UK study sheds light on human brain

Studies carried out at the Cambridge Sanger Institute, with the universities of Keele and Edinburgh, found the differences between connections in the brain may have more to do with intelligence than the organ's size.

We are one step closer to understanding the logic behind the complexity of human brains.

Seth Grant

Head of the genes to cognition programme

Sanger Institute

Past research had supposed the number of cells in the brain made an animal more intelligent than other species, but the new study suggests an increase in the complexity of synapses may have more of an influence.

Researchers at the UK institutions studied the number of junctions in single-celled yeast and the brains of fruit flies and mice, and found the species with more proteins in their synapses were the more intelligent.

Project leader Professor Seth Grant, head of the genes to cognition programme at the Sanger Institute, commented: "This work leads to a new and simple model for understanding the origins and diversity of brains and behaviour in all species.

"We are one step closer to understanding the logic behind the complexity of human brains.

The Sanger Institute is a genetic research facility which was established by The Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council in 1992.

Among other activities, it works to sequence and study the human genome.