The first people are slightly squashed by the genetic genes of Neanderthals

Those with two Neanderthal genes, their heads are slightly flatter and longer - like Neanderthal heads.

This effect is too small, can not be seen with the naked eye, but is shown on the brain scans. Modern versions of these genes seem to make certain parts of the brain work more efficiently.

Neanderthals are not direct ancestors of our species, but distant relatives.

not us, but distant relatives. Before our ancestors came to Europe, they lived there, about 40,000 years ago, and it seems to have been bred, because most Europeans have some Neanderthal genes appearing in their DNA - about 1-2% overall.

Simon Fisher from the Max Planck Language Psychology Institute in the Netherlands wonders if these genes will affect the head shape, because of the Neanderthal skull - and of their last common ancestors. we with the Neanderthals - are not as round as the modern human skulls today."It is one of the most special anatomical differences".

Neanderthal brains (red) are squashed compared to our brains (blue), in the direction of the arrows - (Photo by Philipp Gunz).

Fisher's team snapped up the skulls of nearly 4,500 Europeans and also sequenced their genome to find about 6,700 DNA fragments thought to be inherited from Neanderthals.

Two pieces of DNA are related to the skull flatter than in Europeans today. Both were previously discovered to contribute to the development of the brain - this is reasonable because the brain shape affects the shape of the skull.

With the first gene segment, the modern human version makes nerve cells better isolated in the cerebellum. The remaining gene variant of modern humans can stimulate neuronal growth.

In general, people with Neanderthal genotypes may have less effective cerebellum and neuronal organization, though Fisher stressed that the impact is too small to be noticed.