<p>Are there studies that reveal how many synapses per mm3 are there in the average dolphin brain, compared to elephants and humans?
I am wondering if there is a connection between synaptic density and cognitive capacity.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-29T11:15:50.433Z
Could you please provide some additional information? What are you researching, and why would it be relevant for cognitive sciences?
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-29T11:23:53.413Z
I am wondering if there is a link between synaptic density and cognitive capacity. I could not find information regarding the dolphin's or elephant's synapses.
Cristi
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-30T21:02:53.950Z
I'm not sure about species-species comparisons, but synaptic density is certainly not linearly correlated with intelligence, even across development in one organism. In humans there is a net loss of synapses from adolescence to adulthood, and synaptic pruning is crucial to normal development from the time of infancy. You will also want to specify a brain structure (e.g., neocortex, and even that might not be specific enough) or the answer to your question might depend more heavily on the relative size of different structures rather than synaptic density per se.
Bryan Krause
<cognitive-neuroscience>
Is there a connection between synaptic density and cognitive capacity?
Cristi
# Is there a connection between synaptic density and cognitive capacity?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-01-27)

Are there studies that reveal how many synapses per mm3 are there in the average dolphin brain, compared to elephants and humans?
I am wondering if there is a connection between synaptic density and cognitive capacity.

**Tags:** cognitive-neuroscience

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Could you please provide some additional information? What are you researching, and why would it be relevant for cognitive sciences?  
> **username_0**: I am wondering if there is a link between synaptic density and cognitive capacity. I could not find information regarding the dolphin's or elephant's synapses.  
> **username_2**: I'm not sure about species-species comparisons, but synaptic density is certainly not linearly correlated with intelligence, even across development in one organism. In humans there is a net loss of synapses from adolescence to adulthood, and synaptic pruning is crucial to normal development from the time of infancy. You will also want to specify a brain structure (e.g., neocortex, and even that might not be specific enough) or the answer to your question might depend more heavily on the relative size of different structures rather than synaptic density per se.  

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