e-Science. You need a hole in your head

Research undertaken by Associate Professor Phillip Cassey, Professor Roger Seymour, Dr Edward Snelling and Sophie Angove from the University of Adelaide was highlighted in the latest e-Science Magazine.

It is not known how humans evolved to the state of being able to think and reason because brain metabolic rates have not been able to be measured in living primates such as monkeys and apes. However, in their recent study the researchers were able to find a way of estimating brain metabolic rate from the size of the arteries supplying blood to the brain.

"High metabolic rate correlates with the evolution of greater cognitive ability and complex social behaviour among primates."

Read the full e-Science story.

This research was originally published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.