tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post115050172093573626..comments2024-01-13T18:57:18.243-05:00Comments on Information Processing: Brains, genes, backlashSteve Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1151242262745085762006-06-25T09:31:00.000-04:002006-06-25T09:31:00.000-04:00Via gnxp.com, how aspm affects neuronal developmen...Via gnxp.com, how aspm affects neuronal development in mammalian brains:<BR/><BR/>http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0604066103v1Steve Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1150870043440143192006-06-21T02:07:00.000-04:002006-06-21T02:07:00.000-04:00Since skull capacity has gone _down_ over the Holo...Since skull capacity has gone _down_ over the Holocene, it was pretty obvious that the new ASPM variant doesn't increase brain size. But that leaves a lot of other possibilities. <BR/> There are a fair number of genes that apparently affect the central nervous system, have had new variants spread over the past few thousand years, and are essentially regional. Look at Voight and Pritchard's Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1150808640315256852006-06-20T09:04:00.000-04:002006-06-20T09:04:00.000-04:00The genes in question were singled out originally ...The genes in question were singled out originally because of microcephaly, but who knows whether the selected alleles actually increase brain size. The benefit might be subtler, yet still brain related. Of course, the benefit might also be completely unrelated to the brain. I was told there are g-correlated results that perhaps Lahn is now afraid to publish.<BR/><BR/>It is still striking that theSteve Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1150807221362558722006-06-20T08:40:00.000-04:002006-06-20T08:40:00.000-04:00The paper by Roger Woods et al., "Normal variants ...The paper by Roger Woods et al., "Normal variants of <I>Microcephalin</I> and <I>ASPM</I> do not account for brain size variability" (<I>Human Molecular Genetics</I> (2006) <B>15</B> pp. 2025--2029 (<A HREF="http://hmg.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/15/12/2025.pdf" REL="nofollow">link</A>; 170KB PDF)) is pretty devastating to the claims made here.<BR/><BR/>Of course, it's not the final word, but Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-1150507050881992022006-06-16T21:17:00.000-04:002006-06-16T21:17:00.000-04:00Lahn should try to get Ed Witten tested for this g...Lahn should try to get Ed Witten tested for this gene. He has an enormous head, and he's pretty smart.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com