ARE WE

WIRED
DIFFERENTLY?
PARTS OF THE BRAIN INVOLVED IN LANGUAGE
AND COGNITION HAVE ENLARGED GREATLY
OVER AN EVOLUTIONARY TIMESCALE

BY CHET C . SHERWO O D
GR AP HICS BY MESA SCHU MACHER

H
UMANS ARE OFF THE SCALE. Modern human brains are about threefold larger than
those of  our earliest hominin ancestors and living great ape relatives. Across animals,
brain size is  tightly correlated with body size. But humans are the extreme outlier
when gauged against this typical scaling relation. The average adult human brain is
roughly three pounds, which is approximately 2  percent of body size. But it consumes
an outsized 20  percent of the body’s energy budget because of high levels of electrical activity by
neurons and the metabolic fuel it takes to transmit chemical signals from one brain cell to the next.

Detailed comparisons of human brains with those Where did our big brains come from? The hominin
of our close living primate relatives, including chim- fossil record points to a general trend toward increased
panzees, have shown that the parts of the cerebral cranial capacity during the past six million years or so.
cortex involved in higher-order cognitive functions, That is when our lineage split from the last common
such as creativity and abstract thinking, have become ancestor we shared with chimpanzees and bonobos.
especially enlarged. These cortical areas, known as as- Scientists consider a constellation of interrelated fea-
sociation regions, mature relatively late in postnatal tures of hu­­man biology to be associated with our large
development. Some of the long-range neural connec- brains—slower growth through the stages of child-
tions that link these association areas to one another hood, a longer life span, and more involvement in rais-
and to the cerebellum (the latter plays a role in volun- ing offspring by fathers and grandparents to assist
tary movement and learning new skills) are more nu- mothers. Extended brain growth after birth means
merous in human brains as compared with other pri- that significant events that lay the groundwork for cog-
mates. These human-enhanced networks are loci for nition take place in a rich social and ecological context.
Chet C. Sherwood language, toolmaking and imitation. Even ancient re- Another clue to what makes us different from chim-
is a professor of anthro­ ward systems in a subcortical area called the striatum, panzees and other intelligent species comes from com-
pology at the George a hub of activity for the brain-signaling molecule dopa- pelling research that has uncovered genetic and molec-
Wash­ington University.
His work focuses on brain
mine, appear to have been reshaped in human brain ular changes that occurred during the long course of the
evolution in primates evolution. That change most likely increases attention brain’s evolution. A look at some of the distinctive fea-
and other mammals. to social signals and facilitates language learning. tures of the human brain follows.

60  Scientific American, September 2018

 GENES
The variant of the
FOXP2 gene found in humans
plays a role in vocal learning ●A.
FOXP2 SRGAP2C NOTCH2NL SRGAP2C, a unique duplicate of
SRGAP2 t hat is found only in humans,
increases the density of neural
connections ● B . A human version
of a gene called NOTCH, k nown as
NOTCH2NL, h as three copies
and aids in the production
A B C of neurons ●C.

CELLS
Von Economo neurons,
which are pivotal in social-
emotional brain circuits, are bigger in
humans ● A . RNA that carries messages
A B C
to instruct cells to make proteins is more
active in the synapses of the prefrontal cortex
(dark area) than it is in other primates ●
B.
Von Economo neuron Synapse Dopamine Cells produce more of the neurotransmitter
(cell junction) dopamine in the striatum. Dopamine
is involved in various cogni­­tive
functions ● C.

CIRCUITS
The mirror neuron
system, activated when viewing
the actions of others, has intricate
C circuitry in humans ● A . Expanded
A B connections between two sites—
Mirror neuron system Language circuit Vocal control Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas—form a vital
circuit for language processing ● B . A link
from the motor cortex to the brain stem
coordinates the larynx muscles, a
circuit absent in chimpanzees
and macaques ● C.
REGIONAL EXPANSION
Brain areas responsible for higher cognitive functions grew disproportionately in humans
compared with the same regions in chimpanzees—among them, the prefrontal, temporal
association and parietal association cortices. Primary motor cortex Primary somatosensory cortex
Premotor cortex Primary auditory cortex
Primary motor cortex Primary somatosensory cortex Prefrontal cortex expansion
Primary auditory cortex Wernicke’s area
Premotor cortex Parietal association cortex Broca’s area

