Human Evolution Research Articles

Рождение апокалиптического смысла из духа коммуникации: предпосылки формирования эсхатологического сознания в спиритуалистическом движении

Two ideas haunt the eschatological consciousness of modernity: antifinalism, signifying the infinity of spiritual evolution of man and the cosmos; anthropological agency, postulating the important role of man in the development of the eschatological process. The article focuses on the modern spiritualist movement, whose participants anticipated the imminent beginning of a new stage of human evolution. The study suggests that the genesis of the eschatological consciousness of the movement’s participants was conditioned by the specifics of their communication with the spiritual world. Firstly, the condition for the genesis of eschatological consciousness was the loss of a significant person and the psychological experience of nostalgia. Thus, the eschatological verificationism of spiritualists is defined as the projection of their traumatic experience onto the world around them. Secondly, automatic writing practice played a crucial role in the emergence of eschatological consciousness, it determined the spiritualists’ treatment of the medium as a special anthropological type. Thirdly, the features of the séance that may have shaped eschatological consciousness are revealed, while the movement itself is categorized as a millenial cult. The spiritualist interpretation of spiritual communication as an act of transcending “earthly” language into the realm of the “language of thought” is eschatological, because it affirms un unambiguous vision of reality, which is unmediated by any “natural” symbolic system. The borderline situation of eschatological expectation was the key reason for the formation of eschatological consciousness.

Linguistic diversity, pathogen protection, and COVID-19 disparity

Social distancing is a concept adapted on modern society’s understanding of infectious diseases, but there may be an additional mechanism restricting the transmission of airborne pathogens in early human evolution. Linguistic diversity may be an ancient mechanism of social distancing and could explain, at least partially, the variability of COVID-19 infection rates among the different ethnic groups within the same region. A shared common language could break the traditional barrier of linguistic diversity and promote pandemics. This hypothesis suggests that human linguistic behavior could have a significant impact on group’s immunity and survival. Linguistic distance should be considered in pandemic research and control. Future study is warranted to investigate the spread of infectious diseases through shared language and the advantage of linguistic diversity in the prevention of infectious diseases.

An Enumerative and analytical Study of the Sustainable Energy in an Economic Perspectives

In this paper we are focused to study related to sustainable energy’s economic impact on human centric activities. The human evolution is not possible without use of energy. Also, we know that Access and availability of Clean Energy for all till 2030.has recognized in an agenda point of the Sustainable Development Goals. We are focused to study enumerative study of energy consumption with using of the relevant annual reports, authentic information published by the various government and responsible organizations. For analytical study we are used the Analytical indicators such as AAGR, CAGR, and Percentage Distributions to interpret the relevant tables.

Evolution of micro and SME's innovating senior management supply chains

Post-pandemic technology guides individuals to evolve strategic thinking by creating logistics solutions. The digital paradigm of MSMEs must innovate by linking administrative thinking with technology. Objectivity analyzes impacts on management 4.0 in supply chains, driving the individual to disrupt the logistics environment.The methodology is qualitative, descriptive. Using statistical samples. The design of the instrument consists of questionnaires that represent the main basis of impacts as an object of study, describing and analyzing survey results. The results represent 52% of MSMEs that sell online in Mexico and 48% sell through other channels, in addition productivity losses are explored with the impact of COVID-19. It is concluded that business evolution 4.0 generates adaptability to human evolution in the design of new visions of creating supply chains with a digital focus in the state of Mexico, resulting in an increase in operations by electronic commerce.Human evolution and its adaptation to a technological cognitive level is decisive to positively impact challenges in industry 4.0 and create strategies to balance occupational human wear to improve the quality of work and productive life in business entities.

Human-specific paralogs of SRGAP2 induce neotenic features of microglia structural and functional maturation.

Microglia play key roles in shaping synaptic connectivity during neural circuits development. Whether microglia display human-specific features of structural and functional maturation is currently unknown. We show that the ancestral gene SRGAP2A and its human-specific (HS) paralogs SRGAP2B/C are not only expressed in cortical neurons but are the only HS gene duplications expressed in human microglia. Here, using combination of xenotransplantation of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived microglia and mouse genetic models, we demonstrate that (1) HS SRGAP2B/C are necessary and sufficient to induce neotenic features of microglia structural and functional maturation in a cell-autonomous manner, and (2) induction of SRGAP2-dependent neotenic features of microglia maturation non-cell autonomously impacts synaptic development in cortical pyramidal neurons. Our results reveal that, during human brain evolution, human-specific genes SRGAP2B/C coordinated the emergence of neotenic features of synaptic development by acting as genetic modifiers of both neurons and microglia.

