Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Neurulation

Neurulation

Neurulation is the embryological process which forms the precursors of the central nervous system and occurs after gastrulation has established the three primary cell layers of the embryo: ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. In humans, the majority of this system is formed via primary neurulation, in which the central portion of the ectoderm—originally appearing as a flat sheet of cells—folds upwards and inwards, sealing off to form a hollow neural tube. As development proceeds, the...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Transcriptional perturbation of LINE-1 elements reveals their cis-regulatory potential.

EMBO reports·2026

Same author

Brain Organoids, Lessons from Fetal Neocortex Formation, and Rational Design for Quality Control.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

SETD5 dysfunction in human astrocytes drives IL-6-mediated neuronal impairments via the JAK/STAT signaling pathway.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026

Same author

DDX3X is a Cl<sup>-</sup>-sensitive RNA helicase.

Science signaling·2026

Same author

Multimorphic spines and complex postsynaptic structures in the rat and human brains: A common finding with intriguing morphology and open functional questions.

Journal of anatomy·2026

Same author

Connexin-43 Restoration Alleviates Desmosomal Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy.

Circulation. Heart failure·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 10, 2026

Generation of Standardized and Reproducible Forebrain-type Cerebral Organoids from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Generation of Standardized and Reproducible Forebrain-type Cerebral Organoids from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Published on: January 23, 2018

Interregional human assembloids recapitulate fetal brain morphologies and enhance neuronal complexity.

André Saraiva Leão Marcelo Antunes^1,2, Maria Carolina Pedro Athié^1,2, Ana Clara Caznok Silveira³

¹Brazilian Bioscience National Laboratory, Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials, Campinas, 13083-100, Brazil.

Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology

|November 24, 2025

Summary

Human neural organoids and assembloids model fetal brain neurons, with assembloids showing greater complexity. This research characterizes neuronal morphology in these models for brain development and disease studies.

More Related Videos

Author Spotlight: Advancing Genetic Epilepsy Studies with Multi-Electrode Array-Based Long-Term Electrophysiological Monitoring of Human Brain Assembloids

Author Spotlight: Advancing Genetic Epilepsy Studies with Multi-Electrode Array-Based Long-Term Electrophysiological Monitoring of Human Brain Assembloids

Published on: September 27, 2024

Homochronic Transplantation of Interneuron Precursors into Early Postnatal Mouse Brains

Homochronic Transplantation of Interneuron Precursors into Early Postnatal Mouse Brains

Published on: June 8, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 10, 2026

Generation of Standardized and Reproducible Forebrain-type Cerebral Organoids from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Generation of Standardized and Reproducible Forebrain-type Cerebral Organoids from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Published on: January 23, 2018

Author Spotlight: Advancing Genetic Epilepsy Studies with Multi-Electrode Array-Based Long-Term Electrophysiological Monitoring of Human Brain Assembloids

Author Spotlight: Advancing Genetic Epilepsy Studies with Multi-Electrode Array-Based Long-Term Electrophysiological Monitoring of Human Brain Assembloids

Published on: September 27, 2024

Homochronic Transplantation of Interneuron Precursors into Early Postnatal Mouse Brains

Homochronic Transplantation of Interneuron Precursors into Early Postnatal Mouse Brains

Published on: June 8, 2018

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Developmental Biology
Cell Biology

Background:

Neuronal morphology is crucial for brain function and understanding development.
Human neural organoids and assembloids are vital models for studying brain development and disease.
Despite advances, the morphological complexity of neurons in these models is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To characterize the three-dimensional (3D) neuronal morphology in human neural organoids and assembloids.
To compare the morphological complexity between organoids and interregional assembloids.
To establish structural phenotyping as a validation method for neural models.

Main Methods:

3D confocal imaging was employed to visualize neuronal structures.
Manual reconstruction techniques were used to analyze 735 neurons.
Forebrain, thalamic, and corticothalamic organoids and assembloids were analyzed.

Main Results:

Organoids and assembloids exhibit morphologies similar to fetal brain neurons (e.g., pyramidal-like, double-bouquet).
Interregional assembloids demonstrated increased morphological complexity compared to organoids, including enhanced dendritic branching and projection length.
Corticothalamic assembloids showed signs of developing connectivity, with observed dendritic spines and varicosities.

Conclusions:

This study provides an initial description of neuronal morphology diversity in human neural organoids and assembloids.
Structural phenotyping is essential for validating human neural models.
These models hold significant potential for studying morphofunctional disorders.