| The role of maternal affection in brain development |
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 If an animal species has a particularly large brain, is generally an indication of some intelligence or skill in search of food. All mammals are among the favorites. In addition to primates, which include men, odontocetes (toothed whales) as well as wolves, foxes and dogs are also characterized by a "body of thought" particularly large and productive. But why was it the brain as much developed in these species there? The answer to this question is given by Vera Weisbecker and Anjali Goswami in the current issue the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). Biologists Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and Cambridge in England, compared the brain size of almost 200 species of marsupials, including koalas, kangaroos and more than 400 species including placental monkeys, rodents and ungulates " Both groups belong to the class of mammals, they are only remotely related to and developed during the evolution of relatively large brain independently of each other, "says Vera Weisbecker. According to the results of their recent study, the maternal influence plays a decisive role in developing a large brain. "The more young remain long in the womb or are breast-fed by the latter, the more their brains will be big and muscular" said Weisbecker. Hitherto it was assumed that a high metabolic activity was also an important factor in the evolution of brain size. "A factor, yes, but only partially," said biologist specializing in brain development in different mammals. An increase in metabolic activity in the brain would be related to the large size of the brain than in placental species. Researchers believe this is due to the fact that the children are directly connected to the metabolism of the mother through the placenta and thus benefit more from greater metabolic activity. This direct transmission of nutrients through the placenta could explain why the placenta remains long under the influence of their mother that marsupial. Only primates and so do humans have a brain bigger than average have needs for a period of maternal affection as long as that of marsupials, Weisbecker said. And by the way and Goswami Weisbecker put an end to persistent prejudice that marsupials have small brains. The opposite would be more correct, since the small marsupials have on average relatively large brain. The misunderstanding is the fact that primates, with its very large brain, increase the average size of placental brain, more than it really should. |
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