Insects could be as smart as mammals, say scientists

Published on Tuesday 17 November 2009 19:18

INSECTS with minuscule brains may be as intelligent as much bigger animals, it was claimed yesterday.

Having a brain the size of a pinhead does not necessarily make you less bright, say researchers.

Computer simulations show that even consciousness could be generated in neural circuits tiny enough to fit into an insect's brain, according to the scientists at Queen Mary, University of London and Cambridge University.

The models suggest that counting ability could be achieved with just a few hundred nerve cells, it is claimed. And a few thousand would be sufficient to make an animal a conscious being, rather than an automated "living robot".

"Animals with bigger brains are not necessarily more intelligent," said Professor Lars Chittka, from Queen Mary's Research Centre for Psychology, writing in the journal Current Biology.

"We know that body size is the single best way to predict an animal's brain size. However, contrary to popular belief, we can't say that brain size predicts their capacity for intelligent behaviour.

"In bigger brains we often don't find more complexity, just an endless repetition of the same neural circuits over and over."