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Selección natural y genes del lenguaje en humanos
Rob DeSalle1, Guilherme Lepski2,3, Analia Arévalo3
1Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, 79th at Central Park West, New York, NY, 10024, USA. desalle@amnh.org.
Scientific reports
|February 17, 2026
Resumen
La selección natural impactó genes neuronales relacionados con el lenguaje en ancestros humanos. Los neandertales y denisovanos mostraron ráfagas de selección en genes del lenguaje, a diferencia de los humanos modernos.
Área de la Ciencia:
- Biología evolutiva
- Genética
- Neurociencia
- Evolución de primates
Sus antecedentes:
- El lenguaje articulado es un rasgo humano definitorio.
- Comprender la base genética de la evolución del lenguaje es crucial.
- La genómica comparativa en linajes de primates puede revelar presiones evolutivas.
Objetivo del estudio:
- Identificar genes candidatos asociados con el lenguaje articulado.
- Analizar los efectos de la selección natural en estos genes en linajes de primates.
- Investigar las diferencias evolutivas en la selección de genes neuronales relacionados con el lenguaje entre Homo sapiens, neandertales y denisovanos.
Principales métodos:
- Se construyeron listas de más de 100 genes candidatos para el lenguaje articulado.
- Se analizaron las regiones codificantes para detectar efectos de selección natural (selección episódica direccional, selección relajada/intensificada).
- Se compararon los patrones de selección en 34 especies de primates no humanos, Homo sapiens, neandertales y denisovanos.
Principales resultados:
- Se observó una ráfaga significativa de efectos de selección alterados en genes neuronales en el nodo que conduce a la tríada Homo sapiens-Neanderthal-Denisova.
- Posteriormente, se observaron ráfagas de selección en genes neuronales relacionados con el lenguaje en los linajes denisovano y neandertal.
- Estos aumentos en neandertales y denisovanos contrastan con una selección mínima en los mismos genes en el linaje Homo sapiens.
- Los genes involucrados se relacionaron principalmente con la estructura y el mantenimiento de la sinapsis.
Conclusiones:
- Los genes neuronales relacionados con el lenguaje experimentaron presiones de selección evolutiva distintas en linajes homininos recientes.
- Los neandertales y denisovanos experimentaron una selección significativa en genes involucrados en la función sináptica, lo que podría impactar las capacidades del lenguaje.
- Se propone una hipótesis que vincula la eficiencia sináptica con las diferencias en la adquisición del lenguaje en estos grupos homininos.
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