Tradeoffs, genomic conflicts, and recent positive selection in the evolution of human cognitive architecture

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Our research is designed to help us better understand how the human brain works, and how patterns of human neurodiversity (variation in mental traits) have evolved and are maintained. Three main projects will be conducted. Tradeoffs between human mental traits. Humans have extraordinary cognitive abilities, with regard to both social interactions with other humans, and with regard to non-social abilities such as visual-spatial skills and technology. We are collecting genetic data from large numbers of individuals for a set of genes that are expected to be involved in social and non-social cognition, to determine if alternative alleles and genotypes for such genes mediate social, relative to non-social, interests and skills. We are focusing especially on (1) genes that affect human empathy-related traits and skills, (2) genes that affect human science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related traits and skills, and (3) genes that have been associated with some mental disorders (especially autism and schizophrenia). The results are expected to be useful in understanding and fostering empathy, and technical skills, as well as in the understanding of the genetic causes of mental disorders. Genetic conflicts affecting human psychology. The human genome contains a set of so-called 'imprinted' genes that have been shown to exhibit forms of conflict with one another because they are inherited in different ways. Some of these genes influence infant birth weight, and infant feeding, in opposite directions, and thus have important impacts on health. Other such 'conflict' genes are expressed, and have their effects, in the human brain, and thus are expected to affect human mental traits, psychology, and behaviour. However, these 'brain conflict' genes have virtually never been studied in typical human populations, although they may be very important in neurodiversity and risks of some mental disorders. We are studying the effects of variation in these genes on a broad set of psychological traits in humans, to determine how, and how much, they impact upon human psychology. The results are expected to have important implications for understanding human mental well-being and psychiatric disorders. How human cognition is evolving. One of the biggest questions in science is how and why humans evolved to be so mentally complex and intelligence, relative to other animals. We will use a new approach to address this question, by studying brain-related genes that show evidence of being currently under natural selection in humans, and collecting data to determine what mental traits are being selected for. The results should provide novel insights into how human cognition has evolved, and is evolving.