Brain Evolution in the News

Sunday, 1 November 2026

Early humans and computational paleoneurology

Early humans and computational paleoneurology

https://paleoneurology.wordpress.com/2026/10/24/early-humans-and-computational-paleoneurology/

at 18:37
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Labels: cerebellum, endocast, hominin, Homo ergaster

Crossed Brain Wiring May Trace Back 500 Million Years To Ancient Fish Eyes

Crossed Brain Wiring May Trace Back 500 Million Years To Ancient Fish Eyes

https://studyfinds.com/brain-wiring-trace-back-ancient-fish-eyes/

at 18:31
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Labels: fish, laterality, vision

Friday, 30 October 2026

What makes us human? Researchers compare brain development in humans and great apes



https://phys.org/news/2026-10-human-brain-humans-great-apes.html
at 18:26
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Labels: ape, human

Thursday, 29 October 2026

Smaller ants devote more of their resting energy budget to their brains

Smaller ants devote more of their resting energy budget to their brains https://phys.org/news/2026-10-smaller-ants-devote-resting-energy.html

at 22:19
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Labels: energetics, insect

New platform enables multimodal recording in the wild



New platform enables multimodal recording in the wild https://www.thetransmitter.org/brain-imaging/wild-platform-levels-up-ability-to-record-brain-activity-behavior-in-nature/
at 22:14
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Labels: memory, rodent, sleep, social behavior

Tuesday, 20 October 2026

Out of Darkness, Blind Cavefish Illuminate Brain Evolution



https://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/blind-cavefish-brain-evolution-study.php
at 22:35
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Labels: behavior, fish, sensory, vision

Sunday, 18 October 2026

Dog Brains Segment Speech Into Words With a Humanlike Consonant Bias

Dog Brains Segment Speech Into Words With a Humanlike Consonant Bias
https://bioengineer.org/dog-brains-segment-speech-into-words-with-a-humanlike-consonant-bias/
at 23:46
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Labels: audition, dog, language

First complete songbird genome reveals hidden biology

https://www.rockefeller.edu/news/40239-first-complete-songbird-genome-reveals-hidden-biology/



at 23:12
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Labels: bird, genetics, genomics, vocal learning

The Evolution of the Human Brain Set It Up for Failure

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/10/alzheimers-evolution/689062/

at 21:42
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Humans and songbirds organize the same sounds differently

Humans and songbirds organize the same sounds differently



at 00:52
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Labels: bird, human, vocal learning

Wednesday, 14 October 2026

Chimp and gorilla brains resist weight loss with age — unlike human brains

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03158-0
at 22:58
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Labels: aging, chimpanzee, gorilla

Sunday, 11 October 2026

3D genome 'entanglement' may explain how cephalopods evolved complex brains

https://phys.org/news/2026-10-3d-genome-entanglement-cephalopods-evolved.html

at 18:59
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Labels: cephalopod, genomics, intelligence

Scientists Finally Figured Out Why 90% of Humans Are Right-Handed

https://www.vice.com/en/article/scientists-finally-figured-out-why-90-of-humans-are-right-handed/
at 16:24
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Labels: human, laterality

Monday, 28 September 2026

Fossil study finds vision—not the 'thinking' frontal lobe—drove varied brain development in primates

https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fossil-vision-frontal-lobe-drove.html

at 05:25
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Labels: development, fossil, primate, vision

Study Supports and Expands the Primate Brain Lag Hypothesis

https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-lag-evolutionary-30977/

at 05:22
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Labels: brain size, development, primate

Sunday, 27 September 2026

Brain organoids uncover how primates develop different brain shapes

https://phys.org/news/2026-09-brain-organoids-uncover-primates.html
at 20:32
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Labels: development, primate

Thursday, 10 September 2026

If humans are getting smarter, why are our brains shrinking?



