The first two years of life are what make us smarter than chimps.
Despite sharing 98 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees, humans have much bigger brains and are, as a species, much more intelligent.
Now a new study sheds light on why: Unlike chimps, humans undergo a massive explosion in white matter growth, or the connections between brain cells, in the first two years of life.
Origin of human intelligence linked to a genetic accident 500 million years ago.
Researchers have identified the moment in history 500 million years ago that provided our ability to learn complex skills, analyze situations and have flexibility in the way in which we think.
According to Professor Seth Grant of the University of Edinburgh, who led the new research, intelligence in humans developed as the result of an increase in the number of brain genes in our evolutionary ancestors: a simple invertebrate animal living in the sea 500 million years ago experienced a “genetic accident,” which resulted in extra copies of these genes being made.
