Abstract
The human brain differs from that of other primates, but the underlying genetic mechanisms remain unclear. Here we measured the evolutionary pressures acting on all human protein-coding genes (N=17,808) based on their divergence from early hominins such as Neanderthal, and non-human primates. We confirm that genes encoding brain-related proteins are among the most conserved of the human proteome. Conversely, several of the most divergent proteins in humans compared to other primates are associated with brain-associated diseases such as micro/macrocephaly, dyslexia, and autism. We identified specific expression profiles of a set of divergent genes in ciliated cells of the cerebellum, that might have contributed to the emergence of fine motor skills and social cognition in humans. This resource is available at http://neanderthal.pasteur.fr and can be used to estimate evolutionary constraints acting on a set of genes and to explore their relative contribution to human traits.
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