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Cooking Up Human Intelligence
So what makes the human brain so special? Actually, it might not be that special after all.
Sliding Scales
In 2009, Dr. Suzana Herculano Houzel and her colleagues showed that the human brain has the same density of nerve cells as other primates. Comparing humans to smaller primates, she claims that our brain is no bigger than it should be for our body size. Still, given the distinctive way that primate brains scale with size, we may have the most brain cells of any mammal.
That being said, gorillas can grow to be three times our size, but still have much smaller brains than ours.
Brain cells need more energy than most body cells. Although the brain is less than 2 percent of the mass of the human body, it consumes 20 percent of our resting metabolic energy. Gorillas have to spend more than eight hours every day eating to get enough calories to support their big body, and they simply can’t afford a bigger brain.
Brain Food
So, then, how did human ancestors overcome this limitation? Beginning with homo erectus, about two million years ago, our ancestors couldn’t have afforded the metabolic cost of their increasingly large brains if they ate raw food like gorillas do.
Primatologist Richard Wrangham thinks that the invention of cooking with fire is what made this growth in brain size possible. Cooked food is easier to digest and yields more calories. Cooking may have made the human brain possible, and freed us from having to spend all day eating.
density n. 密度
distinctive adj. 有特色的，與眾不同的
mammal n. [脊椎] 哺乳動(dòng)物
metabolic adj. 變化的；新陳代謝的
n. 靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物學(xué)家 (primatology的變形)
烹飪與人類的智慧
所以說(shuō)是什么讓人類的大腦如此特別？實(shí)際上，這或許根本就不特別。
變化的幅度
在2009年，蘇珊娜·埃爾庫(kù)拉諾·烏澤爾博士和她的同事們展示了人類大腦的神經(jīng)細(xì)胞密度和其它的靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物一樣。與其它較小的靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物相比，蘇珊娜博士稱我們的大腦與我們自身體型相比并不算大。但考慮到靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物大腦尺寸比例的獨(dú)特方式，人類擁有所有哺乳動(dòng)物中最多的腦細(xì)胞。
話雖如此，大猩猩能長(zhǎng)到我們體型的三倍，但它們的大腦仍然比我們小得多。
腦細(xì)胞比其它身體細(xì)胞需要更多的能量。雖然大腦所占人體的比重小于2%，但它卻消耗我們靜止時(shí)代謝能的20%。為了給龐大的身軀提供足夠的能量，大猩猩每天要花費(fèi)超過(guò)8小時(shí)的時(shí)間進(jìn)食，因此它們無(wú)法負(fù)擔(dān)更大的大腦。
大腦的食物
所以，人類的祖先又是如何突破限制的？從直立的人類開(kāi)始，大約兩百萬(wàn)年前，隨著大腦越來(lái)越大，如果人類的祖先還像大猩猩那樣進(jìn)食生的食物，那么他們將無(wú)法給大腦提供足夠的代謝值。
靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物學(xué)家理查德·蘭厄姆認(rèn)為發(fā)明用火烹飪，使得大腦生長(zhǎng)變大成為可能。烹煮的食物更容易消化并且能產(chǎn)生更多的熱量。烹飪或許促進(jìn)了人腦的形成，并將人類從整日進(jìn)食的境況中解放出來(lái)。
Cooking Up Human Intelligence
So what makes the human brain so special? Actually, it might not be that special after all.
Sliding Scales
In 2009, Dr. Suzana Herculano Houzel and her colleagues showed that the human brain has the same density of nerve cells as other primates. Comparing humans to smaller primates, she claims that our brain is no bigger than it should be for our body size. Still, given the distinctive way that primate brains scale with size, we may have the most brain cells of any mammal.
That being said, gorillas can grow to be three times our size, but still have much smaller brains than ours.
Brain cells need more energy than most body cells. Although the brain is less than 2 percent of the mass of the human body, it consumes 20 percent of our resting metabolic energy. Gorillas have to spend more than eight hours every day eating to get enough calories to support their big body, and they simply can’t afford a bigger brain.
Brain Food
So, then, how did human ancestors overcome this limitation? Beginning with homo erectus, about two million years ago, our ancestors couldn’t have afforded the metabolic cost of their increasingly large brains if they ate raw food like gorillas do.
Primatologist Richard Wrangham thinks that the invention of cooking with fire is what made this growth in brain size possible. Cooked food is easier to digest and yields more calories. Cooking may have made the human brain possible, and freed us from having to spend all day eating.
density n. 密度
distinctive adj. 有特色的，與眾不同的
mammal n. [脊椎] 哺乳動(dòng)物
metabolic adj. 變化的；新陳代謝的
n. 靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物學(xué)家 (primatology的變形)
烹飪與人類的智慧
所以說(shuō)是什么讓人類的大腦如此特別？實(shí)際上，這或許根本就不特別。
變化的幅度
在2009年，蘇珊娜·埃爾庫(kù)拉諾·烏澤爾博士和她的同事們展示了人類大腦的神經(jīng)細(xì)胞密度和其它的靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物一樣。與其它較小的靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物相比，蘇珊娜博士稱我們的大腦與我們自身體型相比并不算大。但考慮到靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物大腦尺寸比例的獨(dú)特方式，人類擁有所有哺乳動(dòng)物中最多的腦細(xì)胞。
話雖如此，大猩猩能長(zhǎng)到我們體型的三倍，但它們的大腦仍然比我們小得多。
腦細(xì)胞比其它身體細(xì)胞需要更多的能量。雖然大腦所占人體的比重小于2%，但它卻消耗我們靜止時(shí)代謝能的20%。為了給龐大的身軀提供足夠的能量，大猩猩每天要花費(fèi)超過(guò)8小時(shí)的時(shí)間進(jìn)食，因此它們無(wú)法負(fù)擔(dān)更大的大腦。
大腦的食物
所以，人類的祖先又是如何突破限制的？從直立的人類開(kāi)始，大約兩百萬(wàn)年前，隨著大腦越來(lái)越大，如果人類的祖先還像大猩猩那樣進(jìn)食生的食物，那么他們將無(wú)法給大腦提供足夠的代謝值。
靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物學(xué)家理查德·蘭厄姆認(rèn)為發(fā)明用火烹飪，使得大腦生長(zhǎng)變大成為可能。烹煮的食物更容易消化并且能產(chǎn)生更多的熱量。烹飪或許促進(jìn)了人腦的形成，并將人類從整日進(jìn)食的境況中解放出來(lái)。