https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/human-evolution/if-humans-are-getting-smarter-why-are-our-brains-shrinking

at 14:57
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Labels: brain size

Scaled up to size, a raccoon brain would contain roughly the same number of neurons as a human brain.

https://fortune.com/2026/01/16/are-raccoons-intelligent-drunk-passed-out-in-liquor-store-neuroscientist-nearby/?utm_source=native_share&utm_medium=mobile&utm_campaign=social_share
at 14:54
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Labels: brain size, carnivore, neuron

Tuesday, 8 September 2026

Neuroscience has a species problem

https://www.thetransmitter.org/animal-models/neuroscience-has-a-species-problem/
at 16:54
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Labels: animal, cognition

Inside the Not-So-Dumb Head of the Dodo Bird

https://nautil.us/inside-the-not-so-dumb-head-of-the-dodo-bird-1283522
at 16:54
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Labels: bird, extinct, fossil

‘This is dangerous’: slime moulds and the bitter debate over the nature of intelligence

https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/sep/08/this-is-dangerous-slime-moulds-and-the-bitter-debate-over-the-nature-of-intelligence?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
at 16:53
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Labels: intelligence, slime mold

Tuesday, 23 June 2026

Cats age like humans—could studying their brains reveal healthy aging secrets?



https://phys.org/news/2026-06-cats-age-humans-brains-reveal.html
at 22:39
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Labels: aging, carnivore, neuroimaging

Thursday, 30 April 2026

Do octopus brains work like humans’ — or is there another way to be smart?



https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-01302-4
at 21:06
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Labels: cephalopod, octopus, vision

How a Brainless Organism Learns Using Neuron-Like Machinery



https://neurosciencenews.com/single-cell-learning-camkii-30629/
at 01:38
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Labels: learning

‘The Brain, In Theory,’ an excerpt



https://www.thetransmitter.org/theoretical-neuroscience/the-brain-in-theory-an-excerpt/
at 01:33
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Labels: book review, computation

Dogs’ brains began to shrink at least 5,000 years ago, study finds



https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/29/dogs-brains-shrink-5000-years-ago?CMP=share_btn_url
at 01:32
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Labels: dog, domestication

Wednesday, 11 March 2026

‘The Fox, the Shrew, and You: How Brains Evolved,’ an excerpt


https://www.thetransmitter.org/evolution/the-fox-the-shrew-and-you-how-brains-evolved-an-excerpt/
at 05:37
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Labels: book review, human, mammal

Wednesday, 25 February 2026

Chimpanzee calls trigger unique brain activity in humans, revealing shared vocal processing skills


https://phys.org/news/2025-12-chimpanzee-trigger-unique-brain-humans.html
at 15:54
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Labels: chimpanzee, human, vocalization

Friday, 23 January 2026

Microbes may hold the key to brain evolution


https://phys.org/news/2026-01-microbes-key-brain-evolution.html
at 18:31
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Labels: brain size, energetics, microbiome, primate, rodent

Tuesday, 16 December 2025

Human brains light up for chimp voices in a way no one expected


https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/12/251209043042.htm
at 19:20
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Labels: ape, language

Thursday, 16 October 2025

Evolution of intelligence in our ancestors may have come at a cost


https://www.newscientist.com/article/2499487-evolution-of-intelligence-in-our-ancestors-may-have-come-at-a-cost/
at 00:31
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Labels: intelligence

Ancient Lead Exposure Influenced the Evolution of the Human Brain


https://bioengineer.org/ancient-lead-exposure-influenced-the-evolution-of-the-human-brain/
at 00:28
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Labels: health, human

Evolution may have capped human brain size to balance energy costs and survival


https://www.psypost.org/evolution-may-have-capped-human-brain-size-to-balance-energy-costs-and-survival/
at 00:25
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Labels: brain size, energetics, human

Monday, 29 September 2025

'Give me the head!' Neuroscientist inspires whale and dolphin research in Brazil


https://www.npr.org/2025/02/15/nx-s1-5258496/scientist-inspires-whale-dolphin-brain-research-brazil
at 19:50
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Labels: cetacean, outreach

