Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 29, 2026
07:14
A Comparative Approach for Quantitative Cell Counting Studies in Widely Different Mammalian Brains
Published on: January 16, 2026
416
Neanderthal brain and cognition reconsidered.
P Thomas Schoenemann1,2,3, Ralph L Holloway4, Jia-Hong Gao5
1Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405.
Summary
Neanderthal brain shape differences are not significant enough to explain their extinction. Modern human populations show greater brain variation than previously thought, suggesting Neanderthals were not cognitively inferior.
Area of Science:
- Paleoanthropology
- Neuroscience
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Neanderthal endocranial morphology differs from modern humans, historically suggesting cognitive disparities.
- Previous studies inferred significant cognitive differences based on these morphological distinctions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To contextualize Neanderthal brain differences within modern human populational variation.
- To reassess the cognitive implications of endocranial differences between Neanderthals and anatomically modern Homo sapiens (amHs).
Main Methods:
- Utilized deformation mapping to estimate MRI brain region volumes in US and Chinese modern human populations.
- Compared the magnitude of brain region volume differences in modern humans to those reported for Neanderthals vs. amHs.
Main Results:
- Modern human populations (US vs. Chinese) exhibit brain region volume differences comparable to or exceeding those between Neanderthals and amHs.
- 9 out of 13 brain regions showed larger absolute differences in modern populations than between Neanderthals and amHs.
- Endocranial differences predict cognitive effect sizes of 0.14 SDs or less, well within modern human variation.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive differences between Neanderthals and amHs likely fall within the range of modern human variation.
- The morphological brain differences do not support cognitive limitations as a primary driver for Neanderthal replacement.
- Neanderthal extinction was likely not due to significant cognitive inferiority compared to contemporary Homo sapiens.
More Related Videos
09:00Investigating the Function of Deep Cortical and Subcortical Structures Using Stereotactic Electroencephalography: Lessons from the Anterior Cingulate Cortex
Published on: April 15, 2015
12.1K
08:29Symmetric Bihemispheric Postmortem Brain Cutting to Study Healthy and Pathological Brain Conditions in Humans
Published on: December 18, 2016
13.9K
Related Concept Videos
01:17Cognitivism
2.9K
Cognitive psychology emerged as a significant field in the mid-20th century. It focused on understanding humans' internal mental processes. This approach emphasizes how people perceive, remember, think, and solve problems—elements critical to human cognition.
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process...
2.9K
01:14Role of Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex in Memory
1.5K
The cerebellum, while traditionally associated with motor control, also plays a crucial role in memory, particularly in procedural memory, which involves learning motor tasks that become automatic through repetition. For example, studies have shown that when the cerebellum is damaged, individuals or animals lose the ability to learn conditioned motor responses, such as the conditioned eye-blink response in classical conditioning experiments with rabbits. This study demonstrates the...
1.5K
01:27Language and Cognition
874
Language serves as a bridge between ideas and communication, influencing how individuals perceive and interact with the world. Psychologists have long debated whether language shapes thought or vice versa. This discussion gained grip with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1940s, who proposed that language determines thought, a concept known as linguistic determinism. They suggested that the vocabulary and structure of a language influence how its speakers think and perceive reality.
874
01:20Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
2.7K
Cognitive psychology is the field of psychology dedicated to examining how people think. It attempts to explain how and why we think the way we do by studying the interactions among human thinking, emotion, creativity, language, and problem-solving, as well as other cognitive processes. Cognitive psychology studies how information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing.
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
2.7K
01:11Cerebrum: Anatomical Overview II
4.9K
Each cerebral hemisphere can be divided into three main regions. The outermost region, the cerebral cortex, is a thin layer (2 to 4 millimeters thick) made up of gray matter, consisting of neuron cell bodies, dendrites, glial cells, and blood vessels. The middle region, or white matter, is primarily composed of myelinated nerve fibers organized into three types of large tracts: association fibers, commissures, and projection fibers. Association fibers connect different areas within the same...
4.9K
01:30Biological Influences on Intelligence
732
Intelligence is often thought to be linked to brain size, but the relationship is more complex than that. While brain size does correlate modestly with some abilities, like verbal skills, the connection is weaker for others, such as spatial reasoning. Other factors, like brain structure, also play crucial roles. For instance, despite Einstein's smaller-than-average brain, his parietal cortex, which is involved in spatial reasoning, was 15% wider, suggesting that neural density might matter...
732