Energy frugal brain

Figure 1. Cognitive Miser

The brain is the most energy-demanding organ in the human body. As such it has evolved through time to reduce its energy exposure by the use of thinking shortcuts (heuristics).

Energy in the universe is finite, therefore Brain cells depend primarily on steady deliveries of the sugar glucose, which they convert to adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to fuel their information processing. When we’re a little hungry, our brain usually doesn’t change its energy consumption much. But given that humans and other animals have historically faced the threat of long periods of starvation one of the most important evolutionary pressures of gene transmission is energy efficiency.

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