Braindance

About this book

"In this revised edition Dean Falk re-examines her search on how the human brain evolved and reveals how this process continues to impact our species." "Falk evaluates the conditions and circumstances that allowed a group of apelike individuals to evolve, over a period of 5 to 7 million years, into Homo sapiens and discusses the evolution of visual skills, right-handedness, language ability, right-brain/left-brain and male/female differences - and the uniquely human ability to dance. The specifics of how we tapped, toed, and twisted through the prehistoric "brain dance" form the story line of this book." "Falk explains how the act of walking upright permitted brain size to begin increasing dramatically in our early ancestors. Her "radiator theory" demonstrates that once they developed the ability to cool cranial blood through vascular changes associated with bi-pedalism, the constraint that limited brain size disappeared. And what did 2 million years of bigger brains produce? The last chapter summarizes Falk's ideas on human cognitive and conscious capacities for the future."--BOOK JACKET.