Lead Limited Brain and Language Development in Neanderthals and Other Hominids?
3 days ago
- #anthropology
- #neuroscience
- #evolution
- Ancient hominids, including Neanderthals and early humans, were exposed to lead up to two million years ago.
- A gene mutation in modern humans, specifically in the NOVA1 gene, may have protected their brains from lead's detrimental effects.
- Lead exposure in ancient hominids may have limited their brain development, affecting language and social skills.
- Modern humans have a variant of the NOVA1 gene that differs by a single DNA base pair from the archaic version found in Neanderthals.
- The human NOVA1 variant appears to protect against lead's negative impact on brain development, particularly in areas related to language.
- The study suggests that the modern NOVA1 variant gave humans an evolutionary advantage, possibly contributing to the extinction of Neanderthals.
- Lead exposure altered the expression of the FOXP2 gene in archaic NOVA1 variants, which is crucial for language development.
- The findings have implications for understanding neurological conditions related to language, such as autism and speech apraxia.