scholarly journals Genetic mapping and evolutionary analysis of human-expanded cognitive networks

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongbin Wei ◽  
Siemon C. de Lange ◽  
Lianne H. Scholtens ◽  
Kyoko Watanabe ◽  
Dirk Jan Ardesch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Brain Evolution ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Cognitive Networks ◽  
High Expression ◽  
Functional Networks ◽  
Evolutionary Analysis ◽  
Genetic Changes ◽  
Frontoparietal Network ◽  
Human Brain Evolution

Abstract Cognitive brain networks such as the default-mode network (DMN), frontoparietal network, and salience network, are key functional networks of the human brain. Here we show that the rapid evolutionary cortical expansion of cognitive networks in the human brain, and most pronounced the DMN, runs parallel with high expression of human-accelerated genes (HAR genes). Using comparative transcriptomics analysis, we present that HAR genes are differentially more expressed in higher-order cognitive networks in humans compared to chimpanzees and macaques and that genes with high expression in the DMN are involved in synapse and dendrite formation. Moreover, HAR and DMN genes show significant associations with individual variations in DMN functional activity, intelligence, sociability, and mental conditions such as schizophrenia and autism. Our results suggest that the expansion of higher-order functional networks subserving increasing cognitive properties has been an important locus of genetic changes in recent human brain evolution.

scholarly journals Genetic correlates of evolutionary adaptations in cognitive functional brain networks and their relationship to human cognitive functioning and disease

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongbin Wei ◽  
Siemon C. de Lange ◽  
Lianne H. Scholtens ◽  
Kyoko Watanabe ◽  
Dirk Jan Ardesch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Brain Evolution ◽  
Cognitive Networks ◽  
High Expression ◽  
Functional Networks ◽  
Expression Of Genes ◽  
Human Brain Evolution ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Functional Brain Networks

AbstractCognitive functional networks such as the default-mode network (DMN), frontal-parietal network (FPN), and salience network (SN), are key networks of the human brain. Here, we show that the distinct rapid evolutionary cortical expansion of cognitive networks in the human brain, and most pronounced the DMN, runs parallel with high expression of genes important for human evolution (so-called HAR genes). Comparative gene expression examination then shows that HAR genes are more differentially expressed in cognitive networks in humans compared to the chimpanzee and macaque. Genes with distinct high expression in the DMN display broad involvement in the formation of synapses and dendrites. Next, we performed a genome-wide association analysis on functional MRI data, and show that HAR genes are associated with individual variations in DMN functional connectivity in today’s human population. Finally, gene-set analysis suggests associations of HAR genes with intelligence, social cognition, and mental conditions such as schizophrenia and autism. Taken together, our results indicate that the expansion of higher-order functional networks and their cognitive properties have been an important locus of change in recent human brain evolution.

scholarly journals Evolutionary modifications in human brain connectivity associated with schizophrenia

Brain ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 142 (12) ◽  
pp. 3991-4002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martijn P van den Heuvel ◽  
Lianne H Scholtens ◽  
Siemon C de Lange ◽  
Rory Pijnenburg ◽  
Wiepke Cahn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Brain Connectivity ◽  
Brain Evolution ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Human Brain Evolution ◽  
The Brain

See Vértes and Seidlitz (doi:10.1093/brain/awz353) for a scientific commentary on this article. Is schizophrenia a by-product of human brain evolution? By comparing the human and chimpanzee connectomes, van den Heuvel et al. demonstrate that connections unique to the human brain show greater involvement in schizophrenia pathology. Modifications in service of higher-order brain functions may have rendered the brain more vulnerable to dysfunction.

Human brain evolution: food for thoughts

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 683-685 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim HM Saris ◽  
Steven B Heymsfield ◽  
William J Evans
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Brain Evolution ◽  
Human Brain Evolution

scholarly journals Emerging Roles of Long Non-Coding RNAs as Drivers of Brain Evolution

Cells ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 1399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geraldine Zimmer-Bensch
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Brain Size ◽  
Expression Patterns ◽  
Brain Evolution ◽  
Relative Volume ◽  
Structural Reorganization ◽  
Protein Coding ◽  
Human Brain Evolution ◽  
Transcriptional Regulatory

Mammalian genomes encode tens of thousands of long-noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are capable of interactions with DNA, RNA and protein molecules, thereby enabling a variety of transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory activities. Strikingly, about 40% of lncRNAs are expressed specifically in the brain with precisely regulated temporal and spatial expression patterns. In stark contrast to the highly conserved repertoire of protein-coding genes, thousands of lncRNAs have newly appeared during primate nervous system evolution with hundreds of human-specific lncRNAs. Their evolvable nature and the myriad of potential functions make lncRNAs ideal candidates for drivers of human brain evolution. The human brain displays the largest relative volume of any animal species and the most remarkable cognitive abilities. In addition to brain size, structural reorganization and adaptive changes represent crucial hallmarks of human brain evolution. lncRNAs are increasingly reported to be involved in neurodevelopmental processes suggested to underlie human brain evolution, including proliferation, neurite outgrowth and synaptogenesis, as well as in neuroplasticity. Hence, evolutionary human brain adaptations are proposed to be essentially driven by lncRNAs, which will be discussed in this review.

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