Abstract
The brain has approximately 86 billion neuronal cells, and when we add supporting material, such as scaffolding and insulation for brain cells, it brings the cell count to one trillion, enough to hold three million hours of video in a typical computer. Beneath the cerebral cortex important limbic structures include the amygdala that mediates fear and other emotions, as well as the hippocampus, which merges information from short-term and long-term memory into spatial memory to enable navigation. Emotions are believed to originate from the amygdala to influence the upper cortical centers, where thinking occurs.
The human mind is that bend in the evolutionary curve that reaches for the stars from which we came.
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Notes
- 1.
Allometry is the study of the relationship of body size to shape, anatomy, physiology and finally behavior, first outlined by Otto Snell in 1892, then by D’Arcy Thompson in 1917 in On Growth and Form, and by Julian Huxley in 1932.
- 2.
A range of theories have been proposed to explain mammalian variation in relative encephalization. These include energetic considerations (e.g., diet or metabolism), ecological variables (e.g., visual acuity, arboreality), and most prominently diverse measures of species “intelligence” (e.g., tool use, social learning, tactical deception). See, Halley, A.C., and Deacon, T.W. (2017). “The Developmental Basis of Evolutionary Trends in Primate Encephalization.” https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-804042-3.00135-4. Elsevier Inc.
- 3.
The average adult brain is about 2% of body weight, with 78% constituting water, 12% fat and 8% protein.
- 4.
The neocortex is the largest part of the cerebral cortex which is the outer layer of the cerebrum, with the allocortex making up the rest.
- 5.
The corpus callosum is a wide flat bundle of fibers, beneath the cerebral cortex. It connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres, and enables communication between the hemispheres.
- 6.
Alice Flaherty has hypothesized a three-factor anatomical model of human idea generation and creative drive that focuses on interactions between the temporal lobes, frontal lobes, and limbic system. See, Flaherty A.W. (2005). “Frontotemporal and Dopaminergic Control of Idea Generation and Creative Drive.” The Journal of comparative Neurology 493 (1): 147–153. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.20768. The limbic system, is a set of brain structures located on both sides of the thalamus beneath the medial temporal lobe of the cerebrum that supports such functions as emotion, motivation, long-term memory, and olfaction. The amygdala is an almond-shaped node of gray matter, located deep and medially within the temporal lobes, plays a central role in our perception of fear and other emotions.
- 7.
HACNS1 (also known as Human Accelerated Region 2) is a gene enhancer “that may have contributed to the evolution of the uniquely opposable human thumb, and possibly also modifications in the ankle or foot that allow humans to walk on two legs… This study is the first to provide evidence of the existence of human-specific gene enhancers, which are switches near genes in the human genome.” Evidence to date shows that of the 110,000 gene enhancer sequences identified in the human genome, HACNS1 has undergone the most change during the human evolution since the chimpanzee-human last common ancestor. HACNS1: Gene enhancer in evolution of human opposable thumb. (See, https://www.sciencecodex.com/gene_enhancer_in_evolution_of_human_opposable_thumb.)
- 8.
In the neocortex forebrain, where perception, memory and language is found, men appear to have about 23 million neurons and women 19 billion neurons, but no differences have been detected in the average IQ between the two. See, Kock, C. (2019). “From Man to Mouse.” Scientific American, Special Edition.
- 9.
The brain of the blue whale weighs 6.900 kg and it has a body weight of 100,000 kg, the Indian elephant brain weighs 6.0 kg, and has a body weight of 5000 kg.
- 10.
Although somewhat controversial, systems are being developed and based on facial parameters used to determine a host of personal preferences. See, “Face-reading AI will be able to detect your politics and IQ.” https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/12/artificial-intelligence-face-recognition-michal-kosinski.
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Carvalko Jr., J.R. (2020). An Astonishing Specification. In: Conserving Humanity at the Dawn of Posthuman Technology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26407-9_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26407-9_14
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