Abstract
It is widely recognized that human evolution has been driven by two systems of heredity: one DNA-based and the other based on the transmission of behaviorally acquired information via nervous system functions. The genetic system is ancient, going back to the appearance of life on Earth. It is responsible for the evolutionary processes described by Darwin. By comparison, the nervous system is relatively newly minted and in its highest form, responsible for ideation and mind-to-mind transmission of information. Here the informational capabilities and functions of the two systems are compared. While employing quite different mechanisms for encoding, storing and transmission of information, both systems perform these generic hereditary functions. Three additional features of neuron-based heredity in humans are identified: the ability to transfer hereditary information to other members of their population, not just progeny; a selection process for the information being transferred; and a profoundly shorter time span for creation and dissemination of survival-enhancing information in a population. The mechanisms underlying neuron-based heredity involve hippocampal neurogenesis and memory and learning processes modifying and creating new neural assemblages changing brain structure and functions. A fundamental process in rewiring brain circuitry is through increased neural activity (use) strengthening and increasing the number of synaptic connections. Decreased activity in circuitry (disuse) leads to loss of synapses. Use and disuse modifying an organ to bring about new modes of living, habits and functions are processes in line with Neolamarckian concepts of evolution (Packard, 1901). Evidence is presented of bipartite evolutionary processes—Darwinian and Neolamarckian—driving human descent from a common ancestor shared with the great apes.
Highlights
The extraordinary development of human culture is one manifestation of highly developed cognitive capabilities characterizing anatomically modern humans
Neuronbased heredity is analyzed as a principal component of hominin evolution leading to the current species with a highly developed capability for mind-to-mind exchange of information
As the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the two systems of heredity are very different, genetics and neurobiology have developed as separate scientific disciplines with often only modest overlap
Summary
The extraordinary development of human culture is one manifestation of highly developed cognitive capabilities characterizing anatomically modern humans. A gene has been defined as a DNA sequence encoding information for a specific protein Using this criterion, the size of the human genome is humbling, with current evidence indicating it contains under 20,000 protein-coding genes (Ezkurdia et al, 2014). In humans and many other species, sexual reproduction creates a unique combination of genes in a new transient single cell organism called a zygote combining genetic information from two individuals. Store and transfer information; both receive internal and external information and generate responses Both pass hereditary information on to descendants, by quite different mechanisms. The time span required for the nervous system to generate and disseminate new information is many orders of magnitude faster than the genetics system, as fast as in seconds for the brain compared to generational transfer (decades for humans) for the genome. Does language influence color perception or is color perception biologically-constrained by universally-shared human nervous system features? The answer derived from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies is that both processes are occurring in the brain, but in separate brain areas and coded in different ways (Kimbel and Delezene, 2009; Bird et al, 2014)
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