'Vampire' brains make for smarter people

Obviously a genius...       (Public Domain)

If brains could talk, they might cry out for more and more blood.  That’s because a greater arterial flow to the brain has been linked with an overall rise in human intelligence.

By analyzing fossil skulls, scientists have been able to determine that arterial blood flow to the brain has increased “an amazing 600 percent” over the course of human evolution.  Measurements of arterial holes at the base of skulls were utilized for these calculations.

Since human-brain size has increased a “mere” 350 percent during this same course of time, it appears that blood flow might be a key element for greater intelligence.  Professor Roger Seymour of the University of Adelaide explained:  We believe this is possibly related to the brain’s need to satisfy increasingly energetic connections between nerve cells that allowed the evolution of complex learning and thinking.

In other words:  The more metabolically active the brain is, the more blood it requires…

Resources

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Copyright September 4, 2016 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved