Neanderthal brains apparently developed like a chimpanzees
By gewcew23
@gewcew23 (8007)
United States
November 14, 2010 12:43pm CST
Neanderthal are often thought of as big dumb brutes but their brains were just as big as ours are so why weren't they thought to be as smart as us. Three paleontologist from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany made CT scans of 58 humans, 60 chimps, and 9 fossilized Neanderthal skulls of various different ages. Their finding were that all three brains and their skulls are the same at birth up to the time of one year of age. After one year of age though everything starts to change. Human brains at one year old preferentially expand their parietal lobes and cerebellums and widen their temporal lobes in the first year of life. This results in the characteristic rounded dome of our skulls. Chimps brains do not develop this way and studying the Neanderthal skull they didn't either. This suggest that Neanderthals may not have been as good at language, trade, and other behaviors that allowed humans to form complex societies.
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/11/neandertal-brains-developed-more.html?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4cd9b4b58db8b76c%2C0
4 responses
@jypsyjulia (912)
• United States
14 Nov 10
You know, I was literally just reading about this in my Psychobiology class! Apparently, the structures that allow us to speak in our brain were not fully developed until quite recently (according to the scientific scale of recently, haha) and that Chimpanzee's and Gorilla's are showing the same kind of development that we apparently did so long ago. I find that absolutely fascinating. I mean, maybe even the development of Chimps and Gorillas could be moved along even faster, considering they are capable of simple sign language. However, we can communicate even without spoken language, which is what I'm sure we did when we were more primative... it's very interesting, though, isn't it? I am so glad you started a discussion on this!
@jypsyjulia (912)
• United States
14 Nov 10
I actually don't think so, not yet anyway, just because the parts of the brain necessary for language have not fully developed in our primate friends. However, I do think that they could possibly UNDERSTAND the language very fluently, but their larynx has not dropped and their brain is not yet capable to produce sound that would mimic language. I definitely think that we would be able to communicate much easier, though.
@gewcew23 (8007)
• United States
14 Nov 10
Your right current primate do not have the current ability to communicate with us in human vocal language but as you said up above they can learn sign language. So if they were taught earlier on in their life communications between us and them through sign language would be much simpler.
@matersfish (6306)
• United States
14 Nov 10
So, they couldn't speak? I need me a neanderthal chick. 
But I don't know how much I buy from this field these days.
The whole timeline on when "humans" were intelligent enough for social structure is a little iffy at best.
A lot of mainstream scientists simply ignore blatantly sophisticated structures that suggest cities if findings date to a time they've already suggested "we" weren't able to pull that off - like the Stone Age.
But I don't know how much I buy from this field these days.
The whole timeline on when "humans" were intelligent enough for social structure is a little iffy at best.
A lot of mainstream scientists simply ignore blatantly sophisticated structures that suggest cities if findings date to a time they've already suggested "we" weren't able to pull that off - like the Stone Age.
@matersfish (6306)
• United States
15 Nov 10
"So, they couldn't speak? I need me a neanderthal chick. "
This was just me trying to be funny.
Maybe I REALLY F'N SUCK at writing. It couldn't be a comprehension problem. No.
I thought the "" spoke for itself. I guess not. 
The second part of the comment is just a general comment about mainstream science.
"
This was just me trying to be funny.
Maybe I REALLY F'N SUCK at writing. It couldn't be a comprehension problem. No.
I thought the "" spoke for itself. I guess not.
The second part of the comment is just a general comment about mainstream science.@jypsyjulia (912)
• United States
15 Nov 10
Hm, but why couldn't we pull of complex civilizations without language? Neanderthal's probably couldn't speak in the way that we're used to now considering language has undergone such amazing evolution since the beginning of human existence, but language acquisition has been around forever. For example, there is a school in Nicaragua (I THINK it's Nicaragua... it might be Honduras?) for deaf students, but the only problem is that in that village they don't have a form of sign language so the students have literally come up with their own way to communicate with each other. This is called language acquisition. Verbal and listening abilities in language don't have much to do with intelligence so we most certainly could have pulled off very sophisticated civilizations without verbal speech.
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
29 Nov 10
Unfortunately since we don't actually have any Neanderthals to test, we can only speculate...
@rovered777 (649)
• United States
15 Nov 10
Evolution plays a clear role in the change of Neanderthals into humans. Recently, Chimpanzees are being linked from many sources of media, to be close descendants of humans. I feel that a significant time lapse separates Neanderthal from the Chimps. A change in timing can go a very long way, as Chimps stayed that way, Neanderthals evolved with civilization, and humans inherited brilliancy through gradual changes in brain structure. The study closely attributes a lineage between these three life forms, and I think they are getting closer to mapping the full extent of Neanderthal thinking aspects. What a life these three characters live, yet all three life forms are accustomed to different living situations. Its amazing to learn about evolution, and to fulfill my desire, I'm thinking about ordering Discover Magazine's evolution editions.
