This web exhibit was first built in 2000 by Patricia Anne Kinser, Haverford College, under the direction of Paul Grobstein, Bryn Mawr College. The updated version of Comparative Neuroanatomy and Intelligence is now online at http://serendipstudio.org/exchange/brains. This old version has been archived in place, and will continue to be available for teachers and students who are using it.

Home Page

Compare Brains

• Pictures
  
• Similarities
  
• Differences

Compare Brain and Body Sizes

• Brains & Bodies
  
• Equalize body size
  
• Equilize brain size

Compare Brain Structures- Slices and Slides

• Directional terminology
  
• Sagittal cuts
  
• Main structures
  
• The Brain Magnified

The Neuron- Up Close and Personal

• Jello, mush, or neuron?
  
• Neurons in animals
  
• What is a neuron?
• Fun facts

The Question of Intelligence

• Why do we care?
  
• Methods for studying brain & intelligence

Links

Glossary

Bibliography

Degree of magnification	Human	Monkey	Cat	Rat	Frog
4x
10x
20x	to come		to come

What do you notice about these pictures? Do they strike you as particularly similar or different? Perhaps with the exception of the frog cerebellum, you may notice that all of the photomicrographs look quite similar. At the low (4x) and medium (10x) magnification, we see that the organization of the cerebellum looks very similar across all the animals. In addition, even at the highest (20x) magnification, the neurons are apparently quite similar in both the human, monkey, cat, rat, and frog.

A main difference you may have seen is that there are a few larger cells in the monkey cerebellum under high power which are not as obvious in other animals. These are called Purkinje cells (whose axons constitute the sole output from the cerebral cortex). In general, "higher" mammals tend to have more pronounced, distinct Purkinje cells than "lower" mammals. Do you notice that in these pictures?

Go to the HINDBRAIN

Go to the FOREBRAIN

I want to learn more about neurons!!!

Huh? Can we start over?