Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40802760›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

An ancient enhancer rapidly evolving in the human lineage promotes neural development and cognitive flexibility.

Kun Tan, Kendall Higgins, Qing Liu, Miles F Wilkinson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Kun TanDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynecology, & Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8567-7795
Kendall HigginsDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynecology, & Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Qing LiuDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynecology, & Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Miles F WilkinsonDepartment of Obstetrics, Gynecology, & Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6416-3058

Funding

VIRAL MALIGNANCYP30CA023100 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI DIANE M SIMEONE · 1985 to 2026
$124.9M
Transgenic & Knock-out MouseP30DK063491 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI MILES Frome WILKINSON · 2003 to 2026
$40.4M
Spermatogonial Stem Cell Establishment and RegulationR01GM119128 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI TAN, KUN, WILKINSON, MILES FROME · 2016 to 2025
$3.6M
An Ancient Neural Enhancer that has Rapidly Evolved in the Human LineageR01MH137503 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI Kun Tan, MILES Frome WILKINSON · 2024 to 2026
$2.1M
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA023100NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK063491NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM119128NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH137503
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The genetic changes driving the evolution of humans since the human-chimpanzee split have been elusive. Here, we report a promising candidate in a chromosomal region linked with neurological defects-17p13.3. We show that this 442-nucleotide sequence-human-accelerated region (HAR) 123-is a conserved neural enhancer that promotes neural progenitor cell (NPC) formation. While present in all mammals, HAR123 has rapidly evolved since humans diverged from chimpanzees. The human and chimpanzee HAR123 orthologs exhibit subtle differences in their neural developmental effects, and the human HAR123 ortholog uniquely regulates many genes involved in neural differentiation. We identified direct targets of the HAR123 enhancer and showed that

Indexed as

CognitionEnhancer Elements, GeneticEvolution, MolecularNeurogenesisAnimalsCell DifferentiationCognitive FlexibilityHippocampusHumansMiceMice, KnockoutNeural Stem CellsPan troglodytes

Identifiers

PMID40802760
PMCPMC12346275

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.