# brain: the hypothesis that a brain organoid (a lab-grown brain) can reach consciousness.

<< In Alysson Muotri’s laboratory, hundreds of miniature human brains, the size of sesame seeds, float in Petri dishes, sparking with electrical activity. 

These tiny structures, known as brain organoids, are grown from human stem cells and have become a familiar fixture in many labs that study the properties of the brain. Muotri, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), has found some unusual ways to deploy his. He has connected organoids to walking robots, modified their genomes with Neanderthal genes, launched them into orbit aboard the International Space Station, and used them as models to develop more human-like artificial-intelligence (AI) systems. (..) But one experiment has drawn more scrutiny than the others. In August 2019, Muotri’s group published a paper in Cell Stem Cell (*) reporting the creation of human brain organoids that produced coordinated waves of activity, resembling those seen in premature babies. The waves continued for months before the team shut the experiment down. This type of brain-wide, coordinated electrical activity is one of the properties of a conscious brain. >> 

Sara Reardon. Can lab-grown brains become conscious? Nature 586, 658-661. doi: 10.1038/ d41586-020-02986-y. Oct 27, 2020. Correction Nov 4, 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02986-y     

(*)  Trujillo CA, Gao R, et al. Complex Oscillatory Waves Emerging from Cortical Organoids Model Early Human Brain Network Development. Cell Stem Cell. 2019 Oct 3;25(4):558-569.e7. doi: 10.1016/ j.stem.2019.08.002. Aug 29, 2019. 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31474560/

https://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/fulltext/S1934-5909(19)30337-6

# evol: apropos of a big mystery; Neanderthal may have been surrounded and terminated (killed) by Sapiens competition (and/or probably by Sapiens multitudes, their viruses, their chatter, ...)

<< Climate scientists from the IBS Center for Climate Physics discover that, contrary to previously held beliefs, Neanderthal extinction was neither caused by abrupt glacial climate shifts, nor by interbreeding with Homo sapiens. According to new supercomputer model simulations, only competition between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens can explain the rapid demise of Neanderthals around 43 to 38 thousand years ago. >>

Supercomputer model simulations reveal cause of Neanderthal extinction. Institute for Basic Science. May 20, 2020.

https://phys.org/news/2020-05-supercomputer-simulations-reveal-neanderthal-extinction.html    

<< Anatomically Modern Humans are the sole survivor of a group of hominins that inhabited our planet during the last ice age and that included, among others, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo denisova, and Homo erectus. Whether previous hominin extinctions were triggered by external factors, such as abrupt climate change, volcanic eruptions or whether competition and interbreeding played major roles in their demise still remains unresolved. (..)  a realistic extinction of the Neanderthal population can only be simulated when Homo sapiens is chosen to be considerably more effective in exploiting scarce glacial food resources as compared to Neanderthals. >>

Axel Timmermann. Quantifying the potential causes of Neanderthal extinction: Abrupt climate change versus competition and interbreeding. Quaternary Science Reviews. 

Volume 238, 15 June 2020, 106331. May 15, 2020. 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379120302936

Also

keyword 'Neanderthal' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=neanderthal

# evol: traces of proto harpist players, 40k year old evidence that Neanderthal's wove strings (three bundles of twisted fibres).

AA << show direct evidence of fibre technology in the form of a 3-ply cord fragment made from inner bark fibres on a stone tool recovered in situ from the same site (Abri du Maras Paleolithic site). Twisted fibres provide the basis for clothing, rope, bags, nets, mats, boats, etc. which, once discovered, would have become an indispensable part of daily life. Understanding and use of twisted fibres implies the use of complex multi-component technology as well as a mathematical understanding of pairs, sets, and numbers. Added to recent evidence of birch bark tar, art, and shell beads, the idea that Neanderthals were cognitively inferior to modern humans is becoming increasingly untenable. >>

B. L. Hardy, M.-H. Moncel, et al. 

Direct evidence of Neanderthal fibre technology and its cognitive and behavioral implications.  Sci Rep 10, 4889. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61839-w. Apr 9, 2020.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-61839-w

40,000 year old evidence that Neanderthals wove string. CNRS. Apr 9, 2020.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200409110533.htm

FonT

non per essere frainteso sulla prima parte del titolo di questo post ('traces of proto harpist players'), ma quando approccio dissertazioni circa argomenti che trattano 'corde', per associazione (a senso unico) richiamo  in modo automatico, meccanico,  immagini relative alla musica (e al caos); ognuno ha i suoi limiti ...

Also

keyword 'Neanderthal' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=Neanderthal

# evol: a ghost archaic ancestor was identified with deep learning

<< All modern humans are genetically related to each other at a time depth of up to 300 thousand years ago and share a common African root. >>

<< Sequencing of ancient Neanderthal and Denisovan fossils supported introgression events into AMH (Anatomically Modern Humans) out of Africa; however, recent studies also support the presence of gene flow from AMH into Neanderthals, thus suggesting a complex hominin evolution. >>

AA << results support a third introgression in all Asian and Oceanian populations from an archaic population. This population is either related to the Neanderthal-Denisova clade or diverged early from the Denisova lineage. >>

Mayukh Mondal, Jaume Bertranpetit,  Oscar Lao. Approximate Bayesian computation with deep learning supports a third archaic introgression in Asia and Oceania.  Nature Comm. 10 (246) Jan 16, 2019 doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-08089-7.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-08089-7

# evol: nonlinear effects in shaping human evolution, the role of viruses

<< Human evolution used to be depicted as a straight line, gradually progressing from an ape-like ancestor to modern Homo sapiens. But thanks to next-generation sequencing, findings in recent years have shown that it wasn’t quite so orderly. Now, a new study is reporting new details about the role of viruses in shaping evolution, in particular, viral interactions between modern humans and Neanderthals. >>

<< Many Neanderthal sequences have been lost in modern humans, but some stayed and appear to have quickly increased to high frequencies at the time of contact, suggestive of their selective benefits at that time, >> Dmitri Petrov

New study reports the role of viruses in shaping evolution. Oct 5, 2018.

https://thesurg.com/virus-shaping-evolution

AA << hypothesized that interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans led to (1) the exposure of each species to novel viruses and (2) the exchange of adaptive alleles that provided resistance against these viruses. >>

David Enard, Dmitri A. Petrov. Evidence that RNA Viruses Drove Adaptive Introgression between Neanderthals and Modern Humans. Cell. 175 (2) P360-371.E13 Oct 4, 2018.

