Snakes on the brain

The Snake Detection Theory posits 
a fascinating relationship between 
serpents and primates

From the Time Litetary Supplement
October 7,2009

Barbara j. King
In The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent, Lynne A. Isbell weaves together facts from anthropology, neuroscience, palaeontology and psychology to explain that our emotional connection to snakes has a long evolutionary history. This history, Isbell says, is responsible not only for snake fear – the serpent in the garden of Eden, the worldcreating Rainbow Serpent of Australian aboriginal myth and B-grade cinema fare – but also for our keen primate vision and perhaps even our facility with language.