Friday, 5 September 2025

The Minute Fossil That Redrew The Arthropod Map


https://scienceblog.com/the-minute-fossil-that-redrew-the-arthropod-map/
at 17:46
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Labels: arthropod, fossil

Wednesday, 3 September 2025

Study provides first direct evidence that manual dexterity and brain evolution are connected


https://phys.org/news/2025-08-evidence-manual-dexterity-brain-evolution.html
at 06:09
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Labels: dexterity, hand

Rare seasonal brain shrinkage in shrews is driven by water loss, not cell death, MRI study reveals


https://phys.org/news/2025-08-rare-seasonal-brain-shrinkage-shrews.html
at 06:07
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Labels: brain size, mammals, seasonality

Friday, 9 May 2025

Bigger Brains and Strong Immunity Linked to Longer Lifespans



https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-size-immunity-longevvity-28857/
at 15:50
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Labels: aging, brain size

Thursday, 17 April 2025

Intelligence Evolved at Least Twice in Vertebrate Animals

https://www.quantamagazine.org/intelligence-evolved-at-least-twice-in-vertebrate-animals-20250407/
at 23:15
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Labels: intelligence, vertebrates

Saturday, 12 April 2025

Ralph Holloway, Anthropologist Who Studied Brain's Evolution, Dies at 90

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/science/ralph-holloway-dead.html
at 18:58
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Labels: ape, fossil, hominin

Sunday, 30 March 2025

What makes the human brain unique? We compared it with monkeys and apes to find out


https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-human-brain-unique-monkeys-apes.html
at 06:02
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Labels: human, primate

The non-model organism “renaissance” has arrived



https://doi.org/10.53053/GMHL7976
at 02:03
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Labels: animal, cognition

Saturday, 29 March 2025

Lions and tigers and bears: Long-lived zoo animals offer a promising venue to study mental health and neurodegenerative disorders

https://www.thetransmitter.org/animal-models/lions-and-tigers-and-bears-long-lived-zoo-animals-offer-a-promising-venue-to-study-mental-health-and-neurodegenerative-disorders/
at 02:46
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Labels: mammals, pathology

Saturday, 15 February 2025

Genetic study sheds light on changes that shaped human brain evolution



https://phys.org/news/2025-02-genetic-human-brain-evolution.html
at 04:41
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Labels: genetics, human

Birds have developed complex brains independently from mammals, studies reveal

Birds have developed complex brains independently from mammals, studies reveal

https://phys.org/news/2025-02-birds-complex-brains-independently-mammals.html?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=v2
at 04:38
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Labels: bird, mammal

Deep learning provides new view on 300 million years of brain evolution



https://phys.org/news/2025-02-deep-view-million-years-brain.html
at 03:27
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Labels: artificial intelligence, vertebrates

Thursday, 30 January 2025

Digitization of ‘breathtaking’ neuroanatomy slide collection offers untapped research gold mine



https://www.thetransmitter.org/evolution/digitization-of-breathtaking-neuroanatomy-slide-collection-offers-untapped-research-gold-mine/
at 04:42
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Labels: database, neuroimaging

Sunday, 24 November 2024

Gene expression shifts help explain how a shrew changes brain size to match the seasons



https://phys.org/news/2024-11-gene-shifts-shrew-brain-size.html
at 19:18
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Labels: brain size, genetics, mammal, seasonality

Why did humans evolve big brains? A new idea bodes ill for our future



https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26334991-100-why-did-humans-evolve-big-brains-a-new-idea-bodes-ill-for-our-future/
at 19:00
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Labels: brain size, human, temperature

Tuesday, 19 November 2024

How brain evolution is linked to the use of tools


https://phys.org/news/2024-11-brain-evolution-linked-tools.html
at 15:21
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Labels: cognition, human, tool use
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