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Brain evolution (Communications arising)

How did brains evolve?

Nature volume 415, page 135 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Sultan's observations do not contradict our finding that, when normalized to the whole brain, cerebellar volume is relatively constant. To make interspecies comparisons, we used the volume fraction (the volume of a component divided by the total brain volume)1. Without this normalization, the dominant trend is variation in absolute size2. This logic applies to surface areas as well, and Sultan's interesting analysis reflects this principle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, 08544, New Jersey, USA

    Samuel S.-H. Wang & Damon A. Clark

  2. Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, 07974, New Jersey, USA

    Partha P. Mitra

  3. Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, 08544, New Jersey, USA

    Damon A. Clark

Authors
  1. Samuel S.-H. Wang
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  2. Partha P. Mitra
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  3. Damon A. Clark
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Samuel S.-H. Wang.

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Wang, SH., Mitra, P. & Clark, D. How did brains evolve?. Nature 415, 135 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/415135a

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