Editing Openai/69177fbb-14c4-800f-bc57-ccb5a1d88c95 (section)

=== Genome studies give a fairly detailed picture of which Neanderthal segments survive in our genomes and what functions they influence. The key point: almost none of it relates to cognition, autism, or systemizing traits. Instead, surviving segments cluster around traits that were useful when Homo sapiens entered Eurasia. ===

===== The strongest surviving regions involve: =====
* antiviral defenses
* skin barrier function
* innate immunity

These conferred survival advantages against Eurasian pathogens.

===== Several surviving Neanderthal variants influence: =====
* hair thickness
* skin sensitivity
* keratin filament structure

These probably helped adapt to colder, lower-UV environments.

===== Some regions affect: =====
* sleep–wake cycle timing
* seasonal photoperiod sensitivity

This fits with adaptation to high-latitude lighting cycles.

===== A few segments influence: =====
* lipid processing
* brown fat thermogenesis

Again, Eurasian-environment advantages.

===== Large sections of Neanderthal-derived DNA were purged strongly, especially around: =====
* brain development
* testes and reproductive genes
* language-related regions
* neurogenesis

This implies that Neanderthal alleles were maladaptive when introduced into Homo sapiens in precisely the domains that RDOS’s theory claims they shaped.

In short:
* What stuck around mostly shaped skin, immunity, and metabolism.
* What got removed is heavily enriched for cognition and neurodevelopment.

So the genetic landscape contradicts RDOS’s thesis.