encephalization

plural encephalizations · alternative encephalisation

1. biologyThe amount of brain mass exceeding that related to an animal's total bodymass.

   It is believed that the encephalization of early Homo was made possible by the consumption of energy- and nutrient-rich animal foods to "pay" for its metabolically expensive brain.

   1999 January 15, Matt Sponheimer, Julia A. Lee-Thorp, “Isotopic Evidence for the Diet of an Early Hominid, Australopithecus africanus”, in Science, volume 283, number 5400, →DOI, pages 368–370

   2 more examples

   The answer to this will determine the encephalization quotients of the two types of early hominids, which is an important indicator of relative "braininess," an issue that is now up for grabs.

   1998 June 12, Dean Falk, “PALEONTOLOGY: Hominid Brain Evolution: Looks Can Be Deceiving”, in Science, volume 280, number 5370, →DOI

   The time spent in REM sleep is not correlated with learning ability across humans, nor is there a positive relation between REM sleep time or intensity and encephalization across species.

   2001 November 2, Jerome M. Siegel, “The REM Sleep-Memory Consolidation Hypothesis”, in Science, volume 294, number 5544, →DOI, pages 1058–1063