Cellular Scaling Rules for Primate Brains

Overview

Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Specialty Science

Date 2007 Mar 16

PMID 17360682

Citations 148

Authors

Suzana Herculano-Houzel

Christine E Collins

Peiyan Wong

Jon H Kaas

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Primates are usually found to have richer behavioral repertoires and better cognitive abilities than rodents of similar brain size. This finding raises the possibility that primate brains differ from rodent brains in their cellular composition. Here we examine the cellular scaling rules for primate brains and show that brain size increases approximately isometrically as a function of cell numbers, such that an 11x larger brain is built with 10x more neurons and approximately 12x more nonneuronal cells of relatively constant average size. This isometric function is in contrast to rodent brains, which increase faster in size than in numbers of neurons. As a consequence of the linear cellular scaling rules, primate brains have a larger number of neurons than rodent brains of similar size, presumably endowing them with greater computational power and cognitive abilities.

Citing Articles

NSF Workshop Report: Exploring Measurements and Interpretations of Intelligent Behaviors Across Animal Model Systems.

Gogola J, Joyce M, Vijayraghavan S, Barnum G, Wildenberg G J Comp Neurol. 2025; 533(3):e70035.

PMID: 40038068 PMC: 11879920. DOI: 10.1002/cne.70035.

Quantifying the configurational complexity of biological systems in multivariate 'complexity space'.

Rock T, Wills M J R Soc Interface. 2025; 22(222):20240558.

PMID: 39875092 PMC: 11774595. DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2024.0558.

The Impact of Short-Term Formalin Fixation on Weight and Ventricular Dimensions in the Hearts of Cats and Small-to-Medium-Sized Dogs.

Janus-Ziolkowska I, Bubak J Vet Sci. 2025; 12(1.

PMID: 39852949 PMC: 11769201. DOI: 10.3390/vetsci12010074.

Cortical areas associated to higher cognition drove primate brain evolution.

Melchionna M, Castiglione S, Girardi G, Profico A, Mondanaro A, Sansalone G Commun Biol. 2025; 8(1):80.

PMID: 39827196 PMC: 11742917. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-025-07505-1.

Expansion of a conserved architecture drives the evolution of the primate visual cortex.

Meyer E, Martynek M, Kastner S, Livingstone M, Arcaro M Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025; 122(3):e2421585122.

PMID: 39805017 PMC: 11761675. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2421585122.

References

Douglas R, Martin K . Neuronal circuits of the neocortex. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2004; 27:419-51. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144152. View

Stephan H, FRAHM H, Baron G . New and revised data on volumes of brain structures in insectivores and primates. Folia Primatol (Basel). 1981; 35(1):1-29. DOI: 10.1159/000155963. View

Kriegstein A, Noctor S, Martinez-Cerdeno V . Patterns of neural stem and progenitor cell division may underlie evolutionary cortical expansion. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2006; 7(11):883-90. DOI: 10.1038/nrn2008. View

CRAGG B . The density of synapses and neurones in the motor and visual areas of the cerebral cortex. J Anat. 1967; 101(Pt 4):639-54. PMC: 1270900. View

FRIEDE R . [Quantitative share of the glia in development of the cortex]. Acta Anat (Basel). 1954; 20(3):290-6. View

TOWER D, ELLIOTT K . Activity of acetylcholine system in cerebral cortex of various unanesthetized mammals. Am J Physiol. 1952; 168(3):747-59. DOI: 10.1152/ajplegacy.1952.168.3.747. View

Hawkins A, Olszewski J . Glia/nerve cell index for cortex of the whale. Science. 1957; 126(3263):76-7. DOI: 10.1126/science.126.3263.76. View

Nedergaard M, Ransom B, Goldman S . New roles for astrocytes: redefining the functional architecture of the brain. Trends Neurosci. 2003; 26(10):523-30. DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2003.08.008. View

Haug H . Brain sizes, surfaces, and neuronal sizes of the cortex cerebri: a stereological investigation of man and his variability and a comparison with some mammals (primates, whales, marsupials, insectivores, and one elephant). Am J Anat. 1987; 180(2):126-42. DOI: 10.1002/aja.1001800203. View

10.

Herculano-Houzel S, Lent R . Isotropic fractionator: a simple, rapid method for the quantification of total cell and neuron numbers in the brain. J Neurosci. 2005; 25(10):2518-21. PMC: 6725175. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4526-04.2005. View

11.

Zhang H, Miller R . Density-dependent feedback inhibition of oligodendrocyte precursor expansion. J Neurosci. 1996; 16(21):6886-95. PMC: 6579258. View

12.

TOWER D . Structural and functional organization of mammalian cerebral cortex; the correlation of neurone density with brain size; cortical neurone density in the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus L.) with a note on the cortical neurone density in the Indian.... J Comp Neurol. 1954; 101(1):19-51. DOI: 10.1002/cne.901010103. View

13.

Martin R . Relative brain size and basal metabolic rate in terrestrial vertebrates. Nature. 1981; 293(5827):57-60. DOI: 10.1038/293057a0. View

14.

Leiner H, Leiner A, Dow R . The human cerebro-cerebellar system: its computing, cognitive, and language skills. Behav Brain Res. 1991; 44(2):113-28. DOI: 10.1016/s0166-4328(05)80016-6. View

15.

Reichenbach A . Glia:neuron index: review and hypothesis to account for different values in various mammals. Glia. 1989; 2(2):71-7. DOI: 10.1002/glia.440020202. View

16.

Elston G, Benavides-Piccione R, Elston A, Zietsch B, DeFelipe J, Manger P . Specializations of the granular prefrontal cortex of primates: implications for cognitive processing. Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol. 2005; 288(1):26-35. DOI: 10.1002/ar.a.20278. View

17.

SHARIFF G . Cell counts in the primate cerebral cortex. J Comp Neurol. 1953; 98(3):381-400. DOI: 10.1002/cne.900980302. View

18.

Gittins R, Harrison P . Neuronal density, size and shape in the human anterior cingulate cortex: a comparison of Nissl and NeuN staining. Brain Res Bull. 2004; 63(2):155-60. DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2004.02.005. View

19.

Sultan F . Analysis of mammalian brain architecture. Nature. 2002; 415(6868):133-4. DOI: 10.1038/415133b. View

20.

Mullen R, Buck C, Smith A . NeuN, a neuronal specific nuclear protein in vertebrates. Development. 1992; 116(1):201-11. DOI: 10.1242/dev.116.1.201. View