We are social animals

The communication between neurons is a biochemical process, a process that is behind our social behavior clearly differentiated from the rest of the animals. The journal Science has recently published that dopamine, a known neurotransmitter, may have given us a clear social advantage over other apes.

Kent State University in Ohio (USA) has made it known that humans are the best social animals, with the ability to interact with our partners and communicate through language. New studies suggest that the evolution of our social intelligence may have initially started as a simple matter of brain chemistry, of course brain size will always be an indicator of neural complexity but not the only one.

In 1960, the anthropologist Ralph Holloway postulated that the human brain had to reorganize its chemistry as our ancestors began to walk upright and develop social networks between 2 to 6 million years ago, long before the brain began to enlarge.

Scientists believe that the combination of neurochemicals throughout our evolution could have allowed the social development of monogamy or language. The hypothesis would be very bold: the females mated more with the males who were extroverted but not too aggressive.