Самоформирование через деятельность и отбор в эволюционной траектории человеческого вида

The author attempts to answer the following key question, namely: does selection exist in biosocial evolution and what is the role of human activity in it? Accordingly, we consider the biosocial evolution of the human species as the object of research, and we consider such aspects of this evolution in its pre-historic stage as activity and selection as the subject of research. We think that the relevance of the topic of the article lies in the application of the methods of biological evolutionary science to social evolution. We have in mind the following methodological tools: the idea of artificial selection; the concept of a human niche; the idea of selection against aggression; the idea of self-domes-tication, understood as a special transitional evolutionary process, which then transforms into macrohistory proper. In this article we discuss four approaches to the presence of certain forms of selection in human biosocial evolution, namely: (1) the Darwinian position and its later extended variants in the form of a genetic version of natural selection; (2) concepts linking human modification of the animal traits with the creation of an anthropogenic niche and cultural construction; (3) the view of those who attribute human domestication to selection against aggression; (4) theories of social selection, in which already successful practices or more cohesive groups are selected for.

Language awareness: On the semiotics of talk and text

The article argues for a necessity to increase human awareness of language as functional biological behavior rather than simply a tool in the service of communication, by emphasizing the difference between talk and text as ontologically different semiotic phenomena characteristic of the human cognitive domain. The established tradition to view written words as linguistic signs leads the studies of natural language astray, effectively hiding its nature as biologically functional orientational behavior in a consensual domain that evolved with the evolution of our species and was not a cultural invention. Because of the identification of text with talk in linguistic semiotics, the empirical validity of the core semiotic concept of natural linguistic sign, based on the so-called semiotic triangle, is undermined. While talk is a dynamic fact of nature, text is a static artifact; it is argued, therefore, that the analytical approach to linguistic signs as objects in the world is inadequate, and the notions of first- and second-order semiotics are introduced. It is concluded that awareness of the cognitive-semiotic difference between talk and text and their respective roles in the evolution of humans may facilitate further research into the nature and origin of humanness.

Why Is the Frequency of a Risk More Important than Its Severity in Retaining Adaptive Information? A Multilevel Analysis of Human Evolution Using Snakes as Models

Why Is the Frequency of a Risk More Important than Its Severity in Retaining Adaptive Information? A Multilevel Analysis of Human Evolution Using Snakes as Models

Atlas for the Lateralized Visuospatial Attention Networks (ALANs): Insights from fMRI and network analyses

Abstract Hemispheric specialization is central to human evolution and fundamental to human cognitive abilities. While being a defining feature of functional brain architecture, hemispheric specialization is overlooked to derive brain parcellations. Alongside language, which is typically lateralized in the left hemisphere, visuospatial attention is set to be its counterpart in the opposite hemisphere. However, it remains uncertain to what extent the anatomical and functional underpinnings of lateralized visuospatial attention mirror those supporting language. Building on our previous work, which established a lateralized brain atlas for language, we propose a comprehensive cerebral lateralized atlas delineating the anatomo-functional bases of visuospatial attention, Atlas for Lateralized visuospatial Attentional Networks (ALANs). Combining task and resting-state functional connectivity analyses, we identified 95 lateralized brain areas comprising three networks supporting visual (visu), motor (somato-motor), and spatial processing (posterior-medial) processes at work during a line judgment bisection task, and two large-scale networks related to integrated visuospatial attention processes, the parieto-frontal and temporo-frontal networks. We identify hubs playing a pivotal role in the intra-hemispheric interaction within visuospatial attentional networks. The rightward lateralized parieto-frontal encompasses one hub, the inferior frontal sulcus, while the temporo-frontal network encompasses two right hubs: the inferior frontal cortex (pars triangularis and the anterior insula) and the posterior part of the superior temporal sulcus. Compared with our language lateralized atlas, we demonstrated that specific regions within these networks encompass the homotope of the language network from the left hemisphere. This atlas of visuospatial attention provides valuable insights for future investigations into the variability of visuospatial attention and hemispheric specialization research. Additionally, it facilitates more effective comparisons among different studies, thereby enhancing the robustness and reliability of research in the field of attention.

