Eli5 Why does having a brain with more wrinkles make you smarter?

Question

I’ve heard it explained as a density problem but that doesn’t make sense too me either because then wouldn’t having a smooth brain mean it’s more solid?

In: 113

Answer 1

Yep, also to add, our head is at maximum size at birth to fit through the birth canal. Even at this size, women often died during childbirth. As we evolved we needed more “brain power” but we couldn’t increase our head size. Mother nature found a solution by crinkling our cortex inside the skull!