Brain Size Series 05 - Does Brain Size Matter？.pptx
- 1. 人腦大小系列 Brain Size Series 05 - Does Brain Size Matter？
- 2. 大脑尺寸大小重要吗？
- 4. 大腦尺寸越大越好 (Bigger is slightly better)
- 6. 一項對46名主要是歐洲血統的成年人的 MRI 研究發現： 男性的平均腦容量為1274立方釐米(cm3) ，而女性的平均脑容量為1131立方釐米。
- 9. 在它們的主人死後去除大腦發現： 俄羅斯小說家屠格涅夫(Ivan Turgenev)的大腦重量突破了2公斤的關卡， 達到了2021克。 而作家 Anatole France 的大腦只能達到1017克的一半重量。
- 13. Source: “The Evolution of the Brain, the Human Nature of Cortical Circuits, and Intellectual Creativity,” by Javier DeFelipe, in Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, Vol. 5, Article No. 29. Published online May 16, 2011
- 15. 心理學家試圖通過一系列密切相關的概念， 如一般智力(g factor，或一般認知能力)和 流體及晶體智力(fluid and crystalline intelligence)， 來捕捉這些智力能力上的差異。
- 18. 也就是說， 像智商 (intelligence quotient , IQ)這樣的測量方法 可以在近70年後重複且可靠地從相同的受試者身上獲得。
- 33. 不同物種的大腦大小 (Brain size across species)
- 46. Source: “Quantitative Relationships in Delphinid Neocortex,” by Heidi S. Mortensen et al., in Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, Vol. 8, Article No. 132. Published online November 26, 2014 (chart); Heidi S. Mortensen (brain); ?lavur Frederiksen (pilot whale)
- 49. 因此，如果我們考慮所有的哺乳動物， 並將它們與貓作為參考動物(因此它的 EQ 為1)進行比較， 人類的 EQ 為7.5。
- 60. 即所謂的梭形神經元或馮·艾克諾默神經元 (spindle or von Economo neurons)， 以康斯坦丁 ·馮·艾克諾默男爵(1876-1931)命名。 Constantin Freiherr von Economo (21 August 1876 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian psychiatrist and neurologist of Greek descent, born in modern-day Romania (then Ottoman Empire).
- 62. 正如查理斯 · 達爾文 所推測的那樣： 在進化的過程中， 很可能是許多不同因素的共同作用使我們有別於其他物種。
- 63. 正如查理斯 · 達爾文 所推測的那樣： 我們是獨一無二的，但是其他物種也是獨一無二的， 每個物種都有自己獨特的方式。
- 64. 人腦大小系列 待續
Editor's Notes
- Brain Size Series 05 - Does Brain Size Matter？ 人腦大小系列 05 -大脑尺寸大小重要吗？
- IN BRIEF ? Human brains vary considerably in size across adults, with males having slightly larger brains than females. ? It is hard to pin down what makes the human brain exceptional among mammals—neither brain size, relative brain size nor number of neurons is unique to humans. ? More intelligent people do better in life, but there is only weak correlation between brain size and intelligence, especially across species. 簡單來說 ? 成年人的大腦大小差異很大，男性的大腦略大於女性。 ? 很難確定是什麼讓人類大腦在哺乳動物中脫穎而出——大腦大小、相對大腦大小和神經元數量都不是人類獨有的。 ? 越聰明的人生活越好，但腦容量和智力之間的相關性很弱，尤其是跨物種。 ==================================================================================== IN BRIEF 簡言之Does Brain Size Matter?IN BRIEF 簡言之 ? Human brains vary considerably in size?across adults, with males having slightly larger brains than females. 人類大腦的大小因成年人而異，男性的大腦略大於女性。 It is hard to pin down what makes the human brain?exceptional among mammals—neither brain size, relative brain size nor number of neurons is unique to humans. 很難確定是什麼讓人類的大腦在哺乳動物中如此特殊ーー無論是大腦的大小、相對的大腦大小，還是神經元的數量，都不是人類所獨有的。 More intelligent people do better in life, but there is only weak?correlation?between brain size and intelligence, especially across species. 越聰明的人在生活中表現得越好，但是大腦的大小和智力之間只有微弱的相關性，尤其是跨物種的相關性。
- Bigger is slightly better 大腦尺寸越大越好
- The human brain continues to grow until it reaches its peak size in the third to fourth decade of life. 人類的大腦持續增長，直到在生命的第三到第四個十年達到其最大規模。
- An MRI study of 46 adults of mainly European descent found that the average male had a brain volume of 1,274 cubic centimeters (cm3) and that the average female brain measured 1,131 cm3.
