As humans, we like to think of our species as unique: uniquely developed, complex, even superior. We think that of all the creatures on our planet, our brains are the most powerful.
But scientists are discovering that the brains of other mammals aren’t so far behind those of humans. How did they discover this?
The basis of the study was to take brain scans of over 100 different mammalian species and then look at the similarities and differences to the human brain. Sure, our brains still fall short in some respects, but there are areas that work with equal efficiency in animals.
An example? The transmission of information. It turns out that their transmission is just as efficient in other species. Importantly, it is not dependent on the size of the brain, as previously thought.
Research has also shown that there is a mechanism by which the brain balances the number of connections in such a way that it simply does not “overload” itself. This is why – when one part of the brain is working at full capacity – the other part maintains lower connectivity
The findings of the Tel Aviv University researchers were published in the journal Nature Neuroscience
