longer periods of pregnancy and breastfeeding in mammals is associated with an increased brain growth in children, which explains why human babies are still dependent on their mothers for so long, say researchers. They also said that the findings of its study of humans and 127 species of mammals provide evidence that breastfeeding is good for brain development and support the recommendation of the World Health Organization that babies should be fed exclusively with milk mothers during the first six months of life, followed by continued breastfeeding (along with other foods) until the age of two years or more.
Researchers at the University of Durham and the United Kingdom found that brain size in relation to the body stronger relationship with maternal investment, ie the time a mother spends pregnant and breast-feeding period in their children. The duration of pregnancy determines the size of the brain of the offspring at birth and the time spent nursing affects brain growth after birth. For example, humans have nine-month pregnancy, and breastfeed their babies for up to three years. This is necessary to support brain growth, which has an average volume of 1.300 cubic centimeters (cc) in adults. The deer are more or less the same body weight than humans, but Pregnancy only lasts seven months, followed by breast-feeding up to six months.
The adult brain size is 220 cc, six times smaller than the human brain. "We know that large-brained species develop more slowly, mature later and live longer, but it has not always been clear is why the brain and life history are related," he said in a press release University lead researcher and professor of anthropology Robert Barton. "One theory is that larger brains enhance the lifespan by making the animal is usually more flexible in their responses behavioral challenges unpredictable, allowing slower life histories. However, our findings suggest that the slowdown in the life stories directly related to costs instead of the benefits of developing a large brain. The benefits needed to offset those costs could come from other forms, such as improving specific perceptual and cognitive capacities, rather than through some flexibility in general, "he said.
Source Durham University
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