Why Do Humans Have Such Big Brains?

Humans have some of the biggest brains and it's not only for problem solving. Why we have big brains might just surprise you...


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Why Are Human Brains So Big?
"There are many ways to try to explain why human brains today are so big compared to those of early humans, but the major cause may be social competition, new research suggests. But with several competing ideas, the issue remains a matter of debate. Compared to almost all other animals, human brains are larger as a percentage of body weight. And since the emergence of the first species in our Homo genus (Homo habilis) about 2 million years ago, the human brain has doubled in size."

A Potential Role For Glucose Transporters In The Evolution Of Human Brain Size
"Differences in cognitive abilities and the relatively large brain are among the most striking differences between humans and their closest primate relatives. The energy trade-off hypothesis predicts that a major shift in energy allocation among tissues occurred during human origins in order to support the remarkable expansion of a metabolically expensive brain. However, the molecular basis of this adaptive scenario is unknown. Two glucose transporters (SLC2A1 and SLC2A4) are promising candidates and present intriguing mutations in humans, resulting, respectively, in microcephaly and disruptions in whole-body glucose homeostasis."

Ask A Neuroscientist: Does A Bigger Brain Make You Smarter?
"The relationship between brain size and intelligence, both amongst humans and between different species, has never been particularly well-defined. Humans like to believe that our exceptional cognitive abilities must indicate that we are the kings of the animal kingdom in terms of brain size, or at least that we have the largest brains relative to our body size. As nature would have it, both of these common assumptions are incorrect."

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[mathias]

Ok, the thumbnail really looks like a mindfuck. Quite literally...

[MyLifeAsLouis]

Humans got big brains but rarely use them.

[arjunrao]

Until he said "pervert" I did not get what he Now who's a pervert!!

[emilko]

Your wits are the strongest weapon, because they can strike harder than any fist you throw.

[GanjaGardner]

So is that why body builders and jock like people are so dumb? xD

[HugThePolice]

Because that's the way God designed us to be.

Praise Cthulhu

[douchebagman]

Short answer: Because we are heckin' minecrafts, and we always have big brain

[mohannaik]

Obviuosly i would like to have both
after as u said i)Brain to attract mates ii) muscles for defence !!

[SPcamert]

Here's a question for you DNews. At what stage in human development do we become self-aware, what part of our mind allows us to be self-aware (if any specific part), and are there any other organisms in the world that are (officially) capable of sentience?

[exklimexklim]

We are smart because our bodies allows us to do things that other animals can't do.
We develop intelligence by every experiment we experience and time allowing us to re experience again and again with mistakes. this allows us to learn and share.
We develop speaking because our bodies allowed us.
Some animals have hands but missing fingers, others have legs but can't stand, and on and on.
We had the brain of an animal but like I said, our bodies allowed us to experiment more.

In small words we are all animals, human is just a term like calling a dog.

[LegoPack]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the mutation in our genome that causes us to have MUCH smaller jaw muscles than other primates, and therefore more room for brain mass in the first place. I heard about it over a year ago, so not sure where that finding still stands, but interesting nonetheless.

[AWRShorts]

I'm currently working on a research poster for my anthropology class, and this video just simplified the topic for me. Thanks!

[Skankhunt-vyiy]

Don't get me wrong I love the content but those cringey intro jokes are just too much sometimes

[ApKalps]

Brains over brawn any time. I have a slim frame, but with minimal preparation I can lift ten times what a body builder could lift by hand. Adaptability is the single greatest tool humankind has developed.

[princepsionic]

Size doesnt matters, its about how much you use it.

[silkcast]

would you rather have big brains or muscles?
like=brains dislike=muscles

[joshuaedwards]

brains over muscles any day of the week... awesome video

[LumiKuuro]

Could you people do a Dnews + series about this subject and more specifically, tackle the theory that states that the human brain's size has diminished over the past 50 000 years and what it could mean to our evolutionary development in the future.

[pseudointellectualmanlet]

Sensory processing effects cognition, info goes through the senses to the brain, so of course how the senses are arranged effects cognition, and physical structure effects, or determines the structure of senses, including muscle mass, for example, higher strength increases the brow bone in density right above the eye, blocking more light from entering expecially the sides, thus helping the eye to focus straight, increasing depth perception, and retaining lots of info of a specific image, thus info processing visually in distance/3d is more efficient for stronger people, also effecting how that sensory info is processed to the brain that deals with visual info, that's one example of how structure determines sensory system in which effects cognitive processing

[herpsenderpsen]

DNews, is there a way for you guys to block a certain ad? It's always buffering and it's leaving me unable to watch your vids :( Please help me