The Expensive Brain: A framework for explaining evolutionary changes in brain size

Isler, Karin; Schaik, Carel P. van

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.04.009

Cited by 383 publications

(431 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…In practice, we usually see lower rates of reproduction [70,73], perhaps largely because larger-brained species have heavier neonates [70]. The alternative, a compensatory increase in adult lifespan, is confirmed by many studies [70,74,75]. Consequently, because unavoidable mortality ultimately determines adult lifespan [39], the external conditions (predation, disease, seasonality) must allow for such an increase in adult lifespan.…”

Section: Box 1 How Organisms Pay For Increased Brain Sizementioning

confidence: 98%

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Explaining brain size variation: from social to cultural brain

Schaik

Isler

Burkart

2012

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

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154

124

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Section: Box 1 How Organisms Pay For Increased Brain Sizementioning

confidence: 98%

“…Concerning the second pathway, among the various possibilities (cf. [70]), only the tradeoff between brain size and 'production' (the combination of growth and reproduction) is empirically supported [64,70,71]. Reflecting this tradeoff, larger-brained mammals mostly have slower development [70,72].…”

Section: Box 1 How Organisms Pay For Increased Brain Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining brain size variation: from social to cultural brain

Schaik

Isler

Burkart

2012

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

Self Cite

154

124

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“…There are clear fitness benefits associated with a larger brain as brain size is positively correlated with increased intelligence, cognition, learning capability, population persistence, and decreased susceptibility to predation (Sol & Lefebvre, 2000; Tebbich & Bshary, 2004; Shultz & Dunbar, 2006a; Sol, Szekely, Liker, & Lefebvre, 2007; Sol, Bacher, Reader, & Lefebvre, 2008; Overington, Morand‐Ferron, Boogert, & Lefebvre, 2009; Barrickman, Bastian, Isler, & van Schaik, 2008; Amiel, Tingley, & Shine, 2011; Reader, Hager, & Laland, 2011; Kotrschal et al., 2013b; MacLean et al., 2014; Kotrschal et al., 2015a; Kotrschal, Corral‐Lopez, Amcoff, & Kolm, 2015b; Benson‐Amram, Dantzer, Stricker, Swanson, & Holekamp, 2016; but also see Drake, 2007). Key hypotheses, such as the expensive tissue hypothesis (i.e., expensive metabolic cost of brain tissue) (Aiello & Wheeler, 1995; Isler & van Schaik, 2009) and energy trade‐off hypothesis (increased encephalization leads to trade‐offs with other functions) (Isler & van Schaik, 2006a,b, 2009; Navarrete, van Schaik, & Isler, 2011; Tsuboi et al., 2015), recognize that brain tissue is costly and that fitness trade‐offs likely underlie increased encephalization (Aiello & Wheeler, 1995). Research has indeed shown that increased allocation to brain tissue leads to declines in other components of fitness (Kaufman, Hladik, & Pasquet, 2003; Kotrschal et al., 2013a; Mink et al., 1981; Navarrete et al., 2011; Raichle & Gusnard, 2002; Tsuboi et al., 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased juvenile predation is not associated with evolved differences in adult brain size in Trinidadian killifish (Rivulus hartii)

Beston

Broyles

Walsh

2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Vertebrates exhibit extensive variation in brain size. The long‐standing assumption is that this variation is driven by ecologically mediated selection. Recent work has shown that an increase in predator‐induced mortality is associated with evolved increases and decreases in brain size. Thus, the manner in which predators induce shifts in brain size remains unclear. Increased predation early in life is a key driver of many adult traits, including life‐history and behavioral traits. Such results foreshadow a connection between age‐specific mortality and selection on adult brain size. Trinidadian killifish, Rivulus hartii, are found in sites with and without guppies, Poecilia reticulata. The densities of Rivulus drop dramatically in sites with guppies because guppies prey upon juvenile Rivulus. Previous work has shown that guppy predation is associated with the evolution of adult life‐history traits in Rivulus. In this study, we compared second‐generation laboratory‐born Rivulus from sites with and without guppies for differences in brain size and associated trade‐offs between brain size and other components of fitness. Despite the large amount of existing research on the importance of early‐life events on the evolution of adult traits, and the role of predation on both behavior and brain size, we did not find an association between the presence of guppies and evolutionary shifts in Rivulus brain size. Such results argue that increased rates of juvenile mortality may not alter selection on adult brain size.

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“…Brain size is generally associated with cognitive performance [5]. Capuchin monkeys show complex tool use in the wild [6] and superior performance on laboratory memory tasks [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marmoset monkeys evaluate third-party reciprocity

et al. 2014

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Many non-human primates have been observed to reciprocate and to understand reciprocity in one-to-one social exchanges. A recent study demonstrated that capuchin monkeys are sensitive to both third-party reciprocity and violation of reciprocity; however, whether this sensitivity is a function of general intelligence, evidenced by their larger brain size relative to other primates, remains unclear. We hypothesized that highly pro-social primates, even with a relatively smaller brain, would be sensitive to others' reciprocity. Here, we show that common marmosets discriminated between human actors who reciprocated in social exchanges with others and those who did not. Monkeys accepted rewards less frequently from non-reciprocators than they did from reciprocators when the non-reciprocators had retained all food items, but they accepted rewards from both actors equally when they had observed reciprocal exchange between the actors. These results suggest that mechanisms to detect unfair reciprocity in third-party social exchanges do not require domain-general higher cognitive ability based on proportionally larger brains, but rather emerge from the cooperative and pro-social tendencies of species, and thereby suggest this ability evolved in multiple primate lineages.

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The Expensive Brain: A framework for explaining evolutionary changes in brain size

Cited by 383 publications

References 49 publications

Explaining brain size variation: from social to cultural brain

Explaining brain size variation: from social to cultural brain

Increased juvenile predation is not associated with evolved differences in adult brain size in Trinidadian killifish (Rivulus hartii)

Marmoset monkeys evaluate third-party reciprocity

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