Die menschliche Evolution kann hohe Autismusraten erklären: genetische Veränderungen, die unser Gehirn einzigartig machten, machten uns auch mehr Neurodiverse. Spezielle Neuronen wurden beim Menschen schnell entwickelt – diese schnelle Verschiebung fiel mit Veränderungen der mit Autismus verbundenen Gene zusammen, die wahrscheinlich von der natürlichen Selektion geprägt sind, die einzigartig für den Menschen ist.
https://www.newsweek.com/human-evolution-autism-high-rates-2126289
4 Kommentare
I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://academic.oup.com/mbe/article/42/9/msaf189/8245036
From the linked article:
**Human Evolution May Explain High Autism Rates**
Scientists have uncovered new evidence suggesting that autism may have it roots in how the human brain has evolved.
„Our results suggest that some of the same **genetic changes that make the human brain unique also made humans more neurodiverse**,“ said the study’s lead author, Alexander L. Starr in a statement.
In the United States, around one in 31 children—about 3.2 percent—has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Autism spectrum disorder is a complex developmental condition affecting roughly one in 100 children worldwide, according to The World Health Organization.
It involves persistent challenges with social communication, restricted interests and repetitive behavior.
Unlike other neurological conditions seen in animals, autism and schizophrenia appear to be largely unique to humans, likely because they involve traits such as speech production and comprehension that are either exclusive to or far more advanced in people than in other primates.
By analyzing brain samples across different species, researchers found that the most common type of outer-layer **neurons—known as L2/3 IT neurons—underwent especially fast evolution in humans** compared to other apes.
Strikingly, **this rapid shift coincided with major alterations in genes linked to autism—likely shaped by natural selection factors unique to the human species**.
Although the findings strongly point to evolutionary pressure acting on autism-associated genes, the evolutionary benefit to human ancestors remains uncertain.
It’s also worth noting that our society has become a lot more hostile to autistic people in an environmental sense. Urban areas used to not be filled with loud noises and flashing lights constantly, and if they were it was easy to find work in rural areas or more quite backstage areas.
And here I was thinking that the MMR vaccine was to blame….
I wonder how Culture relates to this. Looking at the Stereotypes of certain Countries, some seem to have far more overlap with certain autistic Symptoms. Germans are a pretty good Example for this.