Human Brain Evolution

Genes develop in our evolutionary history, both in expression level and protein-coding sequence, in parallel with those of chimpanzees but with different consequences. The manner development prescribed the function of different tissues and organs in both humans and chimpanzees and that some of these changes contributed to the divergence of our respective evolutions. In particular, the effects on the brain tissue in humans ultimately allowed humans to develop the brain capacity that allowed us to evolve the way we have. Their research however also showed that brain gene expression patterns held the greatest similarity between chimps and humans among all other organs: this implies that though the genealogies of humans and chimpanzees have become distinct from each other, they still have retained the same foundations. This then implies that though humans now display different intelligences, the manner by which these intelligences are built remain very similar between the two organisms. There are now about 100 genes that have been identified to be expressed differently between human and chimpanzee brains. Many of the differential gene expression features have only now become factors in tracing the evolution of the brain. The micro--array data from the researches have also shown that gene expression variations in the course of brain evolution underwent gene upregulation resulting to changes in the genes involved in synaptic regulation and function as well as in metabolism.

Thus, the true edge of the human brain among other closely related organisms lies in its dynamism. Human brains seemingly accelerated so much that they caused a great divide among the other primate contemporaries of human ancestors. The change in gene expression allowed humans to cope better with their environment.