- Of course, there is considerable variability in brain volume, ranging from 1,053 to 1,499 cm3 in men and between 975 and 1,398 cm3 in women. As the density of brain matter is just a little bit above that of water plus some salts, the average male brain weighs about 1,325 grams, close to the proverbial three pounds often cited in U.S. texts. 當然，在腦容量方面也有相當大的差異，男性從1053立方釐米到1499立方釐米，女性從975立方釐米到1398立方釐米。 由於大腦物質的密度只比水和一些鹽的密度高一點點，男性大腦的平均重量約為1325克，接近美國文獻中常見的3磅。
- Of course, there is considerable variability in brain volume, ranging from 1,053 to 1,499 cm3 in men and between 975 and 1,398 cm3 in women. As the density of brain matter is just a little bit above that of water plus some salts, the average male brain weighs about 1,325 grams, close to the proverbial three pounds often cited in U.S. texts. 當然，在腦容量方面也有相當大的差異，男性從1053立方釐米到1499立方釐米，女性從975立方釐米到1398立方釐米。 由於大腦物質的密度只比水和一些鹽的密度高一點點，男性大腦的平均重量約為1325克，接近美國文獻中常見的3磅。
- Removing brains after their owners died revealed that Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev’s brain broke the two-kilogram barrier, coming in at 2,021 grams, whereas writer Anatole France’s brain could barely bring half of that weight to the scale at 1,017 grams. (Note that postmortem measures are not directly comparable to data obtained from living brains.) In other words, gross brain size varies considerably across healthy adults. 在它們的主人死後去除大腦發現，俄羅斯小說家屠格涅夫的大腦重量突破了2公斤的關卡，達到了2021克，而作家 Anatole France 的大腦只能達到1017克的一半重量。(請注意，死後測量並不能直接與從活體大腦中獲得的資料相比較。) 换句话说，健康成年人的大脑总体大小差异很大。
- What about smarts?
- We all know from our day-to-day interactions that some people just don’t get it and take a long time to understand a new concept; others have great mental powers, although it is impolite to dwell on such differences too much. Think of Bertie Wooster, an idle but clueless rich man, and Jeeves, his genius valet, in a series of novels by P. G. Wodehouse and their successful British adaptation to the small screen. 那麼智慧呢？我們都知道，從我們的日常交往，有些人只是不明白，需要很長時間才能理解一個新的概念; 其他人有很大的精神力量，雖然這是不禮貌的詳述這種差異太多。 想想伯蒂 · 伍斯特，一個懶散但毫無頭緒的富人，和吉夫斯，他的天才貼身男僕，在 p · g · 沃德豪斯的一系列小說中，以及他們成功地改編成英國電影。
- Individuals differ in their ability to understand new ideas, to adapt to new environments, to learn from experience, to think abstractly, to plan and to reason. Psychologists have sought to capture these differences in mental capacities via a number of closely related concepts such as general intelligence (g, or general cognitive ability) and fluid and crystalline intelligence. These differences in people’s ability to figure things out on the spot and to retain and apply insights that they learned in the past to current circumstances are assessed by psychometric intelligence tests. These observations are reliable, in that different tests strongly correlate with one another. They are also stable across decades. That is, measures such as the intelligence quotient (IQ) can be repeatedly and reliably obtained from the same subjects nearly 70 years later. 每個人理解新思想、適應新環境、從經驗中學習、抽象思考、計畫和推理的能力各不相同。 心理學家試圖通過一系列密切相關的概念，如一般智力(g，或一般認知能力)和流體及晶體智力，來捕捉這些智力能力上的差異。 這些差異是通過心理智力測試來評估的，這些差異包括人們當場理解事物的能力，以及記住和應用他們過去學到的知識並將其應用到當前情況的能力。 這些觀察是可靠的，因為不同的測試彼此之間有很強的相關性。 它們在幾十年間也是穩定的。也就是說，像智商智商這樣的測量方法可以在近70年後重複且可靠地從相同的受試者身上獲得。
