Rapid Brain Expansion Propelled Human Intelligence

Chicago Trib reports on a Chicago study on human brain expansion and intelligence:

The first study of genes that build and operate the brain shows that humans underwent a unique period of rapi brain expansion that endowed them with a special form of intelligence not shared by any other animal, according to University of Chicago researchers.

The colossal leap forward grew the human brain to three or four times the size of that of a chimpanzee -- man's closest genetic relative -- when body sizes are equalized. That vast computing power pushed human intelligence over the threshold of basic instincts and into an unparalleled realm of cognition, self-awareness and consciousness.