Brains, Brains, Brains

The figure below contains the brains of 9 different animals.

[brain montage]

(This figure was reproduced with the permission of Dr. Wally Welker of the Mammalian Brain Collection at the University of Wisconsin)

Now that you have seen these brains, ask yourself the following questions.

  1. What are their similarities and differences between the brains?
  2. What are their relative sizes?
  3. Identify areas of the brain. Cortex? Cerebellum?
  4. Are their noticeable differences in any particular parts of the brains?
  5. Is the cortex smooth or rough?
  6. Compare the placement of the cerebellum and spinal cord.
  7. Compare the size of olfactory bulb.
  8. Compare the size of cerebral cortex.
  9. Discuss brain weight vs body weight issues.
  10. Discuss brain size and intelligence.
  11. Discuss language and brain size.
  12. Discuss cortical expansion in higher species.

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