Independent contrasts analysis of neocortical size and socioecology in primates

Embracing covariation in brain evolution: large brains, extended development, and flexible primate social systems

Brain size, body size, developmental length, life span, costs of raising offspring, behavioral complexity, and social structures are correlated in mammals due to intrinsic life-history requirements. Dissecting variation and direction of causation in this web of relationships often draw attention away from the factors that correlate with basic life parameters. We consider the "social brain hypothesis," which postulates that overall brain and the isocortex are selectively enlarged to confer social abilities in primates, as an example of this enterprise and pitfalls. We consider patterns of brain scaling, modularity, flexibility of brain organization, the "leverage," and direction of selection on proposed dimensions. We conclude that the evidence supporting selective changes in isocortex or brain size for the isolated ability to manage social relationships is poor. Strong covariation in size and developmental duration coupled with flexible brains allow organisms to adapt in variable social and ecological environments across the life span and in evolution.

Understanding primate brain evolution

We present a detailed reanalysis of the comparative brain data for primates, and develop a model using path analysis that seeks to present the coevolution of primate brain (neocortex) and sociality within a broader ecological and life-history framework. We show that body size, basal metabolic rate and life history act as constraints on brain evolution and through this influence the coevolution of neocortex size and group size. However, they do not determine either of these variables, which appear to be locked in a tight coevolutionary system. We show that, within primates, this relationship is specific to the neocortex. Nonetheless, there are important constraints on brain evolution; we use path analysis to show that, in order to evolve a large neocortex, a species must first evolve a large brain to support that neocortex and this in turn requires adjustments in diet (to provide the energy needed) and life history (to allow sufficient time both for brain growth and for 'software' programming). We review a wider literature demonstrating a tight coevolutionary relationship between brain size and sociality in a range of mammalian taxa, but emphasize that the social brain hypothesis is not about the relationship between brain/neocortex size and group size per se; rather, it is about social complexity and we adduce evidence to support this. Finally, we consider the wider issue of how mammalian (and primate) brains evolve in order to localize the social effects.

Brain system size and adult-adult play in primates: a comparative analysis of the roles of the non-visual neocortex and the amygdala

Recent studies have shown that contrary to expectation, larger-brained species within mammalian orders are not more likely to engage in play. This is true for juvenile rodents, juvenile marsupials and adult primates. Neither does the relative size of the neocortex predict the prevalence of play in species of marsupials and primates. Two methodological limitations may account for the lack of such relationships. Firstly, play may only vary systematically with specific brain areas, not overall size increases in brain tissue. Secondly, the play indices used to measure the variation in play across species may be insufficiently sensitive to the effects of changes in brain size. In this study, we attempt to deal with the first methodological problem. The adult-adult play fighting among species of primates was correlated with the relative size of the non-visual cortex and the amygdala. The statistical analyses used took into account the problems of scaling and corrected for degree of phylogenetic relatedness among the species. The size of the non-visual cortex failed to predict the prevalence of play fighting occurring in either sexual or non-sexual contexts. In contrast, the size of the amygdala significantly predicted the prevalence of sexual play, but not non-sexual play. That is, species with larger sized amygdala are more likely to engage in sexual play. These findings provide new insights into the role of different brain systems in the regulation of play behavior.