Neanderthals were hunter-gatherers who lived during the ice age over 40,000-years ago across western Eurasia. While they were fearless in hunting dangerous animals such as bison and mammoths, they had a biological predisposition for a heightened sense of pain, which may have been passed down to us.
In the first of its kind, a genome study in the Current Biology evolutionary geneticists found that Neanderthals carried three mutations in the gene encoding for protein Nav1.7, which transmits painful sensations to the spinal cord and brain. The same study highlighted a sample of British people who had inherited this gene and had a higher pain sensitivity than others to pain.
Nav1.7 acts by controlling pain signals transmitted to the spinal cord and brain. This means, it controls to what extent we feel pain. It has been described as the volume setting control for pain.
The study is important because it demonstrates how Neanderthal physiology can be applied to modern humans. However, it still remains unclear why the mutations evolved and why they evolved. Researchers have noted Neanderthal populations were small with low genetic diversity, which means conditions for mutations to occur were likely. Many of us are part Neanderthal, with our genes carrying traces from these early hominins.
Scientists believe more study is needed to understand the mutations in ancient hominins and how people of present day have inherited these nerve altering mutations.
Both Dr. Saranita and Dr. Paez believe pain studies are extremely important to gain greater understanding of the complex factors which impact treatment efficacy for patients.
