The cognitive ability of extinct hominins: Bringing down the hierarchy using genomic evidences

Paixão‐Côrtes, Vanessa Rodrigues; Viscardi, Lucas Henriques; Salzano, Francisco M.; Bortolini, María Cátira; Hünemeier, Tábita

doi:10.1002/ajhb.22426

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…This is in line with the findings of recent genetic and paleoneurological research. For instance, research by Mounier et al (2016) and Ponce-de-León et al (2016) revealed strong similarities between modern humans and Neanderthals in both endocranial anatomy and general brain development, while a study of 162 genes related to cognition by Paixão-Côrtes et al (2013) identified a genetic repertoire shared between extinct archaic humans and modern humans. Assuming that the use of cognitive skills and complex behavior as an adaptive strategy represent a central element of the human evolutionary trajectory ( Cagliani et al , 2009 ; Schaschl et al , 2015 ; Taub and Page, 2016) , we sought to evaluate whether natural selection, particularly in the form of balancing selection, played any role in the evolution of genes potentially related to human behavior.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Searching for ancient balanced polymorphisms shared between Neanderthals and Modern Humans

et al. 2018

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Hominin evolution is characterized by adaptive solutions often rooted in behavioral and cognitive changes. If balancing selection had an important and long-lasting impact on the evolution of these traits, it can be hypothesized that genes associated with them should carry an excess of shared polymorphisms (trans- SNPs) across recent Homo species. In this study, we investigate the role of balancing selection in human evolution using available exomes from modern (Homo sapiens) and archaic humans (H. neanderthalensis and Denisovan) for an excess of trans-SNP in two gene sets: one associated with the immune system (IMMS) and another one with behavioral system (BEHS). We identified a significant excess of trans-SNPs in IMMS (N=547), of which six of these located within genes previously associated with schizophrenia. No excess of trans-SNPs was found in BEHS, but five genes in this system harbor potential signals for balancing selection and are associated with psychiatric or neurodevelopmental disorders. Our approach evidenced recent Homo trans-SNPs that have been previously implicated in psychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia, suggesting that a genetic repertoire common to the immune and behavioral systems could have been maintained by balancing selection starting before the split between archaic and modern humans.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Searching for ancient balanced polymorphisms shared between Neanderthals and Modern Humans

et al. 2018

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“…Further, the Paixão-Côrtes et al [46] study of 162 cognitive genes among Denisovans, H. sapiens, and Neanderthals revealed that, due to the great similarity in some of the cognitive genes, they might have shared more behavioral traits with modern humans than previously thought. Abi-Rached et al [47] suggest that on migrating out of Africa, AMH encountered archaic hominins, residents of Eurasia for more than 200,000 years, who had immune systems that were better adapted to local pathogens, and their interactions significantly shaped AMH immune systems through adaptive introgression of the archaic alleles.…”

Section: Neanderthalsmentioning

confidence: 98%

A Brief Overview of the Last 10 Years of Major Late Pleistocene Discoveries in the Old World: Homo floresiensis, Neanderthal, and Denisovan

Neubauer

2014

Journal of Anthropology

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In the last ten years, new fossil, archaeological, and genetic data have significantly altered our understanding of the peopling of the Old World in the Late Pleistocene. Scholars have long been challenged to define humanity’s place in evolution and to trace our phylogeny. Differences in the skeletal morphology of hominin fossils have often led to the naming of distinct new species, but recent genetic findings have challenged the traditional perspective by demonstrating that modern human DNA contains genes inherited from Neanderthals and Denisovans, thus questioning their status as separate species. The recent discovery ofHomo floresiensisfrom Flores Island has also raised interesting queries about how much genetic and morphological diversity was present during the Late Pleistocene. This paper discusses the nature and implications of the evidence with respect toHomo floresiensis, Neanderthals, and Denisovans and briefly reviews major Late Pleistocene discoveries from the last ten years of research in the Old World and their significance to the study of human evolution.

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“…Non-synonymous substitutions (NSS) are genetic changes that result in phenotypic change, the very thing that natural selection acts upon. To date, several NSS between Neandertals and AMH have been found in genes implicated in cognitive functions such as learning and memory, representing a difference of nearly 10% with about a third of the Neandertal data unavailable for comparison (which means that additional differences may be found when the full dataset is analyzed; see Paixão-Côrtes et al, 2013). Even a single change to a single gene can profoundly affect the brain (Bakircioglu et al, 2011), and many of the NSS found to date affect genes implicated in learning and memory.…”

Section: Genetic Evidence Of Cognitive Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The false dichotomy: a refutation of the Neandertal indistinguishability claim

Wynn¹,

Overmann²,

Coolidge³

2021

Preprint

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In the debate about the demise of the Neandertal, several scholars have claimed that humanity’s nearest relatives were indistinguishable archaeologically, and thus behaviorally and cognitively, from contemporaneous Homo sapiens. They suggest that to hold otherwise is to characterize Neandertals as inferior to H. sapiens, a false dichotomy that excludes the possibility that the two human types simply differed in ways visible to natural selection, including their cognition. Support of the Neandertal indistinguishability claim requires ignoring the cranial differences between the two human types, which have implications for cognition and behavior. Further, support of the claim requires minimizing asymmetries in the quantity and degree of behavioral differences as attested by the archaeological record. The present paper reviews the evidence for cognitive and archaeological differences between the two human types in support of the excluded middle position.

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The cognitive ability of extinct hominins: Bringing down the hierarchy using genomic evidences

Abstract: The general picture obtained is of similarity in cognitive genes between extinct and extant humans.

Cited by 5 publications

References 19 publications

Searching for ancient balanced polymorphisms shared between Neanderthals and Modern Humans

Searching for ancient balanced polymorphisms shared between Neanderthals and Modern Humans

A Brief Overview of the Last 10 Years of Major Late Pleistocene Discoveries in the Old World: Homo floresiensis, Neanderthal, and Denisovan

The false dichotomy: a refutation of the Neandertal indistinguishability claim

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