Alzheimer's May Have Evolved Alongside Our Increasing Intelligence

[orogenicman]

So we may be smarter than the average animal, but as we age, we forget how smart we are. lol

Alzheimer s May Have Evolved Alongside Our Increasing Intelligence IFLScience

Anatomically modern humans emerged around 200,000 years ago. Over the next hundred thousand years or so, natural selection drove changes in half a dozen genes for brain development—increasing the connectivity of neurons and making our species “smarter” than our early ancestors. But according to new findings posted online at bioRxiv, that intellectual capacity came with a cost: Alzheimer’s may have evolved alongside human intelligence, Nature reports. Those same genes are implicated in the origins of the age-related brain disease that destroys memory.

 

[dblack]

Such a sad disease...

 

[orogenicman]

My mom was the youngest of 14. Ten were girls. All the girls developed alzheimers. So it runs in my family.

 

[percysunshine]

So we may be smarter than the average animal, but as we age, we forget how smart we are. lol

Alzheimer s May Have Evolved Alongside Our Increasing Intelligence IFLScience

Anatomically modern humans emerged around 200,000 years ago. Over the next hundred thousand years or so, natural selection drove changes in half a dozen genes for brain development—increasing the connectivity of neurons and making our species “smarter” than our early ancestors. But according to new findings posted online at bioRxiv, that intellectual capacity came with a cost: Alzheimer’s may have evolved alongside human intelligence, Nature reports. Those same genes are implicated in the origins of the age-related brain disease that destroys memory.

There are some fundamental science problems with the article.

The first problem is with the passage:

"Over the next hundred thousand years or so, natural selection drove changes in half a dozen genes for brain development—increasing the connectivity of neurons and making our species “smarter” than our early ancestors. But according to new findings posted online at bioRxiv, that intellectual capacity came with a cost: Alzheimer’s may have evolved alongside human intelligence,"

So, logically, natural selection over hundreds of thousands of years promotes DNA which reduces the survivability of it's host? That would be counter intuitive in the constructs of natural selection. Maybe it happens, and there are other explanations, but natural selection is awkward to be used as an argument to promote the theory. Is the theory that DNA wants to kill us when we get old?


The second problem is even more basic. It is embodied in the passage;

"Humans are the only species we know of that develops Alzheimer's disease."

The scientific observer is the subject of the observation. This is the 'look in a mirror and give an objective opinion' problem . Maybe dolphins have studied human Alzheimer's, but how would we know?


The last passage that sort of put up a red flag was;

"They were looking for variation that’s driven by changes in natural selection, but in order to isolate selection’s signatures, the team had to separate out the effects of changes in population size."

Sub-setting empirical data, and then looking for a correlation, is subject to the assumptions made in the sub-setting process. The assumptions need to be statistically unbiased in relation to the data. I do not have the data, but the passage got my attention.



Hope all is well with you and yours.

.
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[orogenicman]

So we may be smarter than the average animal, but as we age, we forget how smart we are. lol

Alzheimer s May Have Evolved Alongside Our Increasing Intelligence IFLScience

Anatomically modern humans emerged around 200,000 years ago. Over the next hundred thousand years or so, natural selection drove changes in half a dozen genes for brain development—increasing the connectivity of neurons and making our species “smarter” than our early ancestors. But according to new findings posted online at bioRxiv, that intellectual capacity came with a cost: Alzheimer’s may have evolved alongside human intelligence, Nature reports. Those same genes are implicated in the origins of the age-related brain disease that destroys memory.

There are some fundamental science problems with the article.

The first problem is with the passage:

"Over the next hundred thousand years or so, natural selection drove changes in half a dozen genes for brain development—increasing the connectivity of neurons and making our species “smarter” than our early ancestors. But according to new findings posted online at bioRxiv, that intellectual capacity came with a cost: Alzheimer’s may have evolved alongside human intelligence,"

So, logically, natural selection over hundreds of thousands of years promotes DNA which reduces the survivability of it's host? That would be counter intuitive in the constructs of natural selection. Maybe it happens, and there are other explanations, but natural selection is awkward to be used as an argument to promote the theory. Is the theory that DNA wants to kill us when we get old?


The second problem is even more basic. It is embodied in the passage;

"Humans are the only species we know of that develops Alzheimer's disease."

The scientific observer is the subject of the observation. This is the 'look in a mirror and give an objective opinion' problem . Maybe dolphins have studied human Alzheimer's, but how would we know?


The last passage that sort of put up a red flag was;

"They were looking for variation that’s driven by changes in natural selection, but in order to isolate selection’s signatures, the team had to separate out the effects of changes in population size."

Sub-setting empirical data, and then looking for a correlation, is subject to the assumptions made in the sub-setting process. The assumptions need to be statistically unbiased in relation to the data. I do not have the data, but the passage got my attention.



Hope all is well with you and yours.

.
.

Thanks, Percy. To address your concerns, I offer the following. First of all, there are plenty of human genetic diseases which reduces the survivability. But I think you are looking at this in the wrong light. Genetic diseases aren't about hosts and parasites. They mostly aren't disease vectors like bacteria or viruses, though some types of viruses do insert copies of themselves into our DNA (i.e., endogenous retroviruses).

Elderly in ancient nomadic peoples presented survivability issues for the entire group because they offered reduced benefits for the groups while using the same or increasing resources for their upkeep. Certain Native Americans, (Eskimos, for instance), used to expose the elderly to the elements, or leave them behind for the wolves because they could no longer be taken care of. Perhaps diseases such as Alzheimer's was evolution's way of limiting the age of humans. It is only a guess, of course, but the fact that Alzheimer's has an inherited component (of which my own family is victim) in six genes that are also involved in brain development is an important finding.