Modelling the evolution of human postmenopausal longevity using ordinary differential equations

We present two simple ODE systems based on the mathematical model in Le et al. (2022) investigating how human postmenopausal longevity could have evolved. Specifically, our ODE systems address a fairly recent and provocative hypothesis that ancestral males choosing younger mates drove the evolution of menopause (Morton et al., 2013). We analyse one system in two ways: (1) determining the explicit solution and (2) reducing it to one ODE and drawing a bifurcation diagram. We analyse the other system by reducing it to two ODEs and using a phase plane. The concepts in this article are suitable for a late second-year or third-year course in nonlinear ODEs. Our models demonstrate that undergraduate students of dynamical systems can critically engage with a highly cited and internationally recognised hypothesis of human evolution.

Caring for people with disability and human growth: evolutionary perspectives and contribution to psychological wellbeing.

From an evolutionary point of view, organisms with mutations resulting in maladaptation are an unavoidable result of genetic variability, and they do not usually survive natural selection. Thus, they do not produce benefits for the species. I contend that this is different in humans at two levels. First, the existence of people with disability has been essential for human growth as a species. Human ancestors' evolving cognitive and social abilities were boosted by caring for vulnerable members of the species, including premature offspring and people with disability. Therefore, caregiving was an essential trait of the evolution of humans, intertwined with the development of bipedalism, the hand, face, vocal apparatus, and brain. Second, caring for disability is also a source of growth at a personal level. Even though most scientific literature focuses on the stress and burden caused by caring for people with disability, there is solid evidence to accept caregiving as a source of happiness and flourishing for human beings. Hence, disability still has an essential role in improving human life nowadays. Contrary to this evidence, influential utilitarian bioethicists promote the elimination of disability from modern societies. Following the arguments presented here, this will lead to the withering of society. In conclusion, disability should be acknowledged as an essential source of growth for the human species.

A molecular and cellular perspective on human brain evolution and tempo.

The evolution of the modern human brain was accompanied by distinct molecular and cellular specializations, which underpin our diverse cognitive abilities but also increase our susceptibility to neurological diseases. These features, some specific to humans and others shared with related species, manifest during different stages of brain development. In this multi-stage process, neural stem cells proliferate to produce a large and diverse progenitor pool, giving rise to excitatory or inhibitory neurons that integrate into circuits during further maturation. This process unfolds over varying time scales across speciesand has progressivelybecome slower in the human lineage, with differences in tempo correlating with differences in brain size, cell number and diversity, and connectivity. Here we introduce the terms 'bradychrony' and 'tachycrony' to describe slowed and accelerated developmental tempos, respectively. Wereview how recent technical advances across disciplines, including advanced engineering of in vitro models, functional comparative genetics and high-throughput single-cell profiling, are leading to a deeper understanding of how specializationsofthe human brain arise during bradychronic neurodevelopment. Emerging insightspointto a central role for genetics, gene-regulatory networks, cellular innovations and developmental tempo, which together contribute to the establishment of human specializations during various stages of neurodevelopment and at different points in evolution.

Comparative Analysis of Human-Chimpanzee Divergence in Brain Connectivity and its Genetic Correlates.

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are humans' closest living relatives, making them the most directly relevant comparison point for understanding human brain evolution. Zeroing in on the differences in brain connectivity between humans and chimpanzees can provide key insights into the specific evolutionary changes that might have occured along the human lineage. However, conducting comparisons of brain connectivity between humans and chimpanzees remains challenging, as cross-species brain atlases established within the same framework are currently lacking. Without the availability of cross-species brain atlases, the region-wise connectivity patterns between humans and chimpanzees cannot be directly compared. To address this gap, we built the first Chimpanzee Brainnetome Atlas (ChimpBNA) by following a well-established connectivity-based parcellation framework. Leveraging this new resource, we found substantial divergence in connectivity patterns across most association cortices, notably in the lateral temporal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex between the two species. Intriguingly, these patterns significantly deviate from the patterns of cortical expansion observed in humans compared to chimpanzees. Additionally, we identified regions displaying connectional asymmetries that differed between species, likely resulting from evolutionary divergence. Genes associated with these divergent connectivities were found to be enriched in cell types crucial for cortical projection circuits and synapse formation. These genes exhibited more pronounced differences in expression patterns in regions with higher connectivity divergence, suggesting a potential foundation for brain connectivity evolution. Therefore, our study not only provides a fine-scale brain atlas of chimpanzees but also highlights the connectivity divergence between humans and chimpanzees in a more rigorous and comparative manner and suggests potential genetic correlates for the observed divergence in brain connectivity patterns between the two species. This can help us better understand the origins and development of uniquely human cognitive capabilities.

