Ratio of central nervous system to body metabolism in vertebrates: its constancy and functional basis
Open accessAbstract
We present and document an hypothesis that healthy adults of most vertebrate species use 2-8% of their basal metabolism for the central nervous system (CNS). This relationship is constant across all classes of vertebrates, as we found by examining data from 42 species, including 3 fish, 3 amphibia, 2 reptiles, 6 birds, and 28 mammals. To explain its constancy, we hypothesize that an optimal functional relationship between the energy requirements of an animal's executor system (muscle metabolism) and its control system (CNS metabolism) was established early in vertebrate evolution. Three types of exceptional cases are discussed in terms of the hypothesis: very large animals, domesticated animals, and primates.
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The metabolic rate per gram of neural tissue generally decreases with larger brain size, so the human brain is more energetically efficient than smaller-brained primate species.
“At the same time, because the metabolic rate per gram of neural tissue generally decreases with larger brain size, the human brain is more energetically efficient than that in smaller-brained primate species (3).”
From Evolution of increased glia–neuron ratios in the human frontal cortex (2006) · cites this paper as [3]
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References 61 · Cited by 597
- Authors
- Mink, J. W., Blumenschine, R. J., & Adams, D. B.
- Affiliations
- Wesleyan University (US)
- Venue
- American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology
- Publisher
- American Physiological Society
- Published
- 1981-09-01
- Volume
- 241
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- R203-R212
- ISSN
- 0363-6119 (ISSN-L)
- 1522-1490
- OpenAlex
- W1823461212
- Cited by
- 597
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 48 · 2022: 52 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 48 · 2017: 36 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 29 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 2.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- works.bepress.com
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion)
- WesScholar (Wesleyan University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- WESLEYAN
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Physiological and biochemical adaptations
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Biomedical and Chemical Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Adipose Tissue and Metabolism
- Keywords
- central nervous system metabolism, basal metabolic rate, vertebrate evolution, muscle metabolism, energy allocation, comparative physiology, large animals, domestic animals, primates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals
- MeSH terms
- Amphibians, Animals, Birds, Brain, Fishes, Mammals, Species Specificity, Vertebrates
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