Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Intelligence poorly related to brain size

|
|
 
  
Published: Nov. 25, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Advertisement

LONDON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- British scientists say they've found brain size is much less related to the complexity of an organism's thought and behavior than is currently assumed.

Professor Lars Chittka of the Queen Mary's Research Center for Psychology at the University of London and Jeremy Niven of the University of Cambridge examined the brain size of a broad range of organisms, ranging from insects to vertebrates. They also analyzed the complexity of behaviors, social structures and mental processes of the organisms.

The scientists said they concluded animals with bigger brains are not necessarily more intelligent.

Chittka and Niven said a honeybee's brain weighs only one milligram and contains fewer than 1 million nerve cells, while a human brain weighs more than 1.25 kilograms (about 2.75 pounds), and contains an estimated 85 billion nerve cells. Yet the honeybee can count, categorize objects, understand the meaning of "same" and "different," and differentiate among shapes.

The researchers said the determined larger animals have larger brains partly because they need larger nerve cells. Moreover, they said larger brains have a greater number of redundant nerve circuits that add precision to sensory processes and detail to perception.

Their findings appear in the journal Current Biology.

Topics: Queen Mary
Recommended Stories
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The making of the Oscars The Chicago Auto Show 2011: The year in space
Mercedes-Benz fashion week In New York Tu Bishvat Migron settlement The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 21
President Obama Signs Smuggling Prevention Act at White House
View Caption
fark
You're a female air traveler and there's no female TSA agent to screen you? No problem, there's...
Despite their efforts to convince you otherwise, many "foodies" can't, in a blind taste test, tell...
Photoshop this urban underground dweller
Kim Jong Un Dead. I repeat - Un Dead
Nothing is more romantic on Valentine's Day than taking your lover on a tour of New York's sewers...
Man arrested for writing 'bomb' on some toilet paper. "His family says the word 'bomb' is often...