A <i>Review</i> of Effects of Environment on Brain Size in Insects
Brain size fascinates society as well as researchers since it is a measure often associated with intelligence and was used to define species with high “intellectual capabilities”. In general, brain size is correlated with body size. However, there are disparities in terms of relative brain size betw...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Insects |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/5/461 |
| _version_ | 1797533873457856512 |
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| author | Thomas Carle |
| author_facet | Thomas Carle |
| author_sort | Thomas Carle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Brain size fascinates society as well as researchers since it is a measure often associated with intelligence and was used to define species with high “intellectual capabilities”. In general, brain size is correlated with body size. However, there are disparities in terms of relative brain size between species that may be explained by several factors such as the complexity of social behaviour, the ‘social brain hypothesis’, or learning and memory capabilities. These disparities are used to classify species according to an ‘encephalization quotient’. However, environment also has an important role on the development and evolution of brain size. In this review, I summarise the recent studies looking at the effects of environment on brain size in insects, and introduce the idea that the role of environment might be mediated through the relationship between olfaction and vision. I also discussed this idea with studies that contradict this way of thinking. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:21:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4fa85bc979b0464786e6aa7b77e30876 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:21:51Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-4fa85bc979b0464786e6aa7b77e308762023-11-21T19:59:45ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502021-05-0112546110.3390/insects12050461A <i>Review</i> of Effects of Environment on Brain Size in InsectsThomas Carle0Faculty of Biology, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 819-0395, JapanBrain size fascinates society as well as researchers since it is a measure often associated with intelligence and was used to define species with high “intellectual capabilities”. In general, brain size is correlated with body size. However, there are disparities in terms of relative brain size between species that may be explained by several factors such as the complexity of social behaviour, the ‘social brain hypothesis’, or learning and memory capabilities. These disparities are used to classify species according to an ‘encephalization quotient’. However, environment also has an important role on the development and evolution of brain size. In this review, I summarise the recent studies looking at the effects of environment on brain size in insects, and introduce the idea that the role of environment might be mediated through the relationship between olfaction and vision. I also discussed this idea with studies that contradict this way of thinking.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/5/461brain sizeenvironmentevolution |
| spellingShingle | Thomas Carle A <i>Review</i> of Effects of Environment on Brain Size in Insects Insects brain size environment evolution |
| title | A <i>Review</i> of Effects of Environment on Brain Size in Insects |
| title_full | A <i>Review</i> of Effects of Environment on Brain Size in Insects |
| title_fullStr | A <i>Review</i> of Effects of Environment on Brain Size in Insects |
| title_full_unstemmed | A <i>Review</i> of Effects of Environment on Brain Size in Insects |
| title_short | A <i>Review</i> of Effects of Environment on Brain Size in Insects |
| title_sort | i review i of effects of environment on brain size in insects |
| topic | brain size environment evolution |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/5/461 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT thomascarle aireviewiofeffectsofenvironmentonbrainsizeininsects AT thomascarle ireviewiofeffectsofenvironmentonbrainsizeininsects |