Neanderthal brains: Scans reveal surprise about their intelligence

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doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2426638123
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For a long time, Neanderthals were seen as primitive beings, less intelligent than modern humans

This idea arose soon after the discovery of the first fossils in the 19th century, when a German anatomist analyzed a skull found in the Neander Valley, Germany, and described it as being at a low stage of development.

This view persisted for more than 150 years, fueling the hypothesis that humans survived because they had superior brains, while Neanderthals eventually became extinct.

However, new international research by anthropologists provides evidence that challenges this prejudice.

Scientists compared brain scans and CT scans of modern populations from the United States and China.

The surprising result is that the differences in the volume of brain regions between these current human groups are greater than the differences found between Neanderthal and modern human brains.

In other words, the variations between Neanderthals and us are extremely small.

Researchers explain that if we consider these small differences in Neanderthals as something that significantly affected cognition or evolution, then we would have to apply the same criteria to the variations that exist today between different human populations.

However, the scientific literature shows that brain anatomy has a very weak, or almost nonexistent, relationship with cognitive ability in people today.

Therefore, rejecting the idea that modern populations differ cognitively in important ways also weakens any argument that Neanderthals were intellectually inferior.

This discovery comes at a time when other evidence has already been changing our view of these ancient relatives.

Archaeologists have found clear signs that Neanderthals were more skilled than previously thought: they dived into the sea to collect shells, used tools to make fire, prepared medicinal substances with antibacterial properties, created glues and waterproof materials, sewed clothes, and even produced abstract art.

Many of these practices emerged among them even before they appeared among modern humans.

Furthermore, skull analyses suggest they could produce sounds similar to human speech, and recent studies show that their posture was upright, not hunched as previously thought.

All this indicates that Neanderthals were not the “brutal cavemen” portrayed in old films and books.

In fact, they were quite similar to us.

Scientists remind us that skull bones tell only part of the story.

The brain is a complex organ, and interpreting only bone structure can lead to errors.

Today, many experts believe that Neanderthals did not disappear completely: they interbred with modern humans over thousands of years.

This is why many people today carry Neanderthal genes in their DNA.

In a sense, they continue to live within us.

This research, published in the journal PNAS, reinforces that underestimating Neanderthals means underestimating our own evolutionary history.

In many respects, we are more similar to them than we imagined.

The idea that a slightly different brain meant inferiority doesn’t hold up when we look at the variation that already exists among us, humans today.

With advances in technology, such as brain scans and genetic analysis, we are gradually recovering a fairer and more complete picture of these ancient cousins “”of ours.

They were not inferior beings, but part of a diverse and creative human lineage that contributed to who we are today.

This new perspective invites us to reflect on our own intelligence and on how we judge differences that, in the end, may be much smaller than we thought.

Published in 04/30/2026 01h21

Portuguese version

Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.

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