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(18)31095-X 

# evol: precision in work among Neanderthals

<< Neanderthals were also more similar to modern humans in their physical expression than previously thought. The study, which analysed Neanderthal hand and arm bones, reveals that these individuals didn’t actually rely primarily on force in their daily activities – they used precision grips just like we do. >>

Francis Wenban-Smith. Neanderthals were no brutes - research reveals they may have been precision workers. University of Southampton. Sep 26, 2018.

https://theconversation.com/neanderthals-were-no-brutes-research-reveals-they-may-have-been-precision-workers-103858 

Fotios Alexandros Karakostis, Gerhard Hotz, et al. Evidence for precision grasping in Neandertal daily activities. Science Advances  26 Sep 2018: Vol. 4, no. 9, eaat2369 doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aat2369

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/9/eaat2369

Also

"Neanderthal"

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=neanderthal

# evol-ethno: the fuzzy dispersal and interaction dynamics of ancient (early) nomads (2)

AA << present the genome of 'Denisova 11', a bone fragment from Denisova Cave (Russia)3 and show that it comes from an individual who had a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father. >>

<< The finding of a first-generation Neanderthal–Denisovan offspring among the small number of archaic specimens sequenced to date suggests that mixing between Late Pleistocene hominin groups was common when they met. >>

Viviane Slon, Fabrizio Mafessoni, et al. The genome of the offspring of a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father. Nature. Aug 22, 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0455-x

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0455-x

Marlowe Hood. Neandertal mother, Denisovan father-Newly-sequenced genome sheds light on interactions between ancient hominins. Aug 22, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-08-neandertal-mother-denisovan-fathernewly-sequenced-genome.html

Also

the fuzzy dispersal and interaction dynamics of ancient (early) nomads. Dec 11, 2017.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2017/12/evol-ethno-fuzzy-dispersals-and.html

# zen: compassionate neanderthal

AA << review evidence for Neanderthal healthcare, drawing on a bioarchaeology of care approach and relating healthcare to other realms of Neanderthal social life. The authors argue that Neanderthal medical treatment and healthcare was widespread and part of a social context of strong pro-social bonds which was not distinctively different from healthcare seen in later contexts >>

AA << suggest that the time has come to accept Neanderthal healthcare as a compassionate and knowledgeable response to injury and illness, and to turn to other questions, such as cultural variation or the wider significance of healthcare in an evolutionary context >>

Penny Spikins, Andy Needham, et al.
Calculated or caring? Neanderthal healthcare in social context.  World Archaeology. doi: 10.1080/ 00438243.2018.1433060. Feb 22, 2018.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00438243.2018.1433060

University of York. Compassion helped Neanderthals to survive, new study reveals. Mar 13, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-03-compassion-neanderthals-survive-reveals.html

Also

# s-ethnomed: ancient flexible eat; self-medication among Neanderthals with aspirin and penicillin like.  Mar 18, 2017.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.it/2017/03/s-ethnomed-ancient-flexible-eat-self.html

# evol: about an ancient sleep, the tendency for daytime napping, narcolepsy, and evening activities (but not red hair)

<< Interbreeding between Neanderthals and early modern humans has been shown to have contributed about 2% Neanderthal DNA to the genomes of present-day non-Africans >>

AA << found two archaic haplotypes that contribute significantly to differences in  sleep patterns >>

Archaic alleles near ASB1 and EXOC6 << are associated with a preference for being an "evening person" and an increased tendency for daytime napping and narcolepsy, respectively >>

Michael Dannemann, Janet Kelso. The Contribution of Neanderthals to Phenotypic Variation in Modern Humans. The American Journal of Human Genetics. 2017; 101 (4): 578 - 89. doi: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.09.010 Oct 5, 2017

http://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(17)30379-8

Darren Curnoe. Neanderthals didn't give us red hair but they certainly changed the way we sleep. Oct 6, 2017.

https://theconversation.com/neanderthals-didnt-give-us-red-hair-but-they-certainly-changed-the-way-we-sleep-85173

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-10-neanderthals-didnt-red-hair.html

# s-ethnomed: ancient flexible eat; self-medication among Neanderthals with aspirin and penicillin like

<< Dental plaque preserved in fossilized teeth confirms that Neandertals were flexible eaters and may have self-medicated with an ancient equivalent of aspirin >>

<< Genetic material from poplar trees, which contain the pain-killing aspirin ingredient salicylic acid, and a plant mold that makes the antibiotic penicillin hint that he may have used natural medication to ease his aliments >>

Helen Thompson. Ancient dental plaque tells tales of Neandertal diet and disease. March 8, 2017

https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/science-ticker/ancient-dental-plaque-tells-tales-neandertal-diet-and-disease

Laura S. Weyrich, Sebastian Duchene, et al. Neanderthal behaviour, diet, and disease inferred from ancient DNA in dental calculus. Nature (2017) doi:10.1038/nature21674.  March 08, 2017

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature21674.html