Evolution of Brain

Evolution of brain

What is evolution?

Darwin's theory of evolution proposes that animals well suited to their environment survive - and pass on their genes. Animals that are not well suited perish before they have offspring. Their mixture of genes dies with them.

Over the course of millions of years, this has led to an astounding array of different creatures and organisms on our planet.

Each perfectly suited (i.e. adapted) to its own environment. Ant-eaters with long noses to probe ant-hills, sharks stream-lined to speed through water and bees that work together in a hive.

So how did brains evolve?

If you didn't know about the theory of evolution, how would you explain where brains came from? One option would be they all appeared on the planet one day (the creationist argument).

However, armed with an understanding of evolution, you can look at the world in a new way - and work out how animal bodies and behaviors have given them a survival edge over their competitors.

Our brain cells, brain molecules, neurotransmitters and synapses are almost identical in all animals - so the brains of insects, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals are all made from the same building blocks.

Again evolution can explain the amount of brain devoted to a particular task.

Crocodiles have huge olfactory bulbs, the area of the brain that deals with smell. In contract, humans have vast areas of the brain devoted to vision.

Evolution can even explain how the vast array of animal behaviors came into being.

The human brain is the most complex phenomena in the known universe.

When you were in your mother's womb, each of your 100 000 000 000 brain cells knew how to wire up and what to become. This astonishing process continues into your late teens, sculpting the person you are.

However, the truly fundamental factor is not only how this astounding process happens, but why it happens.

Why did the human brain become so complex? Why did we learn to speak? Why do we have certain behaviors? Why did we become so intelligent? And how do our brains differ from a monkey's or a dolphin's?

All these questions can be answered by the mind-blowing and truly fundamental theory of evolution.

Brain evolution and babies brains

More intelligent mammals such as dolphins, chimps and humans have highly convoluted brains compared to the smooth brains of less intelligent animals.

However, intelligence is also related to how big an animal's brain

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