Humans have bigger brain volume because of faster metabolism during evolution

A recent US study found that humans evolved brains which are bigger than any other primates due to a faster metabolic rate. The difference between man and ape on the metabolism may be an important factor that makes the two ultimately choose different paths of evolution.

Compared with other primates, the most important difference lies in the volume of the brain. In the course of human evolution, human brain size is increasing, after 200 million years of evolution, the human brain size has increased threefold, and other primate brain has changed little.

The study is published in the journal Nature. The paper says that compared to other primates, humans live longer, more growth, higher percentage of body fat, the digestive system is smaller, but bigger brain, these features need more metabolism, which means that the difference in energy consumption and the ape and distribution significantly. However, the mechanisms behind these differences were previously unclear.

To solve this problem, the United States Hunter College of the City University of New York Pangse Hermann and his team studied 141 individuals known to large apes and daily energy consumption was measured, and the data were compared and analyzed. The results showed that, compared to other primates, humans have a faster metabolic rate, a higher energy consumption. Human consumption of energy per day, respectively, higher than that of chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans 400,635 and 820 kcal. The total energy consumption basal metabolic rate was up from some of the major human higher, that is the human body in a sober and extremely quiet state, not muscle activity, ambient temperature, food and mental stress when energy metabolism rate impact. Major service in the maintenance of basal metabolism cardiopulmonary function of internal organs and brain functioning, a higher basal metabolic rate description cardio, internal organs and the brain more active.

In addition, the researchers also found that compared to other primates, humans have evolved a higher percentage of body fat, providing energy reserves for a wider metabolism and significantly reducing the risk of high energy demand.

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A new model is developed to show how brain produces consciousness

According to the report of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) website, the school in collaboration with other university researchers proposed a two-stage model to explain how the brain processes unconscious information and turns the unconscious information into the conscious. According to this model, consciousness does not continuously arise but every once in a while. There is up to 400 milliseconds between the unconscious state and consciousness. There is no sense of time in this compartment.

The researchers published the paper in Public Library of Science • Bio recently, pointing out that people feel the world around is seamless and smooth, but it is an illusion. Some recent experiments show that the information is not the outside world into the conscious awareness continuously, but the brain collects such information in discrete time points, after treatment rendered. Like every second of film 24, as too fast and let us put mistaken continuous.

The researchers studied data previously published experimental psychology and behavior, with a two-stage model describes the information processing consciousness. First stage of the unconscious: the brain processes certain characteristics of things, such as color, shape, duration, etc., in the unconscious state with high time-frequency analysis of them, during this period no sense of time, but also feel not change the characteristics of things, time, wherein the digital signature is encoded, as color coding, as shape. Then the stage of consciousness: unconscious after processing is complete, the brain and gives all the characteristics of the final "picture", i.e. the brain and finally presented the things that make us aware of this information.

The whole process from the outside to stimulate awareness of cognition, the duration of up to 400 milliseconds. From a physiological point of view, this delay is quite long. First author, EPFL psychophysics lab Michael Herzog explained, "Because the brain want to give you the best, most clear message, which spend a lot of time for you to realize that it's no good unconscious processes because it will make people very confused."

The researchers noted that this was the first two-stage model of how consciousness arising, providing a more complex explanation for how the brain manages consciousness. It also provided new insights on for the relation between brain processes information and how we recognize the world.

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The brain of people with a long-term insomnia lacks for special nerve cells

Sleeping is one of the most important activities for the brain in a day. Recent studies have shown that when we fall into a deep sleep, our brain will start to do logistic work to clean up the debris of all-day work and help us reset the neural network, ensuring that it can run efficiently again when we wake up again. But lack of sleep would deprive the important rest part of brain, leading us to a tired condition during the daytime.

According to the report in US Times on April 5th, a group of researchers from China and Europe carried out a detailed analysis on insomnia, the study of how insomnia affects brain cognitive, perceptual and emotional part.

Brain imaging study compared the results of 23 normal sleep insomnia staff and personnel. Researchers focused on the brain's white matter volume. White matter volume can reflect what is called myelin specific proteins on nerve cells attached, which can improve the ability of nerve cells to transmit signals between cells. Early brain imaging studies show that differences in a specific part of the brain people insomnia may be due to a lack of myelin due.

The researchers found that compared with normal people, people with insomnia (refers to more than one month's time sleep problems, daytime sleepiness and sleep disorders people) show significantly less link of white matter, particularly in the area of controlling sleep and wakefulness. Presumably, the signal interference between these regions resulted from the reduce of myelin around neurons, thereby the degree of activity and association between them reduced.

Scientists have found that in fact, insomnia people would lose 83% (that is 5/6) of the nerve diameter, most of which are located on the right side of the brain, that is the area which controls emotion, thinking function and perceptive functions like sense of light, smell and touch. In the future, more research is needed to explain what might cause the differences of brains among people with insomnia.

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