. Five classes of selection pressure form the majority of explanations: ecology, technology, innovation, sex, and sociality. After chapters in which I describe the difficulties of measuring both brain size and intelligence (cognition), I address the evidence for each of the five factors in turn, reaching the conclusion that although ecology provides the best explanations for variation in the size of brain regions, none of the factors yet offers a robust and compelling explanation for variation in whole brain size. I end by providing the steps I consider necessary to reach such an explanation, steps that I suggest are feasible, if challenging.

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