- Psychologists have sought to capture these differences in mental capacities via a number of closely related concepts such as general intelligence (g, or general cognitive ability) and fluid and crystalline intelligence. 心理學家試圖通過一系列密切相關的概念，如一般智力(g，或一般認知能力)和流體及晶體智力，來捕捉這些智力能力上的差異。
- These differences in people’s ability to figure things out on the spot and to retain and apply insights that they learned in the past to current circumstances are assessed by psychometric intelligence tests. 這些差異是通過心理智力測試來評估的，這些差異包括人們當場理解事物的能力，以及記住和應用他們過去學到的知識並將其應用到當前情況的能力。
- These observations are reliable, in that different tests strongly correlate with one another. 這些觀察是可靠的，因為不同的測試彼此之間有很強的相關性。
- That is, measures such as the intelligence quotient (IQ) can be repeatedly and reliably obtained from the same subjects nearly 70 years later. 也就是說，像智商智商這樣的測量方法可以在近70年後重複且可靠地從相同的受試者身上獲得。
- Differences in general intelligence, assessed in this way, correlate with success in life, with social mobility and job performance, with health and with life span. In a study of one million Swedish men, an increase in IQ by one standard deviation, a measure of variability, was associated with an amazing 32 percent reduction in mortality. Smarter people do better in life. Whereas a high IQ may not predispose people to be happy or to understand the finer points of dating, the highly intelligent are more likely to be found among hedge fund managers than among supermarket checkout clerks. 一般智力的差異，通過這種方式評估，與生活中的成功、社會流動性和工作表現、健康和壽命相關。 在一項針對一百萬瑞典男性的研究中，智商每增加一個標準差---- 一種可變性的測量---- 死亡率就會驚人地降低32% 。 聰明的人在生活中會做得更好。儘管高智商可能不會使人更容易快樂或理解約會的細節，但高智商的人更容易在對沖基金經理中發現，而不是在超市收銀員中發現。
- What about any numerical relation between brain size and intelligence?
- What about any numerical relation between brain size and intelligence? Such correlations were difficult to establish in the past when only pathologists had access to skulls and their content. With structural MRI imaging of brain anatomy, such measurements are now routine.
- With structural MRI imaging of brain anatomy, such measurements are now routine. 隨著結構性磁共振成像的大腦解剖學，這樣的測量現在是常規。
- In healthy volunteers, total brain volume weakly correlates with intelligence, with a correlation value between 0.3 and 0.4 out of a possible 1.0. In other words, brain size accounts for between 9 and 16 percent of the overall variability in general intelligence. Functional scans, used to look for brain areas linked to particular mental activities, reveal that the parietal, temporal and frontal regions of the cortex, along with the thickness of these regions, correlate with intelligence but, again, only modestly so. Thus, on average, a bigger brain is associated with somewhat higher intelligence. Whether a big brain causes high intelligence or, more likely, whether both are caused by other factors remains unknown. 在健康的志願者中，總腦容量與智力之間的相關性很弱，相關係數在0.3到0.4之間，相關係數可能為1.0。換句話說，大腦的大小占一般智力總體變異性的9% 到16% 。用於尋找與特定精神活動相關的大腦區域的功能性掃描顯示，大腦皮層的頂葉、顳葉和額葉區域，以及這些區域的厚度，與智力相關，但是，再一次地，只是適度地相關。因此，平均而言，一個更大的大腦與某種程度上更高的智力相關。大腦是否會導致高智商，或者更有可能的是，這兩者是否都是由其他因素造成的，目前尚不清楚。
- Functional scans, used to look for brain areas linked to particular mental activities, reveal that the parietal, temporal and frontal regions of the cortex, along with the thickness of these regions, correlate with intelligence but, again, only modestly so.
