“Although we don’t yet know whether the Neandertal DNA associated with autism is also linked to intelligence, savant­ism or general creativity, we are slowly connecting the dots. If such a relation exists, it suggests that intermixing with Neandertals has affected multiple aspects of brain evolution in our species.”
#isogg #dna #epigenetics #neandertals #autism #geneadons
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-neandertal-dna-may-affect-the-way-we-think/

Pollen clumps associated with the skeleton of the Shanidar 4 Neanderthal were interpreted by the excavator as evidence for a purposeful burial with flowers.
-- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440323001024

#archeology #neandertals

Geoarchaeology, macro/micro stratigrapgy to contextualize the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition at St Césaire, France
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379123002664?via%3Dihub
I'm extremely happy it is out ! This central study is the result of 10 yrs of thorough fieldwork at Saint-Césaire. It paves the way to relevant interpretation of its archaeological context #Neandertals #Homosapiens #Prehistory #Archaeology #Mousterian #Chatelperronian #Aurignacian

Reference:

Richard Ågren et al. Major Genetic Risk Factors for Dupuytren's Disease Are Inherited From Neandertals.

Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2023; 40 (6) DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msad130
https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/40/6/msad130/7197475

* [Wikipedia] Neanderthal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal

#DupuytrensDisease #Neandertals #Neanderthals #GWAS #GenomeWideAssociationStudies #EPDR1 #RiskVariants #QTL #QuantitativeTraitLoci #persagen