A new study reveals that early humans’ ability to use tools precisely may have been pivotal in human evolution.
By recording brain waves of participants using stone tools, the research identifies significant differences in brain activity required for different tool-using tasks, emphasizing the importance of the frontoparietal regions in cognitive development related to tool use.
Brain Evolution and Early Tool Use
A research team led by Dr. Alexandros Karakostis from the University of Tübingen’s Institute for Archaeological Science and the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment suggests that brain evolution may have enabled early humans to use tools with precision, driving the biocultural evolution that shaped modern humanity.
The team approached the study innovatively, recording brain activity in participants as they used stone tools similar to those employed by early humans. The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The Role of Technology in Human Evolution
“Technological innovations were crucial for human evolution,” says Alexandros Karakostis. “We are interested in what cognitive developments were necessary for the use of relatively simple stone tools – and where humans and other primates differ in their abilities.”
In the experiment, the researchers investigated two distinct tool-use tasks. Participants first cracked nuts using a stone hammer and then carved patterns into leather using chipped stone tools.
“We replicated stone tools to mirror those discovered in the early archaeological record,” explains Simona Affinito, PhD student in Karakostis’ research group and first author of the study.
While nut-cracking with stones has also been observed in various animals such as monkeys and apes, the habitual use of chipped stones for cutting is only seen in humans.
Cognitive Differences in Early Tool Use
The activity patterns in the test subjects’ brains were recorded in parallel in an electroencephalogram (EEG) as the subjects sought to complete the tasks.
“Our study provides empirical evidence to support distinct patterns of brain activity during different behaviors and stages of early hominin tool use,” explains Affinito. “The involvement of the frontoparietal regions, particularly during the aiming stage, highlights the importance of these brain areas in planning motor actions.”
Cognitive Implications of Early Human Tool Usage
Although both tasks required cognitive effort, the use of cutting tools involved significantly more extensive brain activity than nut-cracking, Karakostis reports.
“These differences implicitly highlight the cognitive performance required for precise tool-using tasks. They likely enabled early humans to appropriate and shape their environment in a way that was not possible before,” he says.
The new study has created the basis for further research into the cognitive prerequisites for human technological progress.
Reference: “Exploring the cognitive underpinnings of early hominin stone tool use through an experimental EEG approach” by Simona Affinito, Brienna Eteson, Lourdes Tamayo Cáceres, Elena Theresa Moos and Fotios Alexandros Karakostis, 19 November 2024, Scientific Reports.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-77452-0
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