“The problem is to get inside an animal’s head,” says Lefebvre. “Until now, the focus has all been on brain volume, whole, or of particular parts. But that’s not really where it’s happening. What’s controlling innovation and cognitive ability is not size, but what’s going on at the level of the neuron.” This brings to mind the advice that neuroscientist Eric Kandel, who won the Nobel Prize for his work on the physiological basis of memory storage in neurons, took from his mentor, Harry Grundfest. When Kandel was a young man, Grundfest told him, “Look, if you want to understand the brain you’re
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