Researchers from Swansea University and UBC Okanagan found key differences in heart structures between humans and other great apes. Their study, which used advanced cardiac imaging, suggests that human hearts have evolved unique features like less trabeculation to better support our larger brains, upright movement, and cooling mechanisms.
“The difference is most pronounced at the apex, the bottom of the heart, where we found approximately four times the trabeculation in non-human great apes compared to humans.”The team also measured the heart’s movement and velocities using speckle-tracking echocardiography, an imaging technique that traces the pattern of the cardiac muscle as it contracts and relaxes.
A human’s larger brain and greater physical activity compared to other great apes can also be linked to higher metabolic demand, which requires a heart that can pump a greater volume of blood to the body. Dr. Aimee Drane, Senior Lecturer from the Faculty of Medicine, Health & Life Sciences at Swansea University, said: “In evolutionary terms, our findings may suggest selective pressure was placed on the human heart to adapt to meet the demands of walking upright and managing thermal stress.