In a recent study published in Science, researchers demonstrated how transketolase-like 1 (TKTL1) gene expression influenced neocortical neurogenesis in modern humans. Study: Human TKTL1 implies ...

The question of what makes modern humans unique has long been a driving force for researchers. Comparisons with our closest relatives, the Neandertals, therefore provide fascinating insights. The ...

ARHGAP11B -- this complex name is given to a gene that is unique to humans and plays an essential role in the development of the neocortex. The neocortex is the part of the brain to which we owe our ...

A single difference in a protein called TKTL1 may have given modern humans a significant advantage over Neanderthals. Scientists have shown that the human TKTL1 variant, but not the archaic variant, ...

What makes us human? According to neurobiologists it is our neocortex. This outer layer of the brain is rich in neurons and lets us do abstract thinking, create art, and speak complex languages. An ...

In the neocortex of the brain, excitatory neuronal cells that arise from the same progenitor cell express patterned combinations of clustered protocadherin proteins (cPCDHs). The pattern of cPCDHs ...

Researchers from Dresden uncover a greater neuron production in the frontal lobe during brain development in modern humans than Neandertals, due to the change of a single amino acid in the protein ...

The neocortex stands out as a stunning achievement of biological evolution. All mammals have this swath of tissue covering their brain, and the six layers of densely packed neurons within it handle ...

After the ancestors of modern humans split from those of Neanderthals and Denisovans, their Asian relatives, about one hundred amino acids, the building blocks of proteins in cells and tissues, ...