Researchers discovered that autism’s prevalence may be linked to human brain evolution. Specific neurons in the outer brain evolved rapidly, and autism-linked genes changed under natural selection.

(CN) — Hormones in the womb may hold hidden clues to why humans evolved with bigger brains and better social skills than our ancient ancestors. Scientists from the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Study reveals rapid evolution of common brain neurons may explain autism’s high prevalence in humans (CREDIT: Shutterstock) What ...

One of the defining features of human evolution is the steady expansion of our brains. New findings suggest this growth may be partly linked to higher levels of estrogen before birth. Surprisingly, a ...

For more than a century, scientists have treated the brain as the undisputed command center of human evolution, with the rest of the body cast in supporting roles. A wave of new microbiome research is ...

The placenta and the hormones it produces may have played a crucial role in the evolution of the human brain, while also leading to the behavioral traits that have made human societies able to thrive ...

What unique processes conspire to create a healthy, functional human brain? How can we be so genetically similar to, say, chimpanzees, and yet be light-years more sophisticated cognitively and ...

Researchers have used a new human reference genome, which includes many duplicated and repeat sequences left out of the original human genome draft, to identify genes that make the human brain ...

In a new study, researchers discovered that the human brain has four pivotal periods when it goes through marked changes, sparking five "epochs" that last for years. The adolescent phase, for example, ...