Human brain evolution: How the increase of brain plasticity made us a cultural species

Authors

  • Aida Gómez-Robles George Washington University (USA).
  • Chet C. Sherwood George Washington University (USA).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.7.7602

Keywords:

genes, environment, development, altriciality, epigenetics

Abstract

Why are humans so different from other primate species? What makes us so capable of creating language, art and music? The specializations in human brain anatomy that are responsible for our unique behavioral and cognitive traits evolved over a very short period of evolutionary time (between six and eight million years). Recent evidence suggests that, alongside a reorganization of the brain and an increase in its size, neural plasticity may also play a major role in explaining the evolutionary history of our species. Plasticity is the propensity of the brain to be molded by external influences, including the ecological, social and cultural context. The impact of these environmental influences in shaping human behavior has been long recognized, but it has been only recently that scientists have started discovering the more pronounced plasticity of human brains compared to our close relatives.

 

Downloads

Author Biographies

Aida Gómez-Robles, George Washington University (USA).

Postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory for Evolutionary Neuroscience of The George Washington University (USA). She obtained her PhD in paleoanthropology at the National Research Center for Human Evolution (Burgos, Spain). Her current research focuses on the study of brain evolution in chimpanzees and humans, with particular emphasis on the evolution of brain plasticity in our species.

Chet C. Sherwood, George Washington University (USA).

Full Professor of Anthropology, member of the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology and Co-Director of the Mind-Brain Institute at The George Washington University (USA). He is the author of numerous scientific papers evaluating brain evolution in primates and other mammals. Among other studies, he has analyzed the processes of neocortical development in humans and great apes.

References

Bermúdez de Castro, J. M., Martinón-Torres, M., Prado, L., Gómez-Robles, A., Rosell, J., López-Polín, L., ... Carbonell, J. L. (2010). New immature hominin fossil from European Lower Pleistocene shows the earliest evidence of a modern human dental development pattern. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(26), 11739–11744. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1006772107

Bianchi, S., Stimpson, C. D., Duka, T., Larsen, M. D., Janssen, W. G. M., Collins, Z., … Sherwood, C. C. (2013). Synaptogenesis and development of pyramidal neuron dendritic morphology in the chimpanzee neocortex resembles humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(2), 10395–103401. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1301224110

Bruner, E., De La Cuétara, J. M., & Holloway, R. L. (2011). A bivariate approach to the variation of the parietal curvature in the genus Homo. The Anatomical Record, 294(9), 1548–1556. doi: 10.1002/ar.21450

Dennis, M. Y., Nuttle, X., Sudmant, P. H., Antonacci, F., Graves, T. A., Nefedov, M., … Eichler, E. E. (2012). Evolution of human-specific neural SRGAP2 genes by incomplete segmental duplication. Cell, 149(4), 912–922. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.03.033

Dunsworth, H. M., Warrener, A. G., Deacon, T., Ellison, P. T., & Pontzer, H. (2012). Metabolic hypothesis for human altriciality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(38), 15212–15216. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1205282109

Enard, W., Gehre, S., Hammerschmidt, K., Hölter, S. M., Blass, T., Somel. M., … Pääbo, S. (2009). A humanized version of FOXP2 affects corticobasal ganglia circuits in mice. Cell, 137(5): 961–971. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2009.03.041

Fjell, A. M., Westlye, L. T., Amlien, I., Tamnes, C. K., Grydeland, H., Engvig, A., … Walhovd, K. B. (2015). High-expanding cortical regions in human development and evolution are related to higher intellectual abilities. Cerebral Cortex, 25(1), 26–34. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bht201

Gokhman, D., Lavi, W., Prüfer, K., Fraga, M. F., Riancho, J. A., Kelso, J., … Carmel, L. (2014). Reconstructing the DNA methylation maps of the Neandertal and the Denisovan. Science, 344(6183), 523–527. doi: 10.1126/science.1250368

Gómez-Robles, A., Hopkins, W. D., Schapiro, S. J., & Sherwood, C. C. (2015). Relaxed genetic control of cortical organization in human brains compared with chimpanzees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(51), 14799–14804. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1512646112

Gunz, P., Neubauer, S., Maureille, B., & Hublin, J. J. (2010). Brain development after birth differs between Neanderthals and modern humans. Current Biology, 20(21), R921–R922. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.10.018

Hill, J., Inder, T., Neil, J., Dierker, D., Harwell, J., & Van Essen, D. (2010). Similar patterns of cortical expansion during human development and evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(29), 13135–13140. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1001229107

Hublin, J. J., Neubauer, S., & Gunz, P. (2015). Brain ontogeny and life history in Pleistocene hominins. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 370(1663), 20140062. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0062

Maricic, T., Günther, V., Georgiev, O., Gehre, S., Curlin, M., Schreiweis, C., … Pääbo, S. (2013). A recent evolutionary change affects a regulatory element in the human FOXP2 gene. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 30(4), 844–852. doi: 10.1093/molbev/mss271

Martínez-Abadias, N., Esparza, E., Sjøvold, T., González-José, R., Santos, M., Hernández, M., & Klingenberg, C. P. (2012). Pervasive genetic integration directs the evolution of human skull shape. Evolution, 66(4), 1010–1023. doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2011.01496.x

Miller, D. J., Duka, T., Stimpson, C. D., Schapiro, S. J., Baze., W. B., McArthur, M. J., … Sherwood, C. C. (2012). Prolonged myelination in human neocortical evolution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(41), 16480–16485. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1117943109

Petanjek, Z., Judaš, M., Šimić, G., Rašin, M. R., Uylings, H. B. M., Rakic, P., & Kostović, I. (2011). Extraordinary neoteny of synaptic spines in the human prefrontal cortex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(32), 13281–13286. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1105108108

Portmann, A. (1969). Biologische Fragmente zu einer Lehre vom Menschen. Basel: Benno Schwabe. Rosenberg, K. R. (1992). The evolution of modern human childbirth. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 35(S15), 89–124. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330350605

Sacher, G. A., & Staffeldt, E. F. (1974). Relation of gestation time to brain weight for placental mammals: Implications for the theory of vertebrate growth. American Naturalist, 108(963), 593–615.

Sakai, T., Matsui, M., Mikami, A., Malkova, L., Hamada, Y., Tomonaga, M., … Matsuzawa, T. (2012). Developmental patterns of chimpanzee cerebral tissues provide important clues for understanding the remarkable enlargement of the human brain. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 280(1753), 20122398. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2012.2398

Schuppli, C., Isler, K., & Van Schaik, C. P. (2012). How to explain the unusually late age at skill competence among humans. Journal of Human Evolution, 63(6), 843–850. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.08.009

Smith, T. M., Tafforeau, P., Reid, D. J., Pouech, J., Lazzari, V., & Zermeno, J. P. (2010). Dental evidence for ontogenetic differences between modern humans and Neanderthals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(49), 20923–20928. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1010906107

Tau, G. Z., & Peterson, B. S. (2009). Normal development of brain circuits. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35(1), 147–168. doi: 10.1038/npp.2009.115

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2017-06-20

How to Cite

Gómez-Robles, A., & Sherwood, C. C. (2017). Human brain evolution: How the increase of brain plasticity made us a cultural species. Metode Science Studies Journal, (7), 35–43. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.7.7602
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    3294
  • PDF
    1288
  • (Español)
    1

Issue

Section

The secrets of the brain. An evolutionary perspective on neuroscience

Metrics

Similar Articles

> >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.