Cro Magnon skull shows that our brains have shrunk
Submitted by coldrum on Friday, 02 April 2010 Page Views: 1248
Discoveries A new replica of an early modern human brain has provided further evidence for the theory that the human brain has been shrinking. The skull belonged to an elderly Cro Magnon man, whose skeleton is called Cro Magnon 1. Using new technology, researchers have produced a replica of the 28,000-year-old brain and found that it is about 15-20% larger than our brains.The entire skeleton was discovered in 1868 in the Cro Magnon cave in Dordogne, France, and has since become one of the most famous Upper Palaeolithic skeletons. To produce the brain replica, called an endocast, the scientists first digitally scanned the interior of the empty skull. The images revealed the impression left by the brain on the neurocranium, which was then transformed into a 3D image. Software was then used to fabricate the brain endocast.
The researchers, including anthropologist Antoine Balzeau of the French Museum of Natural History, said that an initial assessment of Cro Magnon 1's skull supported the theory that brains have grown slightly smaller over the past tens of thousands of years, reversing an earlier trend toward larger brains.
The finding doesn’t suggest that humans today are less intelligent than earlier humans. Although previous studies have found a very small relationship between brain size and intelligence, many other factors affect brain intelligence.
For instance, different parts of the brain have different functions. The researchers found that the Cro Magnon brain appears to have had a smaller cerebellum - the brain region linked to motor control and language - than our brains today.
Although scientists don’t know for sure why our overall brains are shrinking, some researchers hypothesize that our brains are becoming more efficient as they grow smaller.
For more, including theories on why Cro Magnon needed a big head, see physorg.com.
Note: I just knew watching all this television was a bad idea ....
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