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Does humanity depend on a “key genetic switch” that makes human brains grow larger than ape brains?

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So organoid studies would suggest:

In a study of “mini-brains” (brain organoids), the size of a pea, grown in a dish and incapable of further development, researchers have discovered a “key genetic switch” that makes human brains grow three times larger than primate brains…

But what have we learned? Is larger brains really what makes us human? Then what about the people who function normally with a very reduced brain? Remember, they are functioning normally in a world where humans typically have very large brains. And, before medical imaging, no one knew that these people had hardly any brain.

News, “Do larger brains make us human? Is that all?” at Mind Matters News

Takehome: Some researchers believe that our diet led to a larger brain but they differ as to which food was the ultimate brain booster. Are we missing something here?


You may also wish to read:

Lemurs with brains 1/200 the size of chimps’ pass same IQ test. Such findings only accentuate the vast gap in intelligence between humans and lemurs, chimpanzees, or ravens today. Efforts to account for this gap in evolutionary terms have not been particularly successful.

and

Your mind vs. your brain: Ten things to know

Comments
You know there are several human specific genes that directly contribute to the size of our brain https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200618150301.htm https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/news/young-human-specific-genes-correlated-with-brain-evolution https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/12/e1601941 https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-02-gene-brain-size-humans.html Zeb2 contributes to the overall fetal development of multiple organs I really don’t think this gene switching on and off is what determines whether we are human or not Those are still gorilla cells and those are still chimpanzee cells. Just because you manage to make more of them grow doesn’t make them human By the way mutations in Zeb2 cause Williams syndromeAaronS1978
June 27, 2021
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