The Molecular Basis of Human Brain Evolution
Open accessAbstract
Humans are a remarkable species, especially because of the remarkable properties of their brain. Since the split from the chimpanzee lineage, the human brain has increased three-fold in size and has acquired abilities for vocal learning, language and intense cooperation. To better understand the molecular basis of these changes is of great biological and biomedical interest. However, all the about 16 million fixed genetic changes that occurred during human evolution are fully correlated with all molecular, cellular, anatomical and behavioral changes that occurred during this time. Hence, as humans and chimpanzees cannot be crossed or genetically manipulated, no direct evidence for linking particular genetic and molecular changes to human brain evolution can be obtained. Here, I sketch a framework how indirect evidence can be obtained and review findings related to the molecular basis of human cognition, vocal learning and brain size. In particular, I discuss how a comprehensive comparative approach, leveraging cellular systems and genomic technologies, could inform the evolution of our brain in the future.
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Evolution of the Human Nervous System Function, Structure, and Development
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Human evolution: the non-coding revolution
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Mozzi, A., Forni, D., Cagliani, R., Pozzoli, U., Clerici, M., & Sironi, M. (2017) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-017-06440-4 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
- Authors
- Enard, W.
- Affiliations
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Enard, Wolfgang
- ORCID
- Enard, Wolfgang
- Venue
- Current Biology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-10
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 20
- Pages
- R1109-R1117
- ISSN
- 0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2534453667
- Cited by
- 55
- References
- 129
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 0.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Current Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genomic variations and chromosomal abnormalities
- Keywords
- human brain evolution, human-chimpanzee divergence, brain size increase, vocal learning, language evolution, human cognition, comparative genomics, comparative neurobiology
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Cognition, Biological Evolution, Humans, Language, Organ Size, Evolution, Molecular
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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