Visual specialization and brain evolution in primates
Open accessAbstract
Several theories have been proposed to explain the evolution of species differences in brain size, but no consensus has emerged. One unresolved question is whether brain size differences are a result of neural specializations or of biological constraints affecting the whole brain. Here I show that, among primates, brain size variation is associated with visual specialization. Primates with large brains for their body size have relatively expanded visual brain areas, including the primary visual cortex and lateral geniculate nucleus. Within the visual system, it is, in particular, one functionally specialized pathway upon which selection has acted: evolutionary changes in the number of neurons in parvocellular, but not magnocellular, layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus are correlated with changes in both brain size and ecological variables (diet and social group size). Given the known functions of the parvocellular pathway, these results suggest that the relatively large brains of frugivorous species are products of selection on the ability to perceive and select fruits using specific visual cues such as colour. The separate correlation between group size and visual brain evolution, on the other hand, may indicate the visual basis of social information processing in the primate brain.
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- Authors
- Barton, R. A.
- Affiliations
- Durham University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Barton, R. A.
- ORCID
- Barton, R. A.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Published
- 1998-10-22
- Volume
- 265
- Issue
- 1409
- Pages
- 1933-1937
- ISSN
- 0080-4649 (ISSN-L)
- 0962-8452
- 1471-2954
- PMC
- PMC1689478
- OpenAlex
- W2029305204
- Cited by
- 301
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 22
- FWCI
- 8.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Keywords
- primate brain evolution, brain size, lateral geniculate nucleus, parvocellular pathway, magnocellular pathway, primary visual cortex, frugivory, diet, social group size, color vision, social information processing, neural specialization
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Body Constitution, Brain, Biological Evolution, Food Supply, Geniculate Bodies, Models, Neurological, Organ Size, Primates, Social Behavior, Species Specificity, Visual Cortex
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