When comparing these fossils with those of modern humans, the main difference is the elongated shape of the fossil braincase. According to the researchers, this indicates that brain shape, and possibly brain functions, evolved within the Homo sapiens lineage and relatively recently. Evolutionary changes in brain shape are likely to be associated with genetic changes of brain organization, interconnection, and development, and may reflect adaptive changes in the way the brain functions. Such changes may have caused the human brain to become rounder and two regions in the posterior of the brain to become enlarged during thousands of years of evolution.