Prefrontal cortex
Parietal association
cortex expansion

Higher-order Higher-order
visual cortex visual cortex

Primary Primary
visual cortex visual cortex

Temporal Temporal
association association
cortex Striatum Cerebellum cortex expansion Striatum Cerebellum

September 2018, ScientificAmerican.com 61

BIG BRAINS GOT US HERE
The last common ancestor that humans shared with chimpanzees and bonobos lived from
six million to eight million years ago. After the two lines split, a number of evolutionary
adaptations occurred: bipedalism, stone toolmaking and, notably, an increase in brain size
in certain hominin species—a process that gained momentum as time passed.
1,404 cm3

952 cm3
470 cm3

Neandertal
lived alongside our
species and was an avid hunter,
Homo erectus tool and fire user. Its braincase,
distinguished itself as
at 1,404 cm 3, was comparable
a toolmaker, crafting hand axes
Australopithecus africanus in volume to our own.
and expanding its home environ­
combined human and ape ment outside of Africa.
features. Its brain volume 400–40 kya
of 470 cubic centimeters (cm3)
was akin to that of chimpanzees.
1.9 mya–143,000 years ago (143 kya)
3.3–2.1 million years ago (mya) 335–236 kya

2.1–1.6 mya
300 kya–present

646 cm3 510 cm3

1,500 cm3

Homo habilis
became one of the first members of Homo naledi
the genus H omo. I t had a smaller face was a newer member of the
than its ancestors and devel­oped human lineage whose story
frontal areas linked to language. demonstrates that evolution does
not always move in straight lines.
Homo sapiens
Its smaller braincase was 510 cm3 .
evolved some 300,000 years ago.
Our brain shape is spherical, or
MINI BRAINS globular, because of the rounded
Supplying nutrients to groups of stem cells in a lab dish allows shape of the parietal area and
them to grow into mini brains. These cerebral organoids, as they are called, the cerebellum.
consist of entire brain regions, such as the cortex of a human or a monkey (cross-sectional views).
These ingenious research tools afford an opportunity to compare the activity of genes and neural
circuit development in organoids with the working of actual brains in humans, nonhuman HOW OUR BRAINS GROW
primates and other species, ultimately providing a clearer picture of what makes us unique. Compared with other primates,
human babies have brains that are
underdeveloped, grow more rapidly
in the first year after birth, and then
level off years later with a volume
about three times larger than
that of a chimpanzee.

62  Scientific American, September 2018

 BRAIN VS.
BODY SIZE
Humans have a large brain
compared with its expected
dimensions for their body mass.
The encephalization quotient (EQ), as
it is known, is 1 if the brain/body mass
Cat ratio meets expectations. Humans have Long-finned
an EQ of 7–8; EQs for long-finned pilot pilot whale
whales are 2–3; elephants are 1–2;
macaques are 2; and
cats are 1.

Human Macaque Elephant

Elephant Long-finned pilot whale Human Chimpanzee Macaque Cat

NEURON
NUMBER
A much scrutinized measure Cerebral
of brainpower has to do with the cortex
number of an animal’s neurons—and
where they are located. Humans have
more neurons in the cerebral cortex,
16 billion, than almost all other
mammals, although the long-
finned pilot whale
has more.
Cerebellar Cerebellar
neuron count Cerebellum neuron count
unknown unknown

Circle area shows

number of neurons
PACKING
50 billion IN THE BRAIN
CELLS
In humans, the cerebral cortex
10 billion makes up 82 percent of the brain’s
mass but contains only 19 percent
1 billion of the total neurons, whereas the
cerebellum holds 80 percent
or so of the neurons but only
occupies 10 percent
Cerebral cortex Cerebellum of its mass.

Macaque Chimpanzee Human

100
Percent of Adult Brain Volume

90
80
70
Each dot represents Trend line
60
one subject in a study
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Age (years) Puberty Early infancy Late infancy Juvenile

September 2018, ScientificAmerican.com 63