Did walking upright make humans smart?

Date: May-28-2014Watching their grandson and son learning to walk inspired a father and son academic

team from the University of Sydney in Australia to write a paper that suggests standing up

enabled humans to become smarter than other animals. They propose that bipedality - or walking on

two legs - changed the human brain by liberating the cortex from the drudge of controlling routine

tasks.

Dr. Mac Shine, a neurology researcher at the University's Brain and Mind Research Institute and

his father, Rick Shine, Professor in Evolutionary Biology, describe how they came to their

conclusions in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.

Tyler Shine, now 2 years old, is the inspiration behind his father and grandfather's ideas.

When he was first learning to walk, they noticed how every step required the toddler's full

attention.

But soon, as walking became routine, Tyler began to pay attention to his surroundings. He was

also able to balance better, which helped free up his attention and focus on more interesting

tasks.

As they observed Tyler's improved ability to walk and focus on his environment, and increased

capacity to engage in mischievous behavior, the Shine team developed the idea that Tyler was

transferring control of balance to "lower" parts of his brain. This released the cortex from the

drudge of routine, lower order processes, freeing it up to focus on unpredictable challenges such

as obstacles.

Tyler's father, Dr. Shine, says that at first all complicated tasks - for example driving a car

or playing an instrument - take up our full attention, but they eventually become routine.

"Studies of brain function suggest that we shift the control of these routine tasks down to

'lower' areas of the brain, such as the basal ganglia and the cerebellum," he explains. "So,

humans are smart because we have automated the routine tasks; and thus, can devote our most potent

mental faculties to deal with new, unpredictable challenges."

Walking on two legs prompted evolutionary shift in way we use our brains

He and his father propose that the change from walking on all fours to walking on two legs - bipedality - was

the key event in the early history of humans that prompted a change in the way we use our brains.

Dr. Shine believes that when our first pre-human ancestors started walking on two legs, it put evolutionary pressure not only on the body, but also on the brain.

Dr. Shine says suddenly the human brain was faced with the complex challenge of keeping

balance, "and the best kind of brain to have, was one that didn't waste its most powerful

functions on controlling routine tasks."

So he and his father believe that when our first pre-human ancestors started walking on two

legs, it put evolutionary pressure not only on the body, but also on the brain.

They postulate that the onset of walking on two legs posed "massive neurocomputational

challenges" to the brain, and this drove the "rapid expansion of human cognitive capacity."

"Specifically, the ability to rapidly 'delegate' well-learned behaviors into subconscious

processes liberated higher neural centers to be available for flexible, 'online' processing of

fitness-relevant stimuli," they note, adding that:

"Our ideas suggest several testable predictions and may clarify not only how human cognitive

systems differ from those of other species, but also how the human brain works both in health and

disease."

Dr. Shine says while new technology allows us to find out more and more about how the brain

works by looking inside it, in order to interpret what we observe, we also need new ideas.

He says he is "delighted" that his son inspired one of these new ideas, and hopes perhaps one

day, when he is watching his own son learning to walk, "we will be much closer to truly

understanding the greatest mystery of human existence: how our brains work."

In 2012, Medical News Today learned of a US study that showed standing babies stay steady when

focused. Researchers from Purdue University suggested that although babies learning to stand

may look wobbly, they are more in control than they appear, especially when they focus on

something they are holding - like a toy. They noted that the extent to which babies sway when

standing reflects how they strategically adapt their posture as they learn about their

environment.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

View all articles written by Catharine, or follow Catharine on:

Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.