Abstract

The relationship between cognitive abilities and mental traits of non-human races, thereafter refereed to as "xenos", and differences in their brain structures as compared to humans is an important yet underresearched topic. It is clear that xenos have differences in brain structure as well as differences in personality, and an understanding of the relationship between these factors could help gain a further understanding of the function of structures in human brains. A variety of sophisticated brain mapping techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and endocranial measurements, have been used to collect data about differences in brain structure and function between humans and members of the Tajaran race, a xeno race of cat-like humanoids. These differences were correlated to personality traits between the individuals studied and traits seen in each race in general. The overall brain structure between the two races were remarkably similar, suggesting that convergent evolution favors a specific general brain structure. However, several notable differences were found, such as the lack of a structure homologous to Broca's area and greatly reduced size of the cerebrum in all Tajarans that were studied. Although environment certainly plays a role in brain structure, it is clear that some differences exist between humans and xenos that are determined by genetics, highlighting that further research is needed.

Methods

This study was conducted with 39 healthy Tajaran volunteers and 47 healthy human volunteers. All volunteers had no history of mental disorder, and the Briggs-Meyers Mental Health Assessment was administered to all participants to ensure mental health. Several personality tests and analyses were conducted to ensure that each member of the study group was mentally "typical" in relation to their race, as well as for the purpose of collecting additional data about personality and other traits. MRIs were performed on all participants to determine three dimensional structures of the brain, as well as measurements on brain size. Differences in size and presence of brain structures were cross-referenced to other studies in which similar differences in human brains produced a specific personality type or trait, in order to affirm the experimental data of the referenced studies and the validity of the data collected.

Results