水果促进大脑的进化:发育得更大_公共英语阅读理解

水果促进大脑的进化:发育得更大

Humans likely developed large and powerful brains, researchers said Monday, with the help of what is today the simplest of snacks: fruit. Eating fruit was a key step up from the most basic of foodstuffs, such as leaves, and provided the energy needed to grow bulkier brains, the scientists argued.

研究人员于周一表示：有了当今时代最简单零食--水果的帮助，人类有可能发育出更大、更强的大脑。科学家说，吃水果是从吃最基本的食物（如叶子）中迈出的重要一步，并且还提供了发育大脑所需的能量。

"That's how we got these crazy huge brains," said the study's corresponding author Alex Decasien, a researcher at New York University. "We have blown up the quality of our food that we are eating." The study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution looked at the staple foods of over 140 species of primates, and assumed their diets haven't changed much over the course of recent evolution.

"因此我们的大脑才如此疯狂的巨大，"纽约大学的研究员兼本研究的通讯作者Alex Decasien说道。"我们已经放大了所吃食物的质量。"该研究刊登在《自然生态与进化》期刊上，研究了140多种灵长类动物的主食，并假设在近期的进化过程中，它们的饮食变化不大。

水果促进大脑的进化:发育得更大1

According to the research, the animals which feast on fruit have brains that are about 25 percent bigger than those filling their bellies primarily with leaves. The results call into question the theory that has prevailed since the mid-1990s, which says bigger brains developed out of the need to survive and reproduce in complex social groups.