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verklingen · 07-11-2008, 10:36 AM

i read up on these cells some because the article intrigued me, wikipedia has a bunch of info: Spindle neuron - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

the gist of it is that the cells developed in primates around 15 million years ago, and in the cetaceans 30 million years ago. since we split from our last common ancestor 95 million years ago, it points to an independent development of these cells. how they came up with those figures is absolutely beyond me, though. it makes sense that larger, more intricate brains would have to develop speedier methods of transmitting information. maybe a spindle-shaped neuron is the logical route that development would take.

evolution adapts to circumstance, and i personally think there are certain adaptations which species are very likely to exhibit when they reach a certain point. in this case, the development of intelligence requires a rewiring of the brain to facilitate the brain processes we recognize as being indicative of "intelligence." when we were developing intelligence our brains faced the same dilemma the whales faced when developing their intelligence. perhaps it just so happened that a spindle-shaped neuron was the most accessible developmental avenue. as the article states dolphins obviously exhibit signs of intelligence but don't have the spindle neurons, despite being at least as intelligence as chimpanzees (which do have the spindle neurons). they might have taken advantage of other such avenues which await our discovery.

07-11-2008, 10:36 AM	#143 (permalink)
verklingen what is Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: in the sun Posts: 5,763 Thanks: 211 Thanked 521 Times in 306 Posts	i read up on these cells some because the article intrigued me, wikipedia has a bunch of info: Spindle neuron - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia the gist of it is that the cells developed in primates around 15 million years ago, and in the cetaceans 30 million years ago. since we split from our last common ancestor 95 million years ago, it points to an independent development of these cells. how they came up with those figures is absolutely beyond me, though. it makes sense that larger, more intricate brains would have to develop speedier methods of transmitting information. maybe a spindle-shaped neuron is the logical route that development would take. evolution adapts to circumstance, and i personally think there are certain adaptations which species are very likely to exhibit when they reach a certain point. in this case, the development of intelligence requires a rewiring of the brain to facilitate the brain processes we recognize as being indicative of "intelligence." when we were developing intelligence our brains faced the same dilemma the whales faced when developing their intelligence. perhaps it just so happened that a spindle-shaped neuron was the most accessible developmental avenue. as the article states dolphins obviously exhibit signs of intelligence but don't have the spindle neurons, despite being at least as intelligence as chimpanzees (which do have the spindle neurons). they might have taken advantage of other such avenues which await our discovery. __________________ you can't explain the rules of tennis to a dog, but he runs after it and plays with it...like the dog playing with the ball, we don't have the necessary tools needed to interpret the afterlife..until we get there, then a whole new universe is given to us. Perhaps 200 billion light years away, there's the next phase of our existance..Remember you cannot destroy energy, which is all we are... -matthew munari rip matt Last edited by verklingen; 07-11-2008 at 10:42 AM.