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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 29, 2025

Live Imaging of Mitosis in the Developing Mouse Embryonic Cortex

Live Imaging of Mitosis in the Developing Mouse Embryonic Cortex

Published on: June 4, 2014

Scaling brain neurogenesis across evolution.

Brigitte Malgrange¹, Laurent Nguyen¹

¹GIGA-Stem Cells and GIGA-Neurosciences, Interdisciplinary Cluster for Applied Genoproteomics (GIGA-R), University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|September 8, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

A specific genetic alteration may be responsible for the heightened cortical neurogenesis observed in modern humans, contributing to brain development differences.

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Last Updated: Aug 29, 2025

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Lineage Tracing of Inducible Fluorescently-Labeled Stem Cells in the Adult Mouse Brain

Lineage Tracing of Inducible Fluorescently-Labeled Stem Cells in the Adult Mouse Brain

Published on: May 20, 2022

Area of Science:

Evolutionary biology
Neuroscience
Human genetics

Background:

Cortical neurogenesis, the formation of new neurons in the brain's cortex, is crucial for cognitive abilities.
Modern humans exhibit distinct cortical development compared to ancestral hominins.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate potential genetic underpinnings for increased cortical neurogenesis in modern humans.
To identify specific genetic changes associated with enhanced brain development.

Main Methods:

Comparative genomics analysis between modern humans and archaic hominins.
In silico modeling of gene function related to neurogenesis.

Main Results:

A specific genetic variant was identified that is highly conserved in modern humans but absent in archaic hominins.
This variant is linked to regulatory elements influencing genes critical for cortical development.

Conclusions:

A key genetic change likely played a significant role in the evolution of increased cortical neurogenesis in the human lineage.
This finding offers insight into the genetic basis of human cognitive uniqueness.