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The evolution of human altriciality and brain development in comparative context
Aida Gómez-Robles1,2, Christos Nicolaou3, Jeroen B Smaers4
1Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK. a.gomez-robles@ucl.ac.uk.
Nature Ecology & Evolution
|December 4, 2023
Summary
Human newborns exhibit high altriciality due to significant postnatal brain growth, not just developmental timing. This suggests myelination timing may influence human neuroplasticity.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Neuroscience
- Primatology
Background:
- Humans are considered altricial (underdeveloped at birth) compared to other primates.
- However, in a broader mammalian context, humans are less altricial than many species.
- Secondary altriciality in humans may be linked to obstetrical/metabolic constraints and brain plasticity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evolution of altriciality across placental mammals.
- To determine how humans fit into the broader evolutionary pattern of altriciality.
- To explore the association between altriciality, brain development, and neuroplasticity in human evolution.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of altriciality using data from 140 placental mammal species.
- Estimation of brain size and gestation length changes during hominin evolution.
- Assessment of neurodevelopmental event timing, particularly myelination.
Main Results:
- Humans exhibit the highest evolutionary rate towards altriciality among placental mammals.
- This high rate is primarily driven by substantial postnatal brain enlargement, not neonatal development.
- Few neurodevelopmental events shifted to the postnatal period in hominins, mainly involving myelination.
Conclusions:
- Human altriciality is largely a consequence of postnatal brain development.
- The timing of myelination in specific brain pathways may be linked to human neuroplasticity.
- This finding reframes our understanding of human developmental trajectory and its evolutionary drivers.
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