- Whether a big brain causes high intelligence or, more likely, whether both are caused by other factors remains unknown. 大腦是否會導致高智商，或者更有可能的是，這兩者是否都是由其他因素造成的，目前尚不清楚。
- Recent experiments take into account the particular connections among neurons in certain regions of an individual’s brain, much like a neural fingerprint. They do better at predicting fluid intelligence (the capacity to solve problems in novel situations, to find and match patterns, to reason independently of specific domains of knowledge), explaining about 25 percent of the variance in this measure from one person to the next. 最近的實驗考慮到了個體大腦特定區域的神經元之間的特殊聯繫，就像神經指紋一樣。 他們在預測流體智力(在新情況下解決問題的能力，發現和匹配模式的能力，獨立於特定知識領域的推理能力)方面做得更好，解釋了這個測量方法中25% 的差異從一個人到另一個人。
- It is also well established that the cranial capacity of Homo neanderthalensis, the proverbial caveman, was 150 to 200 cm3 bigger than that of modern humans. Yet despite their larger brain, Neandertals became extinct between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago, when Homo sapiens shared their European environment. What’s the point of having big brains if your small-brained cousins outcompete you? 眾所周知，穴居人的腦容量尼安德特人比現代人大150到200立方釐米。 然而，儘管尼安德特人的大腦更大，但他們在3.5萬年至4萬年前滅絕，當時智人與他們共用歐洲環境。 如果你那些小腦袋的兄弟們在競爭中勝過你，那麼擁有大腦袋又有什麼意義呢？ ================================= 尼安德塔人（學名：Homo neanderthalensis，簡稱尼人）是一群生存於舊石器時代的史前人類，1856 年，其遺跡首先在德國尼安德河谷被發現。目前按照國際科學分類二名法歸類為人科人屬，至於是否為獨立物種還是智人的亞種則一直不確定，隨著2010年的研究發現部份現代人是其混血後代後，也可能被歸類於智人下的一個亞種
- It is also well established that the cranial capacity of Homo neanderthalensis, the proverbial caveman, was 150 to 200 cm3 bigger than that of modern humans. Yet despite their larger brain, Neandertals became extinct between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago, when Homo sapiens shared their European environment. What’s the point of having big brains if your small-brained cousins outcompete you? 眾所周知，穴居人的腦容量尼安德特人比現代人大150到200立方釐米。 然而，儘管尼安德特人的大腦更大，但他們在3.5萬年至4萬年前滅絕，當時智人與他們共用歐洲環境。 如果你那些小腦袋的兄弟們在競爭中勝過你，那麼擁有大腦袋又有什麼意義呢？ ================================= 尼安德塔人（學名：Homo neanderthalensis，簡稱尼人）是一群生存於舊石器時代的史前人類，1856 年，其遺跡首先在德國尼安德河谷被發現。目前按照國際科學分類二名法歸類為人科人屬，至於是否為獨立物種還是智人的亞種則一直不確定，隨著2010年的研究發現部份現代人是其混血後代後，也可能被歸類於智人下的一個亞種
- BRAIN SIZE ACROSS SPECIES 不同物種的大腦大小
- Our lack of understanding of the multiplicity of causes that contribute to intelligence becomes even more apparent when we look outside the genus Homo. We observe that many animals are capable of sophisticated behaviors, including sensory discrimination, learning, decision-making, planning and highly adaptive social behaviors. 當我們看到人屬以外的物種時，我們對智力起因的多樣性缺乏瞭解變得更加明顯。 我們觀察到許多動物具有複雜的行為能力，包括感覺辨別、學習、決策、計畫和高度適應性的社會行為。
- Our lack of understanding of the multiplicity of causes that contribute to intelligence becomes even more apparent when we look outside the genus Homo. We observe that many animals are capable of sophisticated behaviors, including sensory discrimination, learning, decision-making, planning and highly adaptive social behaviors. 當我們看到人屬以外的物種時，我們對智力起因的多樣性缺乏瞭解變得更加明顯。 我們觀察到許多動物具有複雜的行為能力，包括感覺辨別、學習、決策、計畫和高度適應性的社會行為。