3D atlas of the human fetal chondrocranium in the middle trimester

The chondrocranium provides the key initial support for the fetal brain, jaws and cranial sensory organs in all vertebrates. The patterns of shaping and growth of the chondrocranium set up species-specific development of the entire craniofacial complex. The 3D development of chondrocranium have been studied primarily in animal model organisms, such as mice or zebrafish. In comparison, very little is known about the full 3D human chondrocranium, except from drawings made by anatomists many decades ago. The knowledge of human-specific aspects of chondrocranial development are essential for understanding congenital craniofacial defects and human evolution. Here advanced microCT scanning was used that includes contrast enhancement to generate the first 3D atlas of the human fetal chondrocranium during the middle trimester (13 to 19 weeks). In addition, since cartilage and bone are both visible with the techniques used, the endochondral ossification of cranial base was mapped since this region is so critical for brain and jaw growth. The human 3D models are published as a scientific resource for human development.

Middle Stone Age fauna from the RS sub-member (MSA I) at Cave 1B, Klasies River Main site, South Africa

Klasies River is an important site for the study of the evolution of Homo sapiens, understanding modern behaviour and human interaction with the environment during the Middle Stone Age. The faunal sample from the RS sub-member in Cave 1B (MSA I), dating to ca. 115 000 years ago and older, was recently analysed. The results indicate that humans were hunting a variety of prey. The most common taxa in the sample are indeterminate medium birds, indeterminate small mammals, rock hyraxes, and indeterminate medium mammals. Based on multiple lines of evidence including the presence of: cultural artefacts, shellfish, tortoises, large mammals, butchery marks, and burnt specimens; and, a lack of carnivore taxa compared to ungulates (as reflected in the low carnivore-ungulate ratio), hyena coprolites and beak damage, coupled with infrequent baboons and the absence of leopards (as reflected in the low leopard index), it is apparent that humans were the main agent of accumulation of the fauna. However, other agents of accumulation such as brown hyenas, leopards and raptors likely contributed some faunal remains, especially of smaller taxa.

Novel Evolution of Mineralocorticoid Receptor in Humans Compared to Chimpanzees, Gorillas, and Orangutans.

We identified five distinct full-length human mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) genes containing either 984 amino acids (MR-984) or 988 amino acids (MR-988), which can be distinguished by the presence or absence of Lys, Cys, Ser, and Trp (KCSW) in their DNA-binding domain (DBD) and mutations at codons 180 and 241 in their amino-terminal domain (NTD). Two human MR-KCSW genes contain either (Val-180, Val-241) or (Ile-180, Val-241) in their NTD, and three human MR-984 genes contain either (Ile-180, Ala-241), (Val-180, Val-241), or (Ile-180, Val-241). Human MR-KCSW with (Ile-180, Ala-241) has not been cloned. In contrast, chimpanzees contain four MRs: two MR-988s with KCSW in their DBD, or two MR-984s without KCSW in their DBD. Chimpanzee MRs only contain (Ile180, Val-241) in their NTD. A chimpanzee MR with either (Val-180, Val-241) or (Ile-180, Ala-241) in the NTD has not been cloned. Gorillas and orangutans each contain one MR-988 with KCSW in the DBD and one MR-984 without KCSW, and these MRs only contain (Ile-180, Val-241) in their NTD. A gorilla MR or orangutan MR with either (Val-180, Val-241) or (Ile-180, Ala-241) in the NTD has not been cloned. Together, these data suggest that human MRs with (Val-180, Val-241) or (Ile-180, Ala-241) in the NTD evolved after humans and chimpanzees diverged from their common ancestor. Considering the multiple functions in human development of the MR in kidney, brain, heart, skin, and lungs, as well as MR activity in interaction with the glucocorticoid receptor, we suggest that the evolution of human MRs that are absent in chimpanzees may have been important in the evolution of humans from chimpanzees. Investigation of the physiological responses to corticosteroids mediated by the MR in humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans may provide insights into the evolution of humans and their closest relatives.

Analysis of Evolutionary Conservation, Expression Level, and Genetic Association at a Genome-wide Scale Reveals Heterogeneity Across Polygenic Phenotypes.

