Research from scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have shed new light on an age-old question: what makes the human brain unique?
The team's discovery comes from their investigation of human-accelerated regions (HARs) -- sections of the human genome that have accumulated an unusually high level of mutations as humans have evolved. There is a lot of scientific interest in HARs, as they are hypothesized to play an essential role in conferring human-specific traits, and also have links to neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism.
One reason why scientists think that HARs confer human-specific traits is because they have undergone rapid changes in their genetic sequences since we split from our closest living relative -- the chimpanzee -- approximately 5 million years ago.
Now, UC San Diego researchers have identified one particular HAR -- called HAR123 -- that appears to be instrumental in shaping the human brain.
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