- Consider honeybees. They can recognize faces, communicate the location and quality of food sources to their sisters via the waggle dance, and navigate complex mazes with the help of cues they store in short-term memory. And a scent blown into a hive can trigger a return to the site where the bees previously encountered this odor, a type of associative memory that guides them back and that was made famous by Marcel Proust in his Remembrance of Things Past (? la Recherche du Temps Perdu). The insect does all of this with fewer than one million neurons that weigh around one thousandth of a gram, less than one millionth the size of the human brain. Yet are we really a million times smarter? Certainly not if I look at how well we govern ourselves. 以蜜蜂為例。它們可以識別人臉，通過搖擺舞將食物來源的位置和品質傳達給它們的姐妹，並借助它們在短期記憶中儲存的線索穿越複雜的迷宮。被吹進蜂巢的氣味可以引發蜜蜂回到之前遇到這種氣味的地方，這是一種引導它們回到過去的聯想記憶，馬塞爾 · 普魯斯特在他的《追憶似水年華》(追憶逝水年華)一書中使這種聯想記憶變得有名。這種昆蟲只有不到100萬個神經元，重量約為千分之一克，還不到人腦大小的百萬分之一。然而，我們真的比現在聰明一百萬倍嗎？如果我看看我們管理自己的能力，當然不會。
- And a scent blown into a hive can trigger a return to the site where the bees previously encountered this odor, a type of associative memory that guides them back and that was made famous by Marcel Proust in his Remembrance of Things Past (? la Recherche du Temps Perdu). The insect does all of this with fewer than one million neurons that weigh around one thousandth of a gram, less than one millionth the size of the human brain. Yet are we really a million times smarter? Certainly not if I look at how well we govern ourselves. 被吹進蜂巢的氣味可以引發蜜蜂回到之前遇到這種氣味的地方，這是一種引導它們回到過去的聯想記憶，馬塞爾 · 普魯斯特在他的《追憶似水年華》(追憶逝水年華)一書中使這種聯想記憶變得有名。 這種昆蟲只有不到100萬個神經元，重量約為千分之一克，還不到人腦大小的百萬分之一。然而，我們真的比現在聰明一百萬倍嗎？如果我看看我們管理自己的能力，當然不會。
- Yet are we really a million times smarter? Certainly not if I look at how well we govern ourselves.
- The prevailing rule of thumb holds that the bigger the animal, the bigger its brain. After all, a bigger creature has more skin that has to be innervated and more muscles to control and requires a larger brain to service its body. Thus, it makes sense to control for overall size when studying brain magnitude. By this measure, humans have a relative brain-to-body mass of about 2 percent. What about the big mammals—elephants, dolphins and whales? Their brains far outweigh those of puny humans, up to 10 kilograms for some whales. Given their body mass, ranging from 7,000 kg (for male African elephants) up to 180,000 kg (for blue whales), their brain-to-body ratio is under a tenth of a percent. Human brains are far bigger relative to people’s sizes than those of these creatures. Smugness is not in store, though. We are outclassed by shrews, molelike mammals, whose brain takes up about 10 percent of their entire body mass. Even some birds beat us on this measure. Hmm. 流行的經驗法則認為，動物越大，它的大腦就越大。畢竟，一個體型較大的動物有更多的皮膚需要支配，更多的肌肉需要控制，需要更大的大腦來為身體服務。 因此，在研究大腦的大小時，控制大腦的整體大小是有意義的。 通過這種方法，人類的大腦與身體的相對品質約為2% 。那麼大型哺乳动物ーー大象、海豚和鲸鱼呢？ 它們的大腦遠遠超過那些微不足道的人類，有些鯨的大腦重達10公斤。考慮到它們的體重，從7000公斤(雄性非洲象)到180000公斤(藍鯨) ，它們的大腦與身體的比率不到0.1% 。 相對於人類的大小，人類的大腦要比這些生物的大腦大得多。不過，沾沾自喜並不在商店裡。我們被一種類似鼴鼠的哺乳動物所超越，它們的大腦佔據了整個身體品質的10% 。甚至有些鳥兒在這個尺度上打敗了我們。嗯。
