How did humans evolve larger and more sophisticated brains?

In general, evolution depends on a special combination of circumstances: part genetics, part time, and part environment. In the case of human brain evolution, the main environmental influence was adaptation to a ‘shore-based’ diet, which provided the world’s richest source of nutrition, as well as a sedentary lifestyle that promoted fat deposition. Such a diet included shellfish, fish, marsh plants, frogs, bird’s eggs, etc. Humans and, and more importantly, hominid babies started to get fat, a crucial distinction that led to the development of larger brains and to the evolution of modern humans. A larger brain is expensive to maintain and this increasing demand for energy results in, succinctly, survival of the fattest.

Contents:

• The Human Brain: Unique Yet Vulnerable:
• Human Evolution: A Brief Overview
• The Human Brain: Evolution of Larger Size and Plasticity
• Defining Characteristics: Vulnerability and High Energy Requirement
• Fatness in Human Babies: Insurance for the Developing Brain
• Nutrition: The Key to Normal Human Brain Development
• Iodine: The Primary Brain Selective Nutrient
• Iron, Copper, Zinc and Selenium: The Other Brain Selective Minerals
• Docosahexaenoic Acid: The Brain Selective Fatty Acid
• The Shore-Based Scenario:
• Genes, Brain Function and Human Brain Evolution
• Bringing the Environment and Diet into Play
• The Shore-Based Scenario: Why Survival Misses the Point
• Earlier Versions
• The Evidence
• How Would It Work?
• Survival of the Fattest

“The nutritionist's perspective that brings energy, fatty acid metabolism, and nutrition to the fore makes this account a provocative and fast-paced one. Readers will be challenged and intrigued by this well thought-out volume.”

“Anyone interested in how humans evolved will find much of interest in this book ... the main thread of the argument seems so plausible that many readers will want to delve further by way of a number of the items listed in the bibliography.”

"This book is full of interesting facts about our brains and about nutrition and brain and body biochemistry. Cunnane weaves a very complex and multi-faceted hypothesis systematically and relatively clearly ... I found the book thought-provoking. It shares data and ideas that are relatively novel and interesting ..."