Stanford scientists discover the human brain may actually be two separate organs
Scientists have found that the human brain develops from two distinct cellular systems, suggesting that evolution fused together two ancient nervous systems with very different jobs.
Scientists have found that the human brain develops from two distinct cellular systems, suggesting that evolution fused together two ancient nervous systems with very different jobs.
The short version
- The discovery also allowed researchers to grow human hindbrain neurons in the lab, opening new possibilities for studying ALS, spinal muscular atrophy, and other brainstem diseases.
- Scientists have long treated the brain as a single organ with a shared developmental origin.
- New research led by Stanford Medicine challenges that basic assumption, suggesting that what we call the brain is actually built from two distinct systems that arose separately over hundreds of millions of years of evolution.
What happened
For decades, the dominant model held that the entire brain develops from one early progenitor cell population. Under that view, the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain all trace back to the same developmental starting point.
Why it matters
The new findings point to a very different picture.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at ScienceDaily — Top Science via the links above and below.