A recent study has discovered that thousands of year-old brains can be useful scientific resources and provide insights into our past. The new study examined classified human brains recovered on historic sites around the world and revealed that the organ was actively resisting decomposition, even while the soft tissues in the rest of the body melted away. A team of scientists led by Alexandra Morton-Hayward, a molecular taphonomist at the University of Oxford, discovered more than 4,400 preserved human brains dating back about 12,000 years. The study’s findings countered previous beliefs that the human brain is one of the first organs in the body to degrade upon death.
The study’s findings countered previous beliefs that the human brain is one of the first organs in the body to degrade upon death.
According to specialists, the finding of the preserved human brain has opened up an archive through which they can gain a better grasp of evolutionary history and identify diseases that may affect us. “In the forensic field, it’s well-known that the brain is one of the first organs to decompose after death – yet this huge archive demonstrates that there are certain circumstances in which it survives,” Morton-Hayward, the project’s director, stated “Whether those variables are environmental or connected to the brain’s unique biochemistry is the subject of our current and future research. We’re finding incredible numbers and varieties of old proteins preserved in these archaeological brains, and it’s wonderful to investigate what they can tell us about life and death in our ancestors,” he added. The soft tissue’s archaeological preservation after a body dies (and is not artificially preserved through freezing or embalming) is a rare occurrence.
The soft tissue’s archaeological preservation after a body dies (and is not artificially preserved through freezing or embalming) is a rare occurrence. As a result, the preservation of the human brain in a body in which even the bones have disintegrated is an extremely unusual and unique occurrence. Morton-Hayward and her colleagues set out on a global hunt for preserved human brains to better grasp how rare the discovery is. “The archive compiled here represents the first step toward a comprehensive, systematic investigation of ancient brains beyond approximately 12,000 years before the present, and is essential to maximizing the molecular and morphological information they yield as the most metabolically active organ in the body, and among the most commonly preserved soft tissues,” according to the authors of the paper. “Ancient brains may provide new and unique paleobiological insights, helping us to better understand the history of major neurological disorders, ancient cognition and behavior, and the evolution of nervous tissues and their functions,” they added.