The human brain continues to undergo evolutionary changes
Multiple recent genetic and paleoanthropological studies demonstrate that the human brain and its underlying genetic architecture have continued to undergo evolutionary changes into recent history.
The retrieved papers provide robust genetic and anthropological evidence (e.g., within-species encephalization trends, recent emergence of cognitive-linked genetic variants, and ongoing positive selection signatures) supporting the claim that the human brain continues to evolve. No papers refute this claim.
Püschel TA, Nicholson SL, Baker J, Barton RA, Venditti C. Hominin brain size increase has emerged from within-species encephalization.. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2409542121
The study demonstrates that relative brain size has continued to increase through time across hominin evolution via within-species trends.
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Libedinsky I, Wei Y, de Leeuw C, Rilling JK, Posthuma D, van den Heuvel MP. The emergence of genetic variants linked to brain and cognitive traits in human evolution.. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhaf127
Genomic dating shows that genetic variants linked to cortical morphology and cognitive traits emerged relatively recently in human evolution.
Starr AL, Cale GM, Magtanong L, Palmer ME, Fraser HB. Adaptive loss of function accelerated the evolution of ancient and modern human cognition. 2026. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.27.721126
Research indicates that positive selection on brain development and cognition has continued to shape human evolution into recent millennia.
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