Exploring why some primates have bigger brains

The accepted view of why some primates, including apes and humans, have evolved to have large brains is contested in new research from the Department of Anthropology. The study also questions whether brain size is a useful indicator of cognitive ability. Brain size and behaviour The research project, led by PhD student Lauren Powell, and published in Royal Society's Proceedings B journal , has found little evidence to support a long-held view that larger brains have developed to help primates cope with increasingly complex social structures - known as the Social Brain Hypothesis. The research also uncovered problems with the most commonly used approach to tackling the issue, which looks for correlations between brain size and behaviour. As a result, the team argue that a fundamental shift in how the evolution of the brain is viewed and studied is needed. Lauren Powell said: "Our research has shown that the traditional approach of looking for correlations between brain size and behaviour may not tell us much. "To better understand the evolution of the brain, we need to stop thinking of it as one single organ, and instead view it as a complex mosaic, in which different components specialise in different functions.