Comparative Brain Evolution: Mammals, Primates & Humans | Robert Barton |

About the guest: Robert Barton, PhD is an evolutionary anthropologist and Professor at Durham University. He studies the evolution of the brain and behavior across species, including humans.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Barton discuss: mammalian brain evolution; how brain and body size scale across mammals; how metabolism relates to brain size and function; the evolution of the neocortex & cerebellum in primates & humans; the concept of “intelligence” and whether it relates to brain size; and more.

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.

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ABOUT Nick Jikomes:
Nick is a neuroscientist and podcast host. He is currently Director of Science & Innovation at a technology startup in the legal cannabis industry. He received a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University and a B.S. in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

#Evolution #Anthropology #Biology #Behavior #Neuroscience #Science #Podcast

00:00:00 Intro
00:03:42 Human brain size
00:08:02 Human brain evolution
00:12:59 Primate visual system expansion
00:18:14 Cerebellum & neocortex evolution
00:24:11 Cerebellum in cognition
00:30:00 Mammalian brain evolution
00:36:52 Scaling of body size with brain size
01:00:58 Evolution of brain size & cognitive abilities
01:14:02 Metabolism & brain evolution
01:19:42 Brain evolution, development & learning across species
01:26:42 Evolution of sleep
01:33:50 Language evolution, neural sequences