Short-term memory, attentional control and brain size in primates
van Schaik, Carel P. ; Jacobs, Ivo LU
; Burkart, Judith M.
; Sauciuc, Gabriela-Alina
LU
; Schuppli, Caroline
; Persson, Tomas
LU
and Song, Zitan
(2024)
In Royal Society Open Science
11(5).
p.1-11
- Abstract
- Brain size variability in primates has been attributed to various domain-specific socio-ecological factors. A recently published large-scale study of short-term memory abilities in 41 primate species [1] did not find any correlations with 11 different proxies of external cognitive demands. Here we found that the interspecific variation in test performance shows correlated evolution with total brain size, with the relationship becoming tighter as species with small sample sizes were successively removed, whereas it was not predicted by the often-used encephalization quotient (EQ). In a subsample, we also found that the sizes of brain region thought to be involved in short-term memory did not predict performance better than did overall brain... (More)
- Brain size variability in primates has been attributed to various domain-specific socio-ecological factors. A recently published large-scale study of short-term memory abilities in 41 primate species [1] did not find any correlations with 11 different proxies of external cognitive demands. Here we found that the interspecific variation in test performance shows correlated evolution with total brain size, with the relationship becoming tighter as species with small sample sizes were successively removed, whereas it was not predicted by the often-used encephalization quotient (EQ). In a subsample, we also found that the sizes of brain region thought to be involved in short-term memory did not predict performance better than did overall brain size. The dependence on brain size suggests that domain-general cognitive processes underlie short-term memory as tested in [1]. These results support the emerging notion that comparative studies of brain size do not generally identify domain-specific cognitive adaptations, but rather reveal varying selection on domain-general cognitive abilities. Finally, because attentional processes beyond short-term memory also affected test performance, we suggest that the delayed response test can be refined. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1c3eaca1-5e9e-4194-8d62-499f10b04b65
- author
- van Schaik, Carel P.
; Jacobs, Ivo
LU
; Burkart, Judith M.
; Sauciuc, Gabriela-Alina
LU
; Schuppli, Caroline
; Persson, Tomas
LU
and Song, Zitan
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-05-15
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Royal Society Open Science
- volume
- 11
- issue
- 5
- article number
- 231541
- pages
- 11 pages
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85193927199
- pmid:39076802
- ISSN
- 2054-5703
- DOI
- 10.1098/rsos.231541
- project
- Pyrocognition: the evolution of understanding fire and cooking
- Where does human cooperation come from? The evolutionary origins of the ability to infer shared goals and motivations
- The order of things: the evolution of sequential planning
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 1c3eaca1-5e9e-4194-8d62-499f10b04b65
- date added to LUP
- 2023-10-13 11:44:59
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 15:28:36
@article{1c3eaca1-5e9e-4194-8d62-499f10b04b65,
abstract = {{Brain size variability in primates has been attributed to various domain-specific socio-ecological factors. A recently published large-scale study of short-term memory abilities in 41 primate species [1] did not find any correlations with 11 different proxies of external cognitive demands. Here we found that the interspecific variation in test performance shows correlated evolution with total brain size, with the relationship becoming tighter as species with small sample sizes were successively removed, whereas it was not predicted by the often-used encephalization quotient (EQ). In a subsample, we also found that the sizes of brain region thought to be involved in short-term memory did not predict performance better than did overall brain size. The dependence on brain size suggests that domain-general cognitive processes underlie short-term memory as tested in [1]. These results support the emerging notion that comparative studies of brain size do not generally identify domain-specific cognitive adaptations, but rather reveal varying selection on domain-general cognitive abilities. Finally, because attentional processes beyond short-term memory also affected test performance, we suggest that the delayed response test can be refined.}},
author = {{van Schaik, Carel P. and Jacobs, Ivo and Burkart, Judith M. and Sauciuc, Gabriela-Alina and Schuppli, Caroline and Persson, Tomas and Song, Zitan}},
issn = {{2054-5703}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{05}},
number = {{5}},
pages = {{1--11}},
publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
series = {{Royal Society Open Science}},
title = {{Short-term memory, attentional control and brain size in primates}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.231541}},
doi = {{10.1098/rsos.231541}},
volume = {{11}},
year = {{2024}},
}