Newborn’s brains aren’t less developed than those of other primates

A recent study shows that, contrary to popular belief, human newborn’s brains aren’t substantially less developed than monkey species. It just appears that way since so much brain growth occurs after birth.

Complexity Revealed: Human Newborns’ Brains Evolve More Post-Birth

Humans’ brains are typically as developed at birth as those of similar primate species. However, due to the complexity of human brains, people mistakenly believe newborn humans are underdeveloped.

According to lead author Dr. Aida Gomez-Robles of UCL Anthropology, “This new work changes the overall understanding of the evolution of human brain development. “Humans appear more helpless as infants compared to other primates, not due to less developed brains but because their development continues significantly after birth.”

Measuring the difference between a species’ birth and adult brain sizes allows scientists to study how their brains evolve.

People appear less mature at birth than other monkey species because humans have smaller brains than other monkeys.

Study Challenges Theory: Human Brain Development Mirrors Other Primates

This new study, however, demonstrates that this metric is deceptive because human brain growth is broadly comparable to that of other primates, including chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans, according to other assessments.

The study casts doubt on accepted theories about how the human brain develops over evolution.

Due to less physical control, it has been believed that humans are born with less developed brains than other animals.

To fit through the birth canal, newborns’ heads must develop further outside the womb, an evolutionary compromise.

On the basis of this knowledge, scientists proposed that humans have more pliable brains in their early lives and are more susceptible to external stimuli as they mature, because humans emerged relatively underdeveloped.

Researchers believed that early underdevelopment increased brain plasticity, which then promoted human intelligence.

The reason why human brains take longer to reach their maximum potential than those of other animals

Researchers claim that it’s not due to significantly underdeveloped brains at birth; instead, human brains develop much more slowly.

New Study Reveals Human Brain Plasticity Not Linked to Developed Birth Stages

Results make it less likely that humans’ superior brain plasticity is the result of being born less developed than other primates. The researchers noted that their findings do not discount the significance of brain plasticity in human evolution.

Scientists examined 140 distinct mammal species including primates, rodents, carnivores and related ancestors of hominins, to understand the human brain.

To comprehend how human brains evolved, researchers analysed the length of fatal gestation in current mammals. The proportion of newborn bodies and brains to those of adults, and the total size of newborn and adult brains

Researchers found that while the brain development of many animal species varies significantly at birth, monkeys’ brains are quite similar.

Both current monkeys and their hominin relatives do not have considerably lower developmental stages at birth than humans.

In the US, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation funded the study.