by Stephen C Cunnane (Research Center on Aging, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada)

Table of Contents (38k)
Preface (110k)
Chapter 1: Human Evolution: A Brief Overview (773k)

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.

• 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