Scientists discover brain is actually two separate organs
The findings could help researchers grow hindbrain neurons in the lab and study ALS and spinal muscular atrophy, which affect swallowing and breathing.
- Stanford Medicine researchers discovered the human brain is actually two separate organs, disproving the long-held theory that it developed from a single master cell.
- The forebrain and hindbrain possess distinct cellular origins, each locked onto separate developmental paths that never cross during embryonic formation.
- While the hindbrain regulates automatic functions like breathing and heart rate, the forebrain supports complex traits including language and abstract reasoning, said Kyle Loh, associate professor of developmental biology at Stanford.
- This discovery allows scientists to better model brain development in a petri dish, potentially accelerating research into fatal neurodegenerative diseases like ALS and SMA.
- Evolutionary analysis indicates the two regions share a distant common ancestor dating back at least 500 million years, fundamentally reshaping understanding of human brain biology.
143 Articles
143 Articles
Did Two Nervous Systems Merge To Create The Human Brain? New Stanford Study Says Yes
The finding helped scientists grow human hindbrain neurons in the laboratory, something that has been difficult to achieve. This could eventually help researchers study conditions such as ALS and SMA
Scientists Say the Human Brain Might Be Made of Two Distinct Nervous Systems That Got Squished Together
Two separate types of progenitor cells give rise to the front and back of the organ, according to a new study. The findings can help researchers study human diseases that affect the hindbrain, since its nerve cells have previously been difficult—if not impossible—to make in the lab
‘The brain is two organs’: What Stanford scientists discovered about how it develops
A groundbreaking Stanford Medicine study published in Nature Neuroscience reveals that the human brain develops from two distinct early cell groups, functioning like two adjacent systems. Neurologist Dr. Lokesh B explains that this discovery clarifies how front and back brain regions develop independently before integrating into one organ.
The human brain may have a more complex origin than previously thought. Stanford Medicine scientists have found that the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain develop from two distinct populations of progenitor cells that emerge early in embryonic development. The results were published online September 18 in the journal Nature Neuroscience. The widely accepted model has been that the brain originates from a common population of early nerve cells t…
A recent study shows that the human brain consists of two separate nervous systems that have been folded together during evolution.
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