Deaner Robert O, Isler Karin, Burkart Judith, van Schaik Carel
Department of Psychology, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, USA.
Brain Behav Evol. 2007;70(2):115-24. doi: 10.1159/000102973. Epub 2007 May 18.
For over a century, various neuroanatomical measures have been employed as assays of cognitive ability in comparative studies. Nevertheless, it is still unclear whether these measures actually correspond to cognitive ability. A recent meta-analysis of cognitive performance of a broad set of primate species has made it possible to provide a quantitative estimate of general cognitive ability across primates. We find that this estimate is not strongly correlated with neuroanatomical measures that statistically control for a possible effect of body size, such as encephalization quotient or brain size residuals. Instead, absolute brain size measures were the best predictors of primate cognitive ability. Moreover, there was no indication that neocortex-based measures were superior to measures based on the whole brain. The results of previous comparative studies on the evolution of intelligence must be reviewed with this conclusion in mind.
一个多世纪以来，在比较研究中，各种神经解剖学测量方法一直被用作认知能力的测定指标。然而，这些测量方法是否真的与认知能力相对应仍不清楚。最近对一系列灵长类物种认知表现的荟萃分析，使得对灵长类动物的一般认知能力进行定量估计成为可能。我们发现，这种估计与那些对身体大小的可能影响进行统计控制的神经解剖学测量方法，如脑化商或脑容量残差，并没有强烈的相关性。相反，绝对脑容量测量是灵长类动物认知能力的最佳预测指标。此外，没有迹象表明基于新皮层的测量方法优于基于全脑的测量方法。必须牢记这一结论来重新审视以往关于智力进化的比较研究结果。
