Journal Article
Social buffering and cognitive evolution in Homo sapiens: An exploratory perspective
Reynoso-Arellano, Eduardo
| Fecha de publicación | Revista | DOI |
7 de agosto de 2026 |
Resumen
This perspective article proposes that social buffering may have played a crucial epigenetic role in the optimization of working memory and, consequently, in the cognitive and cultural evolution of Homo sapiens during the Paleolithic, approximately 100,000–35,000 years ago. Through the modulation of chronic stress responses and the promotion of neurogenesis and myelination, social buffering may have gradually generated the neurobiological conditions necessary for the emergence of the modern human mind. Although exploratory in nature, this proposal opens new avenues of reflection on the role of social connections in human cognitive development.