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Design principles of the human brain: an evolutionary perspective.

Michel A Hofman¹

¹Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.hofman@nin.knaw.nl

Progress in Brain Research

|January 11, 2012

Summary

Brain evolution in mammals involved significant changes in cerebral cortex size and shape. This review explores primate brain design principles, suggesting human intelligence nears biological limits.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Evolutionary Biology
Comparative Anatomy

Background:

Mammalian brain evolution is marked by regional reorganization and altered cerebral cortex geometry.
Comparative studies reveal architectural principles guiding neocortex growth and development.

Purpose of the Study:

To explore design principles and operational modes of primate cerebral cortex information processing.
To discuss the evolutionary trajectory of the primate brain and its cognitive capacities.

Main Methods:

Review of comparative studies on mammalian and primate cerebral cortex evolution.
Analysis of geometric, biophysical, and energy constraints on neuronal network development.

Main Results:

Primate neocortex exhibits uniform organization into neural processing units.
Evolutionary pressures have shaped brain geometry, particularly the cerebral cortex.
Human brain evolution may be approaching the limits of biological intelligence.

Conclusions:

Understanding the constraints on brain evolution provides insights into cognitive capacity.
The primate cerebral cortex follows general architectural principles in its growth and development.
Human intelligence represents a potential apex of biological evolution within current constraints.