Bigger not necessarily better, when it comes to brains

  MP3   print   bilingual 

According to experts from Queen's Mary Centre for Psychology and the University of Cambridge, a bigger brain doesn't mean more intelligence. Even tiny insects are capable of some intelligent behaviours, for example honeybees can count, classify things that look similar like dogs or human faces and tell when a shape is symmetrical or not.

Animal brains hugely vary in size. The brain of a whale may reach 9 kg, that of a human weighs up to 1.45 kg, whereas a honeybee's brain weighs just one milligram. Bulky brains are certainly more precise and far better at going into details. However, a bigger brain is not more complex than a small one, it's just a repetition of the same neural circuits over and over. To use a computer analogy, bigger brains are like bigger hard drives, not necessarily better processors.

This must mean that advanced thinking can be achieved with a relative small number of brain cells. Counting could require just a few hundred and a few thousands might be enough to generate consciousness. Engineers now expect to be able to apply this type of research in building computers with the ability to recognise facial expressions and emotions.

Adapted from Science Daily, November 18th, 2009 · Level: B1

COMPREHENSION
Hover mouse over each question to check

---

• True or False?
  
  1. Intelligence requires a bigger brain
  2. Human brains are the biggest
  3. A brain that weighs one milligram is capable of intelligent behaviour
  4. Precision depends on the size of the brain
  5. Several thousand brain cells are necessary for such a simple task as counting
  
  
• Questions
  
  1. What type of intelligent behaviour can honeybees have?
  2. How much does a whale's brain weigh?
  3. What are bigger brains better at?
  4. How many brain cells are necessary for advanced thinking?
  5. What do engineers want to do in the future?
  
  
• Find in the text
  
  1. The organ used to make thoughts (n)
  2. Alike (adj)
  3. A large mammal that lives in the ocean
  4. Again and again (expr)
  5. Sufficient (adj)