Suzana Herculano-Houzel (1972-) The Human Advantage (2016)
A New Understanding of How Our Brain Became Remarkable
7. What Cortical Expansion?
...Because the first mammals to evolve were small, the increasing relative mass of the cerebral cortex with increasing brain mass is the basis for the notion that, in the course of its evolution, the cortex has undergone both an absolute and a relative expansion, slowly taking over brain mass-and, supposedly, brain functions as well-in primates and nonprimates alike. This is an important concept: because the cerebral cortex receives information from the rest of brain and elaborates on it, adding a whole other level of complexity, an expansion of the cerebral cortex relative to all other parts of the brain, in principle, means that the larger brains become, the more capable they are of complex and flexible functions and behaviors beyond simply operating the body.
7. What Cortical Expansion?
...Because the first mammals to evolve were small, the increasing relative mass of the cerebral cortex with increasing brain mass is the basis for the notion that, in the course of its evolution, the cortex has undergone both an absolute and a relative expansion, slowly taking over brain mass-and, supposedly, brain functions as well-in primates and nonprimates alike. This is an important concept: because the cerebral cortex receives information from the rest of brain and elaborates on it, adding a whole other level of complexity, an expansion of the cerebral cortex relative to all other parts of the brain, in principle, means that the larger brains become, the more capable they are of complex and flexible functions and behaviors beyond simply operating the body.