- The prevailing rule of thumb holds that the bigger the animal, the bigger its brain. After all, a bigger creature has more skin that has to be innervated and more muscles to control and requires a larger brain to service its body. Thus, it makes sense to control for overall size when studying brain magnitude. By this measure, humans have a relative brain-to-body mass of about 2 percent. What about the big mammals—elephants, dolphins and whales? Their brains far outweigh those of puny humans, up to 10 kilograms for some whales. Given their body mass, ranging from 7,000 kg (for male African elephants) up to 180,000 kg (for blue whales), their brain-to-body ratio is under a tenth of a percent. Human brains are far bigger relative to people’s sizes than those of these creatures. Smugness is not in store, though. We are outclassed by shrews, molelike mammals, whose brain takes up about 10 percent of their entire body mass. Even some birds beat us on this measure. Hmm. 流行的經驗法則認為，動物越大，它的大腦就越大。畢竟，一個體型較大的動物有更多的皮膚需要支配，更多的肌肉需要控制，需要更大的大腦來為身體服務。 因此，在研究大腦的大小時，控制大腦的整體大小是有意義的。 通過這種方法，人類的大腦與身體的相對品質約為2% 。那麼大型哺乳动物ーー大象、海豚和鲸鱼呢？它們的大腦遠遠超過那些微不足道的人類，有些鯨的大腦重達10公斤。考慮到它們的體重，從7000公斤(雄性非洲象)到180000公斤(藍鯨) ，它們的大腦與身體的比率不到0.1% 。相對於人類的大小，人類的大腦要比這些生物的大腦大得多。不過，沾沾自喜並不在商店裡。我們被一種類似鼴鼠的哺乳動物所超越，它們的大腦佔據了整個身體品質的10% 。甚至有些鳥兒在這個尺度上打敗了我們。嗯。
- Their brains far outweigh those of puny humans, up to 10 kilograms for some whales. Given their body mass, ranging from 7,000 kg (for male African elephants) up to 180,000 kg (for blue whales), their brain-to-body ratio is under a tenth of a percent. Human brains are far bigger relative to people’s sizes than those of these creatures. Smugness is not in store, though. We are outclassed by shrews, molelike mammals, whose brain takes up about 10 percent of their entire body mass. Even some birds beat us on this measure. Hmm. 它們的大腦遠遠超過那些微不足道的人類，有些鯨的大腦重達10公斤。考慮到它們的體重，從7000公斤(雄性非洲象)到180000公斤(藍鯨) ，它們的大腦與身體的比率不到0.1% 。 相對於人類的大小，人類的大腦要比這些生物的大腦大得多。不過，沾沾自喜並不在商店裡。我們被一種類似鼴鼠的哺乳動物所超越，它們的大腦佔據了整個身體品質的10% 。甚至有些鳥兒在這個尺度上打敗了我們。嗯。
- shrews, molelike mammals, 鼩鼱科 維基百科，自由的百科全書 跳至導覽跳至搜尋 鼩鼱科Infobox info icon2.svg Southern short-tailed shrew.jpg 科學分類編輯 界： 動物界 Animalia 門： 脊索動物門 Chordata 綱： 哺乳綱 Mammalia 目： 真盲缺目 Eulipotyphla 亞目： 蝟亞目 Erinaceota 科： 鼩鼱科 Soricidae G. Fischer, 1814年 亞科 麝鼩亞科 Crocidurinae 鼩鼱亞科 Soricinae 非洲白齒鼩亞科 Myosoricinae 鼩鼱ㄑㄩˊ ㄐㄧㄥ科（學名：Soricidae），又稱尖鼠科[1]，是真盲缺目的一科。其下有鼩鼱亞科。基本上所有鼩鼱都被歸進此科。 鼩鼱是一種體型細小、外貌有點像一種長鼻鼠的哺乳綱動物──雖然兩者的外貌有點相像，但其實並沒有任何關係。鼩鼱的腳有五隻有爪的腳趾。
- One small consolation is an invention of neuroanatomists called the encephalization quotient (EQ). It is the ratio of the mass of the brain of the species under investigation relative to a standard brain belonging to the same taxonomic group. Thus, if we consider all mammals and compare them against the cat as a reference animal (which therefore has an EQ of 1), people come out on top with an EQ of 7.5. Stated differently, the human brain is 7.5 times bigger than the brain of a typical mammal weighing as much as we do. Apes and monkeys come in at or below five, as do dolphins and other cetaceans. We finally made it to the top, validating our ineradicable belief in humanity’s exceptionalism.
