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Il cervello dei Neanderthal, sebbene di dimensioni simili a quello degli esseri umani moderni, aveva meno neuroni: a fare la differenza è una mutazione in una proteina coinvolta nello sviluppo cerebrale, che a causa di un solo amminoacido diverso nella variante moderna riesce ad aumentare significativamente il numero di alcune cellule progenitrici dei neuroni.
La scoperta, pubblicata sulla rivista Science, è di un gruppo di ricercatori guidati dal Max Planck Institute di Dresda, in Germania. Secondo gli autori dello studio, i risultati ottenuti fanno ipotizzare che questa mutazione abbia promosso le moderne capacità cognitive umane associate alla corteccia cerebrale, sede delle funzioni superiori.
Solo un piccolo numero di proteine presenta differenze tra gli esseri umani moderni e i nostri parenti estinti, Neanderthal e Denisoviani, e il significato biologico di queste differenze è in gran parte ancora sconosciuto.
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