Category Archives: Evolution

The Origin of Mind: Evolution of Brain, Cognition, and General Intelligence

Posted on January 29, 2021 by Giorgio Bertini

Darwin considered an understanding of the evolution of the human mind and brain to be of major importance to the evolutionary sciences. This groundbreaking book sets out a comprehensive, integrated theory of why and how the human mind has developed … Continue reading →

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How evolutionary principles improve the understanding of human health and disease

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Giorgio Bertini

An appreciation of the fundamental principles of evolutionary biology provides new insights into major diseases and enables an integrated understanding of human biology and medicine. However, there is a lack of awareness of their importance amongst physicians, medical researchers, and … Continue reading →

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Happiness and the Evolution of Brain Size

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Giorgio Bertini

Study reveals a new role for serotonin in the development of the human neocortex. Serotonin acts cell-extrinsically as a growth factor for basal progenitors in the developing neocortex. Researchers report placenta-driven serotonin likely contributed to the evolutionary expansion of the … Continue reading →

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Evolution as a self-organized critical phenomenon

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Giorgio Bertini

We present a simple mathematical model of biological macroevolution. The model describes an ecology of adapting, interacting species. The environment of any given species is affected by other evolving species; hence, it is not constant in time. The ecology as … Continue reading →

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How self-organization can guide evolution

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Giorgio Bertini

Self-organization and natural selection are fundamental forces that shape the natural world. Substantial progress in understanding how these forces interact has been made through the study of abstract models. Further progress may be made by identifying a model system in … Continue reading →

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Darwin without Malthus: The Russian Evolutionary Thought

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Giorgio Bertini

The first book in English to examine in detail the scientific work of 19th-century Russian evolutionists, and the first in any language to explore the relationship of their theories to their economic, political, and natural milieu. This book addresses one … Continue reading →

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The evolutionary neurobiology, emergence and facilitation of empathy

Posted on June 30, 2020 by Giorgio Bertini

Mutual aid between and among members of a species may be the most potent force in evolution. This was the position taken by the Russian evolutionists who proposed that greater emphasis be placed on ‘mutual aid’ than on ‘survival of … Continue reading →

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Brain-imaging modern people making Stone Age tools hints at evolution of human intelligence

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Giorgio Bertini

How did humans get to be so smart, and when did this happen? To untangle this question, we need to know more about the intelligence of our human ancestors who lived 1.8 million years ago. It was at this point … Continue reading →

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How did primate brains get so big?

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Giorgio Bertini

University of Florida paleontologists found clues in the remarkably preserved skulls of adapiforms, lemur-like primates that scurried around the tropical forests of Wyoming about 50 million years ago. Thought to be a link between primitive and advanced primates, their fossil … Continue reading →

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Evolution Runs Faster on Short Timescales

Posted on September 13, 2017 by Giorgio Bertini

Examine evolution over the course of years or centuries, and you’ll find that it progresses much more quickly than it does over geologic time. Now the oldest viruses on the planet are enabling scientists to calibrate this evolutionary clock. In … Continue reading →

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