Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30702428›Full record

ArticleeLife2019

Quantitative uniqueness of human brain evolution revealed through phylogenetic comparative analysis.

Ian F Miller, Robert A Barton, Charles L Nunn

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in eLife, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Hominin brain size increase has emerged from within-species encephalization.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. From fossils to mind.Communications biology · 2023
    Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. A Connectomic Hypothesis for the Hominization of the Brain.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2021
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Cerebral cortical folding, parcellation, and connectivity in humans, nonhuman primates, and mice.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Ian F MillerEcology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-2673-9618
Robert A BartonEvolutionary Anthropology Research Group, Department of Anthropology, University of Durham, Durham, United Kingdom.
Charles L NunnDepartment of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-9330-2873

Funding

National Science Foundation BCS-1355902
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

While the human brain is clearly large relative to body size, less is known about the timing of brain and brain component expansion within primates and the relative magnitude of volumetric increases. Using Bayesian phylogenetic comparative methods and data for both extant and fossil species, we identified that a distinct shift in brain-body scaling occurred as hominins diverged from other primates, and again as humans and Neanderthals diverged from other hominins. Within hominins, we detected a pattern of directional and accelerating evolution towards larger brains, consistent with a positive feedback process in the evolution of the human brain. Contrary to widespread assumptions, we found that the human neocortex is not exceptionally large relative to other brain structures. Instead, our analyses revealed a single increase in relative neocortex volume at the origin of haplorrhines, and an increase in relative cerebellar volume in apes.

Indexed as

PhylogenyAnimalsBayes TheoremBrainHumansModels, BiologicalOrgan SizePrimatesbrain evolutionevolutionary biologyhumanhuman evolutionneurosciencephylogenetic comparative methodsprimate

Identifiers

PMID30702428
PMCPMC6379089

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.