乔治亚理工学院研究人员在《科学进展》杂志发表最新研究，对沿用70年之久的脑进化分层理论提出挑战。1该理论自1950年代以来认为，脑进化是新的理性层级逐步叠加在古老爬虫脑之上的过程。1研究人员通过对182个物种的分析表明，脑进化的实际机制并非如此。1
根据研究发现，脑的演化并不遵循严格的分层模式，而是在两种不同的神经布线方式之间进行权衡。1这两种方式分别是空间映射型（主要见于新皮质）和条形码型（主要见于边缘系统）。1动物根据自身生存需求对这些系统进行选择性扩展或收缩。1
研究以具体物种为例说明这一机制：九带犰狳由于依赖嗅觉生存，因此拥有超大边缘系统；而松鼠猴则依赖视觉能力，其脑部结构由新皮质主导。1该发现有助于解释不同物种间的脑结构差异，并可能为设计更高效的人工智能系统提供灵感。1
乔治亚理工学院研究员Nabil Imam表示："这不是进化生物学家思考问题的方式。"1该研究由美国国家科学基金会资助，康奈尔大学参与合作。1
Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have published findings that challenge a decades-old model of brain evolution. The study, released on August 31, 2026, in Science Advances, disputes the prevailing theory proposed in the 1950s that positioned the brain's development as a hierarchical accumulation of new rational layers built atop an ancient reptilian core.1
Instead, the research team examined data from 182 species and found that brain evolution involves a trade-off between two distinct neural wiring systems: spatial mapping, associated with the neocortex, and barcode-type organization, linked to the limbic system.1 Rather than newer structures simply overlaying older ones, animals expand or contract these systems based on their survival requirements. The nine-banded armadillo, which relies heavily on smell, possesses an exceptionally enlarged limbic system, while the squirrel monkey, which depends on vision, has a brain dominated by the neocortex.1
Nabil Imam, a researcher involved in the work, noted that this understanding "is not how evolutionary biologists think about things."1
The findings may help explain variations in brain structure across species and could inform the design of more efficient artificial intelligence systems.1 The research was conducted in collaboration with Cornell University and supported by the National Science Foundation.1
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