- 它是被調查物種的大腦品質與屬於同一分類組的標準大腦品質的比值。因此，如果我們考慮所有的哺乳動物，並將它們與貓作為參考動物(因此它的 EQ 為1)進行比較，人類的 EQ 為7.5。換句話說，人類的大腦比一般哺乳動物的大腦大7.5倍。類人猿和猴子在五歲或五歲以下，海豚和其他鯨目動物也是如此。我們終於登上了頂峰，證實了我們對人性例外論根深蒂固的信念。
- 它是被調查物種的大腦品質與屬於同一分類組的標準大腦品質的比值。因此，如果我們考慮所有的哺乳動物，並將它們與貓作為參考動物(因此它的 EQ 為1)進行比較，人類的 EQ 為7.5。換句話說，人類的大腦比一般哺乳動物的大腦大7.5倍。類人猿和猴子在五歲或五歲以下，海豚和其他鯨目動物也是如此。我們終於登上了頂峰，證實了我們對人性例外論根深蒂固的信念。
- Yet it is not quite clear what all this means in terms of the cellular constituents of brains. Neuroscientists always assumed that humans have more nerve cells where it counts, in the neocortex, than any other species on the planet, no matter the size of their brain. 然而，對於大腦的細胞組成來說，這一切意味著什麼還不是很清楚。 神經科學家們一直認為，無論人類的大腦有多大，人類大腦皮層中的神經細胞比地球上任何其他物種都要多。 ====================== 新皮質（neocortex、拉丁語：neocortex，拉丁文：neo：新的，cortex：皮）是哺乳動物大腦的一部分，在大腦半球的頂層，大約2-4毫米厚，分為六層，為大腦皮質的一部分。其與一些高等功能如知覺，運動皮層的產生，空間推理、意識及人類語言有關係。
- A 2014 study of 10 long-finned pilot whales from the Faeroe Islands plays havoc with this hypothesis. Caught as part of a local hunt in the cold waters of the North Atlantic between Scotland and Iceland, these graceful mammals—also known as blackfish—are actually dolphins. The number of nerve cells making up their highly convolved neocortex was estimated in a few sample slices and then extrapolated to the entire structure. The total came to an astonishing 37.2 billion neurons. Astonishing because this implies that the long-finned pilot whale has about twice as many neocortical neurons as humans do! 2014年的一項研究對10頭來自法羅群島的長鰭領航鯨進行了研究，該研究顛覆了這一假說。 在蘇格蘭和冰島之間的北大西洋寒冷海域，這種優雅的哺乳動物——也被稱為黑魚——實際上是海豚。構成高度卷積的新皮層的神經細胞的數量是通過一些樣本切片估計出來的，然後推斷出整個結構。 總數達到驚人的372億個神經元。 令人驚訝，因為這意味著長肢領航鯨大腦皮層神經元的數量是人類的兩倍！
- If what matters for cognitive performance is the number of neocortical neurons, these dolphins should be smarter than all other extant creatures, including us. Whereas the highly playful and social dolphins exhibit a variety of skills, including the ability to recognize themselves in a mirror, they do not possess language or any readily discernible powers of abstraction that stand out from those of other nonhuman animals. So what gives? Is the complexity of the nerve cells themselves substantially less than cells found in people, or is the way these neurons communicate or learn less sophisticated? We don’t know. 如果影響認知表現的是新皮層神經元的數量，那麼這些海豚應該比包括我們在內的所有現存生物都聰明。 雖然這些高度嬉戲和喜歡社交的海豚展現出多種技能，包括在鏡子中認識自己的能力，但它們並不具備語言或任何容易辨別的抽象能力，這些能力與其他非人類動物不同。 那麼是什麼原因呢？是神經細胞本身的複雜性遠遠低於人體細胞，還是這些神經元的交流和學習方式不夠複雜？ 我們不知道。
