An international team of scientists confirmed the findings of previous studies showing that people carrying three Neanderthal gene variants were more sensitive to some types of pain than those without these alleles. They were able to describe these painful feelings.

Previous studies have identified three variants of the SCN9A gene, known as M932L, V991L, and D1908G, in the sequenced genomes of Neanderthals that are associated with increased sensitivity to pain. However, the specific sensory responses affected by these gene variants were unknown.

An international team of scientists, including experts from universities in California (USA), Fudan (China), Stockholm (Sweden), Oxford (UK) and other scientific institutions, studied Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and a number of stimuli (increasing the SCN9A gene among Latin Americans). three variants are known to be common and almost absent in Europeans). The findings were published in the journal Communication Biology.

The researchers found that all three gene variants were associated with a lower pain threshold in response to skin tingling after exposure to mustard oil. But the response to heat and pressure was no different from that of people without similar gene variants. Additionally, the scientists found that the presence of all three alleles was associated with greater sensitivity to pain than one of them.

The authors of the scientific paper also learned that three variants of the Neanderthal gene were much more common in populations with higher Native American ancestry, such as the Peruvian population, with a rate of 66 percent. Source