Study: Neanderthals could be more sensitive to pain than modern humans

It is believed that at least 40% of the Neanderthal genome is distributed among modern humanity, despite the fact that

the share of Neanderthal genes in one person of non-African origin is more than 2%.

Scientists analyzed data from a large-scalepopulation study conducted in the UK. They compared how carriers of the Neanderthal and human versions of SCN9A feel pain using data collected from the UK Biobank project. According to previous information, the degree of pain perception among participants was dependent on age: the older they were, the more pain they experienced.

But it turned out that people who inherited thisthe gene from the Neanderthals actually felt more pain than the carriers of the human species SCN9A. On average, they complained of different types of pain sensations 7% more often than peers with a different version of the gene, and they quickly identified the source of pain.

In the near future, scientists want to understand whyNeanderthals had such a sensitivity and what role it played in how they adapted to living in glacial conditions. In addition, they want to find out whether this feature played any role in the fact that the Neanderthals became extinct after the first Homo sapiens entered Europe.

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