Evolution of genetic networks for human creativity
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
Zwir Nawrocki, Jorge Sergio Igor; Val Muñoz, María Coral Del; Romero Zaliz, Rocio Celeste; Arnedo Fernández, Francisco Javier; Acosta Mesas, AlbertoEditorial
SPRINGER
Materia
Genetics Creativity Human evolution
Fecha
2021Referencia bibliográfica
Zwir, C. Del-Val, M. Hintsanen, K.M. Cloninger, R. Romero-Zaliz, A. Mesa, J. Arnedo, R. Salas, G.F. Poblete, E. Raitoharju, O. Raitakari, L. Keltikangas-Järvinen, G. de Erausquin, I. Tattersall, T. Lehtimäki, C. R. Cloninger. Evolution of Genetic Networks for Human Creativity. Mol Psychiatry 2021, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01097-y
Resumen
The genetic basis for the emergence of creativity in modern humans remains a mystery despite sequencing the genomes of
chimpanzees and Neanderthals, our closest hominid relatives. Data-driven methods allowed us to uncover networks of genes
distinguishing the three major systems of modern human personality and adaptability: emotional reactivity, self-control, and
self-awareness. Now we have identified which of these genes are present in chimpanzees and Neanderthals. We replicated
our findings in separate analyses of three high-coverage genomes of Neanderthals. We found that Neanderthals had nearly
the same genes for emotional reactivity as chimpanzees, and they were intermediate between modern humans and
chimpanzees in their numbers of genes for both self-control and self-awareness. 95% of the 267 genes we found only in
modern humans were not protein-coding, including many long-non-coding RNAs in the self-awareness network. These
genes may have arisen by positive selection for the characteristics of human well-being and behavioral modernity, including
creativity, prosocial behavior, and healthy longevity. The genes that cluster in association with those found only in modern
humans are over-expressed in brain regions involved in human self-awareness and creativity, including late-myelinating and
phylogenetically recent regions of neocortex for autobiographical memory in frontal, parietal, and temporal regions, as well
as related components of cortico-thalamo-ponto-cerebellar-cortical and cortico-striato-cortical loops. We conclude that
modern humans have more than 200 unique non-protein-coding genes regulating co-expression of many more proteincoding genes in coordinated networks that underlie their capacities for self-awareness, creativity, prosocial behavior, and
healthy longevity, which are not found in chimpanzees or Neanderthals.