Evolution of the Elephant Brain: A Paradox between Brain Size and Cognitive Behavior

摘要: Elephants have the greatest volume of cerebral cortex any terrestrial mammal, exceeding that humans by threefold. Paradoxically perhaps, their performance in tests primate-like, time-sensitive, or intricate cognitive tasks is unimpressive compared with even chimpanzees. This paradox may be explained on basis that, rather than evolving toward increasing localization neuronal projections to maintain interconnectivity and speed information processing, as seen large-brained primates, elephant brain evolved a bias more global, transcortical projections, reduced local circuit interactions greatly prolonged information-processing time. On other hand, this cytoarchitectural model for would appear provide neurological extraordinary long-term extensive spatial–temporal social memory abilities elephants.