Homo sapiens overcame primitive people with creative genes

Scientists have discovered a set of creativity-related genes that gave Homo sapiens a huge advantage over Neanderthals and allowed them to avoid extinction.

The discovery indicates that these genes played a key role in the development of creativity, self-awareness and cooperativeness, Spanish scientists reported in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Those genes were the "secret weapon" that gave modern humans a major advantage over today's extinct hominids by enhancing their resilience, adaptability and recovery from aging, injury and disease, they wrote.

Spanish scientists from the University of Granada have identified 267 genes unique to humans and, using genetic markers, gene expression and magnetic resonance imaging, found that they are associated with creativity, reports Hina.

"The scientists were able to identify the areas of the brain where these genes were expressed. "These are areas important for human self-awareness and creativity, and consequently for human well-being," they wrote.

It is important to point out that these genes appeared relatively recently, 100.000 years ago.