International team finds modern human brain variation exceeds differences with Neanderthals
Updated
Updated · ScienceAlert · Apr 27
International team finds modern human brain variation exceeds differences with Neanderthals
15 articles · Updated · ScienceAlert · Apr 27
The study, published in PNAS, compared brain scans from US and Chinese populations, showing regional volume differences among modern humans are greater than those between Neanderthals and modern humans.
Researchers argue that if minor Neanderthal-human brain differences are deemed cognitively relevant, so must similar differences among modern humans, but cognitive ability is only weakly linked to brain anatomy.
This challenges the long-held view that Neanderthal extinction was due to inferior brains, suggesting factors like demography and genetic mixing played a larger role, and highlighting Neanderthals' advanced behaviors and genetic legacy.
Our brains vary more than ours did from Neanderthals'. What does this mean for us?
If not brainpower, what cultural edge allowed humans to outlast their Neanderthal cousins?
Why do modern AI tools still depict Neanderthals as primitive, brutish cavemen?
Were Neanderthals simply absorbed into the human gene pool rather than going truly extinct?
Did diseases brought by modern humans deliver the final blow to the Neanderthals?