The Human Brain Size and Development Essay - 1551 Words

Over time, the human brain has evolved into an amazing organ of the human body. It can store a lot of information that is essential to the survival of the human race, and being successful in life. The brain has evolved and grown, it has always been hard to figure out what caused the growth and development. Microcephalin and the abnormal spindle-like microcephaly-associated, or ASPM, proteins are the genes that are responsible for brain size and development, and are responsible for the mutations observed in affected individuals that result in truncated gene products. Among all of the mammals, humans have an exceptionally big brain relative to their body size. The ASPM gene is proven to be an important genetic component in the evolutionary†¦show more content†¦This causes scientists to believe that the ASPM gene played a big role in primate brain evolution, and it also suggests that the genetic basis of brain evolution may be strongly conserved and strong developmental constra ints may limit the way in which brain development can respond to selection (Montgomery). A recent study found that the interspecies comparisons of ASPM orthologs have shown that the ASPM gene has a greater protein size, which causes the larger brain size. Since this was found, it shows how the ASPM gene has been a major factor in determining how the brain has been growing. The increase in protein size across the species is due to the increased number of IQ repeats, which suggests that the specific changes in the ASPM gene may be very influential for the evolution of the central nervous system (â€Å"Accelerated Evolution†). Since the ASPM gene may influence the evolution of the central nervous system, it has opened many new studies about what else the ASPM gene may have helped evolve. The ASPM gene was studied by a team of researchers to try to explain the evolution of the gene. They analyzed ASPM CDSs from six primate species, which included the human, chimpanzee, gorilla, o rangutan, rhesus macaque, and the African green monkey. The ASPM genes showed about the same overall length and domain structure for each of the primates. Since they were all about the same overall length and domain, it suggests that the expansionShow MoreRelatedThe Human Brain Is The Product Of Adaptation And Not Unique Amongst Other Species968 Words   |  4 PagesEvolutionary theorists argue the human brain is the product of adaptation and not unique amongst other species. Suzana Herculano-Houzel argues the human brain is merely an evolved form of a prior ape brain. 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