Genetic Mapping and Evolutionary Analysis of Human-Expanded Cognitive Networks

The human brain has expanded functional networks that are thought to play a critical role in complex cognition. The authors of Genetic Mapping and Evolutionary Analysis of Human-Expanded Cognitive Networks investigated the genetics underlying cognitive functional networks of the human brain. The team selected 415 HAR-brain genes and set out to investigate the relationship between these candidate genes and regions of the human brain associated with complex cognition. They found that HAR-brain genes are more expressed in areas of higher-order cognitive networks such as the default-mode network (DMN) compared to the somatomotor network (SMN) and visual network (VN) areas. Next, the team examined the expression of HAR-brain gene expression in chimpanzees and macaques and found that expression of these genes is only slightly greater in higher-order cognitive network areas compared to SMN and VN. Additionally, the authors found an association between HAR/HAR-brain/DMN genes and sociality, as well as an association between HAR-brain genes and some neuropsychiatric disorders. These findings indicate that specific genetic changes in the human lineage have driven the expansion of cognitive networks of the human brain and these changes are involved in social behavior as well as disease.

HAR-brain Gene Expression in Humans, Chimpanzees & Macaques

Link to Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12764-8

Elaine Miller – Potluck 2/18/2020