Neanderthals have been the closest relatives to modern humans. If they have been compared they would give some fascinating insights into what it makes present-day humans unique. For example, we could consider about the development of the brain.

HIGHLIGHTS
Both Neanderthals and modern humans had same size brains
The researchers have recently discovered that neural stem cells
The study showed cellular variations within the development of the brain

The neocortex, the largest part of the outer layer of the brain would be unique to mammals and would be crucial for several cognitive capacities. It has been noticed that it got expanded dramatically during the human evolution in species ancestral to both Neanderthals and the modern humans. It had resulted that both Neanderthals and modern humans were having same size brains. However, nearly nothing has been known about how modern humans and Neanderthal brains might have differed in terms of their development and function.

The researchers of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) in Dresden and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) in Leipzig have recently discovered that neural stem cells. These could be considered as the cells from which neurons in the developing neocortex derive, it had spent longer time for preparing their chromosomes for division in modern humans than in Neanderthals. This leads to fewer errors once chromosomes would get distributed to the daughter cells within modern humans than in Neanderthals or chimpanzees, and would have certain consequences for the way the brain develops and functions. This study would show cellular variations within the development of the brain between modern humans and Neanderthals.

After the ancestors of modern humans got split from those of Neanderthals and Denisovans, their Asian relatives, about one hundred amino acids, the building blocks of proteins in cells and tissues got modified in modern humans and got spread to the almost all the modern humans. The biological significance of those changes is essentially unknown. However, six of these amino acids changes occurred in three proteins that would play key roles within the distribution of chromosomes, the carriers of genetic information, to the two daughter cells throughout the cell division.

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