News
A history of big-headedness
May 31, 2018
The Economist
“HOW the human got his brain” is probably the most important “Just So” story that Rudyard Kipling never wrote. Kipling did not ignore people in his quirky take on evolution.
Trio of genes supercharged human brain evolution
May 31, 2018
By Elizabeth Pennisi | Science
Three nearly identical genes could help explain how 0.5 liters of gray matter in early human ancestors became the 1.4-liter organ that has made our species so successful and distinctive.
A New Genetic Clue to How Humans Got Such Big Brains
May 31, 2018
By: Ed Yong | The Atlantic
It started with some blobs of brain-like tissue, growing in a dish. Frank Jacobs, then at the University of California at Santa Cruz, had taken stem cells from humans and monkeys, and coaxed them into forming small balls of neurons.
Meet Three New Genes That May Have Influenced Human Brain Size
May 31, 2018
Summary: Three brain development genes are found only in humans and may have helped drive the rapid expansion of the brain starting roughly three million years ago.
Three genes found only in humans help us grow large brains
May 31, 2018
By Katherine Lindemann
The genes also play a role in neurological disorders, and may provide a path to their treatment. A set of three genes found only in humans appears to play an important role in our large brain size, according to a newly released study.
Scientists explain how human brains grew so big
May 31, 2018
Clive Cookson, Science Editor | Financial Times
Research teams discover family of genes called NOTCH2NL that shaped intelligence. Three international research teams have solved a genetic mystery of evolution: how human brains got to be so big.
New Genetic Clues to the Mystery of Your Giant Brain
Compared to gorillas and orangutans, our brains are 3X as big. Brain size is likely a big part of what makes us human. UC Santa Cruz and UCSF scientists recently made an important discovery shedding light on how we got big brains.