Average adult human brain weighs about 3 pounds –  same weight as the average brain is of a dolphin (which is also a very intelligent animal). But it is power rather than the size of brain that matters most. If size of brain is the criteria human will not be considered most intelligent as there are many animals with larger brains. Imagine a sperm whale that has a brain that weighs about 17 pounds. Today’s article is about comparison of human and animal brains.

Comparison of human & animal brain

Humans are a single species while there are many different species of animals like dogs, cats, elephants, spiders, etc. We have a highly developed brain that allows us to do many of the things that other animals cannot do. For a long time it was thought that the animals do not have logical thinking. The research has proved that ability to self-reflect  is the real difference between animals and humans brain. A chimpanzee, our closest genetic relative can be taught to do basically everything a human can, although at a more generally primitive level. It is very clear that who has the biggest brain will have no bearing on the brain power.

Power to cry

Do you know that only humans have the brain power of producing emotional tears. We are the only species which can reflect in this way. While other animals make distress calls, like when in pain or when an offspring is separated from its mother, only human’s cry with tears. Animals do have the ability to produce moisture in eyes, it is to lubricate them rather than crying.

Human brain

Our brain is different than the brain of other animals. It consists of billions of neurons, and each of them is interconnected, this helps to make the brain a part of nervous system. It is a major part of humans central nervous system. Our brain is much more complex than that of animals that is why the brain power of humans is many folds compared to animal’s.

The human brain is surrounded by three protective membranes called meninges. There are two distinguished areas in our brain, namely white matter and gray matter. White matter consists mainly of nerve fibers, and gray matter consists of neuron cell bodies. Our brain can be divided into three areas; forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain.

Animal brain

In some animals level of intelligence or the brain power can be related to their respective brain sizes. However, this is not true for all animals. Early stages of vertebrate brains as reveled from the fossil evidences of early fishes. Their brains were small but already divided into three basic divisions which are also found in presently living vertebrate brains. These three basic divisions are mainly, forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain.

Major differences between Human and Animal Brain

1. Human brain consists of three main areas, namely forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain. This feature is absent in most of the animals.


2. If size of  brain is compared with  body size, human brain is largest among those of other primates.


3. Reason of good eyesight of human is that the portion related to vision in human brain is greatly enlarged compared to animals.


4. Since only human have proper speech and language skills, animal brain lacks those areas that control the language skill of human.


5. Certain emotional functions are not very mature in animals brain. These characteristic abilities are unique to human’s brain only. Examples of such functions are humor, appreciation of beauty, awareness of death, meaning of life etc.


6. Human brain has more neurons compared to any animal’s brain.


7.  Glial cells found in the human brain are more complex than those in animal’s brains.


8. The neocortex has more layers in humans than that of other animals, and they are arranged in columns.

Amazing Facts