Katharina Buczek
Most recently, an international team of scientists conducted a study to unravel the link between Neandertal DNA and over one hundred brain disorders.
The researchers also analyzed traits– including sleeping, alcohol use, and smoking– among individuals in the UK Biobank to figure out if Neandertal DNA has also contributed to behavioral variation.
And interestingly, the researchers found that Neandertal DNA is highly associated with numerous traits that are linked to central nervous system diseases.
However, the team did not find that the diseases themselves displayed a significant association with Neandertal DNA.
Still, the inquiry into Neandertal DNA did reveal other noteworthy contributions to modern human behavior– such as a greater tendency to smoke, consume alcohol, and experience abnormal sleep patterns.
“Our results suggest that Neandertals carried multiple variants that substantially increase the smoking risk in people today,” said Michael Dannemann, the study’s lead author.
“It remains unclear what phenotypic effects these variants had in Neandertals.”
However, Dannemann underscored how this finding would pave the way for future research focused on functional testing.
Perhaps most notably, though, the researchers’ discoveries concerning Neandertal DNA and links to alcohol and smoking habits may help scientists identify the evolutionary origin of reward-seeking and addictive behavior– behavioral traits that are often linked to a plethora of diseases.
“It is important to note that sleep problems, alcohol, and nicotine use have consistently been identified as common risk factors for a range of neurological and psychiatric disorders,” explained Stefan Gold, a co-leader of the study.
“On the other hand, there are some intriguing findings from anthropology that have suggested some social benefits of higher tolerance to these substances in hunter-gatherers.”