- If what matters for cognitive performance is the number of neocortical neurons, these dolphins should be smarter than all other extant creatures, including us. Whereas the highly playful and social dolphins exhibit a variety of skills, including the ability to recognize themselves in a mirror, they do not possess language or any readily discernible powers of abstraction that stand out from those of other nonhuman animals. So what gives? Is the complexity of the nerve cells themselves substantially less than cells found in people, or is the way these neurons communicate or learn less sophisticated? We don’t know. 如果影響認知表現的是新皮層神經元的數量，那麼這些海豚應該比包括我們在內的所有現存生物都聰明。 雖然這些高度嬉戲和喜歡社交的海豚展現出多種技能，包括在鏡子中認識自己的能力，但它們並不具備語言或任何容易辨別的抽象能力，這些能力與其他非人類動物不同。 那麼是什麼原因呢？是神經細胞本身的複雜性遠遠低於人體細胞，還是這些神經元的交流和學習方式不夠複雜？ 我們不知道。
- People forever ask for the single thing that distinguishes humans from all other animals, on the supposition that this one magical property would explain our evolutionary success—the reason we can build vast cities, put people on the moon, write Anna Karenina and compose Eroica. For a while it was assumed that the secret ingredient in the human brain could be a particular type of neuron, so-called spindle or von Economo neurons, named for Baron Constantin von Economo (1876–1931). 人們總是希望得到區別於其他所有動物的唯一東西，因為他們認為這個神奇的屬性可以解釋我們在進化上的成功ーー也就是我們能夠建造大城市、把人類送上月球的原因，安娜 · 卡列尼娜(Anna Karenina)寫道，還有《英雄》(Eroica)一書。 有一段時間，人們認為人類大腦的秘密成分可能是一種特殊類型的神經元，即所謂的梭形神經元或馮經濟神經元，以康斯坦丁 · 馮經濟諾男爵(1876-1931)命名。
- For a while it was assumed that the secret ingredient in the human brain could be a particular type of neuron, so-called spindle or von Economo neurons, named for Baron Constantin von Economo (1876–1931).
- For a while it was assumed that the secret ingredient in the human brain could be a particular type of neuron, so-called spindle or von Economo neurons, named for Baron Constantin von Economo (1876–1931). 康斯坦丁·馮·艾克諾默（英文：Constantin von Economo；1876年8月21日－1931年10月21日），奧地利精神病學家、神經學家，擁有羅馬尼亞和希臘血統[1][2]。艾克諾默以發現流行性腦炎以及繪製的大腦皮層細胞架構圖譜而知名[2][3]。與此同時，「馮·艾克諾默神經元」也以其名字命名[2][4]。
- But we now know that not only great apes but also whales, dolphins and elephants have these neurons in their frontal cortex. So it is not brain size, relative brain size or absolute number of neurons that distinguishes us. Perhaps our wiring has become more streamlined, our metabolism more efficient, our synapses more sophisticated. 但是我們現在知道，不僅類人猿，還有鯨魚、海豚和大象的額葉皮層都有這些神經元。所以區別我們的不是大腦的大小，相對大腦的大小或者神經元的絕對數量。也許我們的線路已經變得更加流線型，我們的新陳代謝更加高效，我們的突觸更加複雜。
- As Charles Darwin surmised, it is very likely a combination of a great many different factors that jointly, over the gradual course of evolution, made us distinct from other species. We are unique, but so is every other species, each in its own way. 正如查理斯 · 達爾文所推測的那樣，在進化的過程中，很可能是許多不同因素的共同作用使我們有別於其他物種。 我們是獨一無二的，但是其他物種也是獨一無二的，每個物種都有自己獨特的方式。
- As Charles Darwin surmised, it is very likely a combination of a great many different factors that jointly, over the gradual course of evolution, made us distinct from other species. We are unique, but so is every other species, each in its own way. 正如查理斯 · 達爾文所推測的那樣，在進化的過程中，很可能是許多不同因素的共同作用使我們有別於其他物種。 我們是獨一無二的，但是其他物種也是獨一無二的，每個物種都有自己獨特的方式。
- Brain Size Series