Brains matter for cognition, not bodies!

Does a larger body REQUIRE more neurons to run it? Contrary to decades of biological intuition, it does not! Learn how with Suzana Herculano-Houzel as she describes her own work. You can find the original references here:
Larger crocs do NOT have more neurons running their bodies: www.suzanaherc...
Behavioral flexibility correlates best with numbers of pallial neurons: www.suzanaherc...
Very different numbers of neurons operate the bodies of animals of a similar body mass: www.biorxiv.or...
Take Suzana Herculano-Houzel's Crash Course in Neuroscience!
In English: www.suzanaherc...
In Portuguese: www.suzanaherc...
To stay up to date with Suzana and all of her latest discoveries:
TWITTER: @suzanahh
INSTAGRAM: @suzanaherculanohouzzelforreal
TIKTOK: @suzana.herculano
To check out all of Suzana's on-line educational courses and all of her latest scientific papers go to her website:
suzanaherculanohouzel.com

[@alioramus1637]

Even though i saw that the study was bombarded with criticism on the net. But i like it because it has opened the door for debate with paleontologists and paleoneurologists will publish counter papers and views which will lead to new discoveries.

[@aristosbywater9605]

You have yourself a new fan. Your work has pushed paleontological research forward decades!

[@suzanaherculano]

Thank you, that’s so kind!

[@TheVividen]

Thank you for posting this clarification! That was enormously helpful. What are your thoughts on the idea that many of T.rex's telencephalic neurons would have been dedicated to olfaction rather than innovative behavior and cognitive flexibility? How would you evaluate the accuracy of that statement?

[@suzanaherculano]

I’ve been looking by for a proper estimate of how much of the cerebrum were the olfactory bulbs. But even if they had 1/3 of the telencephalic neurons, T.rex still comes out between a monkey and a baboon in estimated numbers of neurons and thus cognitive capacity. That’s still an order of magnitude above what it would have if a brain that size were made like in cold-blooded ectotherms, which would be between cats and dogs.

[@TheVividen]

@@suzanaherculano That's great information. I look forward to hearing more on your channel! This was a fascinating study, and I'm interested in seeing where it takes the discussion on paleoneurology. I actually made a video last week describing the study. It's titled "Paleontology News: Theropod Dinosaurs Were As Smart As Primates And Developed Culture." Would you be willing to evaluate the video and fill in any gaps that I may have missed through a comment? I want to make sure to accurately portray your work.

[@suzanaherculano]

Happy to check out your video! Paste the link here

[@TheVividen]

@@suzanaherculano kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJS4mJecjdF1gZI Please enjoy!

[@vanialmmarinelli4047]

I see that your research continues, since your last book... Which is very exciting. Wonderful program!

[@eksffa]

Hello prof SHH, There is this paper DOI j.cell.2021.02.050 (which cites at least twice your works) ascribing evolutionary importance of ZEB2 in human brain size. How does it relate to your video in the sense of wether ZEB2 plays the same role on other mammals and how it’s different on humans?

[@chrisrandom1404]

Interesting video. Will be following.

[@pumaconcolor2855]

Hello, this is very interesting and I'd like to ask a couple of questions. It's possible to find in literature figures much higher for various cetacean species than what you list in this video: 12.8 B total neocortical neuron for the common minke whale (Eriksen, Pakkenberg, 2007), 37.2 B neurons In the neocortex the long-finned pilot whale (Mortensen, Pakkenberg et al., 2014) and 43.1 B total number of neurons in the neocortex for killer whales (Ridgway, Brownson et al., 2019). First of all am I correct to consider that terminology equivalent to the one you use? If it's so, what do you make of those figures?

[@suzanaherculano]

Poor methodology and gross undersampling, unfortunately. Their sampling window is so tiny that it may or may not contain a SINGLE neuron. Your numbers will be conflated by volume, that way. We have numbers for the Minke whale, to come out soon: about 3 billion in the cortex, exactly what you would expect for a cetartiodactyl like we estimated in Kazu et al. 2014.

[@pumaconcolor2855]

@@suzanaherculano Thank you for taking the time to answer.

[@zaira4portela]

Nossa prêmio Nobel Brasil ❤

[@coin321ify]

I need to pause the screen on your name, and spell it a couple of times.

[@DrRuthN]

Are associative neurons a different quality of newtons or they just act differently? I hope my question makes sense. It’s most of it new to me. In your soup, counting brains, if you had the means to look at the neurons so close but not see they working, could you tell which ones are likely associative, motor and so on? Are dentrites longer, do they have different shapes, are axions different, are they topologically different, is there a difference we could tell if we could not observe they firing?

[@suzanaherculano]

Hi Ruth, associative neurons are those that are neither sensory nor effector (I explain that in my Crash Course!), so they add flexibility to behavior. You would tell them by the part of the brain that you’re looking at. Prefrontal cortex in mammals is purely associative cortex, for example.

[@ElisaAssis-tc3sx]

Q mulher fantástica

[@011keepers]

Does this translate to amphibians, fish and invertebrates?

[@suzanaherculano]

Numbers of neurons in the other vertebrates are not out yet. I’m waiting for Pavel Nemec to publish them :)

[@heavensophia9382]

Those animals don't need more neurons to operate their bodies because they are just e.g. a crocodile instead of a primate i.e. they're just a big mouth that flops around biting things. It's like comparing a roomba to Boston Dynamics' Atlas.

[@011keepers]

But Crocodiles, van Kearney and adapt as they have been seen setting up traps to attract birds, they have child care, and other fun things

[@heavensophia9382]

@@011keepers Yes, exactly, it does _those_ things _without even_ a large brain, not for operating a large body so much since it doesn't need precise movements. This is why EQ accounts for different factors than brain to body mass alone. Even chimps do not have precise control of their bodies compared to humans.

[@zaira4portela]

❤🎉😮