I believe the study suggested that the disease "developed as ageing brains struggled with new metabolic demands imposed by increasing intelligence", so my hypothesis above may be, admittedly, wrong.

As for your second objection, that humans are the only species known to develop Alzheimer's being a case of "the scientific observer is the subject of the observation", if you think about it, all of medical research can fall into that category. I have to assume here that researchers have looked to the natural world to find a possible vector for the disease, and came up short, and also to find a natural animal model for the disease so they could study aspects that of the disease they are unable to study ethically in humans. And it was through those searches that they determined that Alzheimer's is a human disease. Having said that, it isn't strictly true, since scientists have developed rat models that develop the disease, but I suppose the point was that there are none in the wild.

As for the last "red flag", I haven't read the actual paper either, so I cannot speak to any bias that may have been introduced.

I hope this helps.

 

[sealybobo]

Such a sad disease...

I'm watching my parents go through it. Dont know who I feel more sorry for her or my dad who has to watch and be her 24-7 caregiver. I'm giving her pot cookies for the first time today. Hope it takes away her anxious irritability.

 

[sealybobo]

My mom was the youngest of 14. Ten were girls. All the girls developed alzheimers. So it runs in my family.

No one we know of got it except my mom. She got it really young too.

No one would want to live like that but we wouldnt put her down until or unless she was suffering more but I tell you if she could see clearly how my dad has to wipe her butt or she's drooling I bet if offered a death pill she would take it today and I wouldnt blame her.

 

[sealybobo]

So we may be smarter than the average animal, but as we age, we forget how smart we are. lol

Alzheimer s May Have Evolved Alongside Our Increasing Intelligence IFLScience

Anatomically modern humans emerged around 200,000 years ago. Over the next hundred thousand years or so, natural selection drove changes in half a dozen genes for brain development—increasing the connectivity of neurons and making our species “smarter” than our early ancestors. But according to new findings posted online at bioRxiv, that intellectual capacity came with a cost: Alzheimer’s may have evolved alongside human intelligence, Nature reports. Those same genes are implicated in the origins of the age-related brain disease that destroys memory.

My friends girlfriends dad just found out he had alz and he shot himself in the chest.

I dont approve of how he did it but I dont blame him. But I heard family heard the shot and found him gurgling. He could have taken pills and slit his wrists. Why traumatize your loveones? But he planned it because a couple years ago he took out a life insurance policy and hooked her up. I guess shell get $700,000. But I guess it has to be a couple years or suicide doesnt pay out.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

So we may be smarter than the average animal, but as we age, we forget how smart we are. lol

Alzheimer s May Have Evolved Alongside Our Increasing Intelligence IFLScience

Anatomically modern humans emerged around 200,000 years ago. Over the next hundred thousand years or so, natural selection drove changes in half a dozen genes for brain development—increasing the connectivity of neurons and making our species “smarter” than our early ancestors. But according to new findings posted online at bioRxiv, that intellectual capacity came with a cost: Alzheimer’s may have evolved alongside human intelligence, Nature reports. Those same genes are implicated in the origins of the age-related brain disease that destroys memory.

"You don't see the aliens fucking each other over for a pecentage Burke." - "Aliens"

I reject the statement that we're 'smarter than the average animal.' We're more complex and love to overcomplicate things, but you don't see the great whales annihilating other species for the fun of it though some are perfectly capable of doing so. Nor do many animals routinely destroy their own habitats (feral hogs being one notable exemption.)

While we human animals can do much more than other species, it's anthropomorphisizing to claim we're smarter than every other. In the short time our species has existed, comapred to say sharks which have existed as they are right now for several hundred million years, our species at say a couple million is the first and only species threatening to destroy the planet.

If anything, we're a plague evolution should have selected for extinction. What's more, it may well have done so as our effects on the planet are becomming more pronounced and our fate sealed.

Intelligence may well be a curse nature uses toe radicate unfit species whereas lack oftechnological intelligence might be the key to success as with sharks existing so well for 400 million or so years.

 

[orogenicman]

So we may be smarter than the average animal, but as we age, we forget how smart we are. lol

Alzheimer s May Have Evolved Alongside Our Increasing Intelligence IFLScience

Anatomically modern humans emerged around 200,000 years ago. Over the next hundred thousand years or so, natural selection drove changes in half a dozen genes for brain development—increasing the connectivity of neurons and making our species “smarter” than our early ancestors. But according to new findings posted online at bioRxiv, that intellectual capacity came with a cost: Alzheimer’s may have evolved alongside human intelligence, Nature reports. Those same genes are implicated in the origins of the age-related brain disease that destroys memory.

"You don't see the aliens fucking each other over for a pecentage Burke." - "Aliens"

I reject the statement that we're 'smarter than the average animal.' We're more complex and love to overcomplicate things, but you don't see the great whales annihilating other species for the fun of it though some are perfectly capable of doing so. Nor do many animals routinely destroy their own habitats (feral hogs being one notable exemption.)

While we human animals can do much more than other species, it's anthropomorphisizing to claim we're smarter than every other. In the short time our species has existed, comapred to say sharks which have existed as they are right now for several hundred million years, our species at say a couple million is the first and only species threatening to destroy the planet.

If anything, we're a plague evolution should have selected for extinction. What's more, it may well have done so as our effects on the planet are becomming more pronounced and our fate sealed.

Intelligence may well be a curse nature uses toe radicate unfit species whereas lack oftechnological intelligence might be the key to success as with sharks existing so well for 400 million or so years.

I didn't say that we were smarter. I said that we "may" be smarter", meaning that that is the assumption we humans make.