Below is the press release from Western Illinois University on my research with Dr Andrea Alveshere and Dr Vincent Riccardi on the role of Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) in the evolution of knowledge systems. It is extraordinary research, well beyond anything I could have ever imagined that I would be involved in.
Andrea and I are showing that the gene, NF1, along with ‘the language gene’, FOXP2, form a powerful knowledge genes combination. We are now referring to NF1 as ‘the knowledge gene’. We believe that our current research will show that human knowledge systems are optimised by the combination of NF1 and FOXP2.
Both these genes were the result of mutations which happened over 300,000 years ago and are part of what separated us from the chimpanzees, with whom we share 98.8% of our coding DNA. Our research will show, we are sure, that we are genetically empowered to use music, art and our connection to place to grant us the abilities to adapt to every habitat on earth. Although we still use language extensively in education, we have sidelined music, art and our ability to use the landscape as a powerful memory system. It is our loss, caused by the introduction of writing.
But we can have it all! We just need to learn the methods from our Indigenous colleagues.
____ The Press Release _____
MACOMB, IL – Western Illinois University Associate Professor of Anthropology and Chemistry Andrea Alveshere will join two research partners to present their findings at the American Association of Biological Anthropologists (AABA) conference in Denver, CO this week. An online conference will be held the following week.
Their research presents new revelations about the genes and knowledge systems of our earliest human ancestors and has relevance – not only as a fascinating discovery about ancient humans – but also to timely questions about effective strategies and priorities in our modern educational systems.
“Are music and the arts key to smarter, more efficient human minds? Our research finds supporting evidence in traditional indigenous knowledge systems and in some of our earliest, uniquely-human genes,” Alveshere says.
“Art, Orality, and Migration: The Roles of NF1, Mnemonics, and Somatic Adaptation in the Hominin Biocultural Toolkit,” was research Alveshere conducted with Lynne Kelly, of La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, and Vincent M. Riccardi, of The Neurofibromatosis Institute in LaCrescenta, CA.
The research has unveiled a new relationship between fundamental human genetics and traditional indigenous knowledge systems. The research Alveshere has conducted involves the unique, human variant of the NF1 gene which, the study suggests, gives humans our unique potential for art, music and spatial awareness. The human NF1 gene allele is found in Neanderthals, Denisovans and all modern humans, dating back at least 300,000 years.
“Along with the FOXP2 language gene, Andrea and NF1 authority Vincent Riccardi have shown that these mutations are what gave us music and art and so much more,” said Kelly. “I joined their team when they included my ideas on primary orality to show how perfectly it all meshes together.”
The American Association for Biological Anthropology Conference is the first time the results of this study will be made public.
To see a video of the research presentation, visit bit.ly/3L2g3ID.
http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=18382
http://www.wiu.edu/cas/anthropology/faculty-staff/alveshere.php?
