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Researchers Say Dark Winters Led To Bigger Human Brains

Posted by samzenpus on from the head-in-the-clouds dept.

Brad1138 writes "Humans living at high latitude have bigger eyes and bigger brains to cope with poor light during long winters and cloudy days, UK scientists have said. from the article: 'The scientists measured the eye sockets and brain volumes of 55 skulls from 12 populations across the world, and plotted the results against latitude. Lead author Eiluned Pearce told BBC News: "We found a positive relationship between absolute latitude and both eye socket size and cranial capacity."'"

2 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Correlation is not causation by pseudotensor · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Cold didn't have to *lead* to anything. Using the word "Led" in the title is misleading because it suggests a causal link. For all we know, having bigger brains made people leave hotter areas because they felt uncomfortable (I know I feel REALLY bad when it's hot, and I have a HUGE brain) or were more adventurous and sought to live in new areas.

  2. Re:MMMMMM. BRAINSSSSS! by fche · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It must be quite a trick, estimating how those larger brains must have been structured, considering they're ... entirely decayed by now. Their paper http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2011/07/12/rsbl.2011.0570.full doesn't appear to substantiate it either. Where exactly did the BBC get that quote?