Science

Natural selection may prefer higher cognitive ('thinking' or 'mental') performance

Using an unprecedented amount of genome data, scientists were able to develop a method for detecting directional (natural) selection in ancient DNA. Evolution may prefer higher cognitive ('thinking' or 'mental') performance.

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In a Harvard‑led study published today in Nature, scientists were able to develop a method for detecting directional selection (natural selection) in ancient DNA. The study is significant not only due to the scope of the dataset (16,000 ancient genomes), but also because of the scope of its findings:

When the researchers looked at how natural selection has shaped human genes over the past 10,000 years, they found evidence that:

  • Genetic variants associated with higher body fat have become less common
  • Genetic variants associated with schizophrenia risk have become less common
  • Genetic variants associated with higher cognitive performance have become more common. Cognitive performance refers to how well a person thinks, understands, and processes information.

In other words, the direction of natural selection — based on the ancient DNA dataset — suggests that certain traits have been selected against (body fat, schizophrenia risk), while others have been selected for (cognitive performance).

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