Understanding the expression level and evolutionary rate of associated genes with human polygenic diseases provides crucial insights into their disease-contributing roles. In this work, we leveraged genome-wide association studies (GWASs) to investigate the relationship between the genetic association and both the evolutionary rate (dN/dS) and expression level of human genes associated with the two polygenic diseases of schizophrenia and coronary artery disease. Our findings highlight a distinct variation in these relationships between the two diseases. Genes associated with both diseases exhibit a significantly greater variance in evolutionary rate compared to those implicated in monogenic diseases. Expanding our analyses to 4,756 complex traits in the GWAS atlas database, we unraveled distinct trait categories with a unique interplay among the evolutionary rate, expression level, and genetic association of human genes. In most polygenic traits, highly expressed genes were more associated with the polygenic phenotypes compared to lowly expressed genes. About 69% of polygenic traits displayed a negative correlation between genetic association and evolutionary rate, while approximately 30% of these traits showed a positive correlation between genetic association and evolutionary rate. Our results demonstrate the presence of a spectrum among complex traits, shaped by natural selection. Notably, at opposite ends of this spectrum, we find metabolic traits being more likely influenced by purifying selection, and immunological traits that are more likely shaped by positive selection. We further established the polygenic evolution portal (evopolygen.de) as a resource for investigating relationships and generating hypotheses in the field of human polygenic trait evolution.

Ethno-Assyrıologıcal Analogıes And Eclectıc Landscape From Glocal To Global

Archaeology as a discipline began in the 19th century following the main moves of globalization, such as the worldwide spread of capitalism and the imperialist moves of the colonial powers. The discipline's core intellectual goals were also global, such as understanding the vast spread of material culture and the evolution of human ancestors later in the century. In the 20th century, this trend grew even greater; however, with the emergence of numerous social actors towards the end of the 20th century, this situation changed dramatically for many reasons. Archaeology has shifted from a potentially limited, Western narrative of the past to a chaotic but pluralistic study of past material culture from a variety of contradictory perspectives. This is actually a major epistemological shift from a normative, uniform, and integrative narrative to a diversity of different interpretations. The idea of glocalization has been put forward in order to clearly reveal the 'heterogenizing' aspects of globalization. In this vein, it is quite common to find proposed issues related to the "rehumanization" of archaeology and global archaeology. In this article, in the light of a number of examples, the ways in which localities were 'produced' in the ancient Near East, especially in the light of Assyrian examples in the Upper Tigris Basin, and some of their reflections on the global are examined. Our goal is to understand some of the ideas that underpin these recommendations.

Structural polymorphism and diversity of human segmental duplications.

Segmental duplications (SDs) contribute significantly to human disease, evolution, and diversity yet have been difficult to resolve at the sequence level. We present a population genetics survey of SDs by analyzing 170 human genome assemblies where the majority of SDs are fully resolved using long-read sequence assembly. Excluding the acrocentric short arms, we identify 173.2 Mbp of duplicated sequence (47.4 Mbp not present in the telomere-to-telomere reference) distinguishing fixed from structurally polymorphic events. We find that intrachromosomal SDs are among the most variable with rare events mapping near their progenitor sequences. African genomes harbor significantly more intrachromosomal SDs and are more likely to have recently duplicated gene families with higher copy number when compared to non-African samples. A comparison to a resource of 563 million full-length Iso-Seq reads identifies 201 novel, potentially protein-coding genes corresponding to these copy number polymorphic SDs.

Phylogenetic differences in the morphology and shape of the central sulcus in great apes and humans: implications for the evolution of motor functions.

The central sulcus divides the primary motor and somatosensory cortices in many anthropoid primate brains. Differences exist in the surface area and depth of the central sulcus along the dorso-ventral plane in great apes and humans compared to other primate species. Within hominid species, there are variations in the depth and aspect of their hand motor area, or knob, within the precentral gyrus. In this study, we used post-image analyses on magnetic resonance images to characterize the central sulcus shape of humans, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), and orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii). Using these data, we examined the morphological variability of central sulcus in hominids, focusing on the hand region, a significant change in human evolution. We show that the central sulcus shape differs between great ape species, but all show similar variations in the location of their hand knob. However, the prevalence of the knob location along the dorso-ventral plane and lateralization differs between species and the presence of a second ventral motor knob seems to be unique to humans. Humans and orangutans exhibit the most similar and complex central sulcus shapes. However, their similarities may reflect divergent evolutionary processes related to selection for different positional and habitual locomotor functions.