All articles tagged with #brain development
Researchers have created a comprehensive map of how different cell types in the mouse forebrain originate from shared progenitor cells. By using lentiviral barcoding and spatial transcriptomics, the study reveals distinct developmental patterns for glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons, offering new insights into brain structure and potential neurodevelopmental disorders.
A new study from the University of Surrey suggests that high sugar exposure in the first 1,000 days of life is associated with a higher risk of anxiety in adulthood. Analyzing data from over 45,000 UK participants born between 1951 and 1956, researchers found that those who experienced longer periods of sugar rationing had a 33% lower risk of developing anxiety. The study also noted that early sugar exposure impacted brain development in 11 out of 80 brain regions, though experts caution that the findings show correlation, not causation.
A new study argues that age-related memory lapses are not signs of decline but evidence of a new developmental phase where the brain prioritizes emotional regulation and wisdom over detailed recall.
A Nature Neuroscience study shows brain development relies on two distinct progenitor cell populations: one forms the hindbrain and the other forms the forebrain and midbrain, challenging the long-held view of a single founder lineage. The researchers traced cell lineages in mouse embryos and guided human pluripotent stem cells to form the two early brain cell types, revealing conserved dual-progenitor patterns across species and offering a more efficient route to generate hindbrain neurons for disease research such as ALS. The findings spark debate about brain origins and highlight an ancient split in brain development with implications for understanding neurodevelopment.
Large studies find that children who start reading for pleasure between ages 2–9 show better adolescent cognitive skills, academic performance, and mental well‑being, with brain scans indicating larger cognitive regions; benefits peak around 12 hours of reading per week and may level off if reading time crowds out sports or social activity, while adults who read regularly tend to have lower stress and may enjoy better cognitive health later in life.
Mouse lineage-tracing shows two parallel neural ectoderm progenitors—anterior neural ectoderm for forebrain/midbrain and posterior neural ectoderm for hindbrain—emerge during gastrulation, supporting a two-progenitor model for brain development. Human pluripotent stem cells recapitulate this split, with aNE and pNE adopting distinct fates and chromatin landscapes, enabling directed forebrain/midbrain versus hindbrain differentiation and the in vitro generation of hindbrain motor neurons (rhombomeres 5/6). Together, these findings suggest the brain originates from two lineage-restricted progenitors, a pattern potentially conserved across vertebrates.
Stanford-led research in Nature Neuroscience shows the brain develops from two collaborating progenitor cell types that create forebrain/midbrain and hindbrain in parallel, a split seen in mouse gastrulation and confirmed in human pluripotent stem cells differentiating into neural ectoderm. The forebrain/midbrain lineage marks the gene Otx2, while the hindbrain lineage marks Gbx2, and the two lineages have distinct chromatin landscapes, suggesting non-interchangeable roles. The study implies the brain’s two-part origin may reflect an ancient evolutionary split and could inform brainstem disease research.
Researchers transplanted human brain tissue into newborn mice engineered to lack a cortical region. Within 2–3 months the graft expanded to fill more than 90% of the empty brain space and formed extensive neural connections, including von Economo-like neurons, wiring into the animals’ nervous systems. Described as the most extensive human-brain-cell integration in an animal to date, the work provides a powerful platform to study human neurodevelopment and test therapies for developmental brain disorders, while undergoing ethical oversight and without increasing the rodents’ intelligence.
Researchers at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute found that human-specific copies of SRGAP2 are much more abundant in microglia than in neurons and slow microglial maturation to about four to eight years (versus roughly three weeks in mice). This coordinated, neotenic timing between microglia and neurons may help explain the human brain's developmental pace and its advanced cognitive abilities, with implications for understanding brain development and disease.
A npj Aging study using WWII UK sugar-ration data links lower sugar intake during the first 1,000 days of life (conception to age 2) with reduced risks of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and anxiety decades later. Analyzing 60,394 UK Biobank participants born 1951–1956, researchers found those born during sugar rationing had 27% lower dementia risk and 46% lower Alzheimer’s risk, with stronger effects if restriction occurred after birth. Brain scans showed younger-appearing brains and larger hippocampal and thalamic volumes. The study is observational and cannot prove causation, and the findings may not generalize to all groups. Authors caution against strict sugar limitations in pregnancy or childhood but suggest reduced early-life sugar could be a long-term brain-health investment.
New research shows lab-grown brain organoids don’t mirror real brain development timing. In mouse-derived organoids, radial glial progenitors sometimes produce neurons too early, while later-stage progenitors overproduce, and about a third become fate-restricted to a single neuron type. The organoids also lack in vivo signals like blood vessels and extracellular cues that may synchronize development. This timing mismatch could limit organoids’ usefulness for modeling brain development and disease, prompting researchers to identify missing signals and test human-cell organoids to better mimic real brains.
Researchers show human-specific SRGAP2 copies are far more abundant in microglia than neurons and slow microglial maturation from the mouse timeline of weeks to years, coordinating with the unusually long neuronal development and suggesting a mechanism behind human brain evolution and cognition.
A UK Biobank analysis of 60,394 people born 1951–1956 found that those whose first 1,000 days overlapped with sugar rationing had a 27% lower risk of dementia and a 46% lower risk of Alzheimer's disease, along with an 11% lower risk of depression and a 20% lower risk of anxiety. MRI data showed younger-appearing brains and larger hippocampus/thalamus volumes in the sugar-restricted group. While not proving causation, the researchers argue that nutrition during the critical first 1,000 days may program long-term brain health, though findings are observational and may not generalize widely.
Analysis of nearly 12,000 children reveals socioeconomic status accounts for about 16% of variability in brain structure and function—outpacing IQ and parenting. SES-linked brain patterns cluster in sensory-motor networks and appear driven by daily tiredness and stress linked to sleep, and when SES is accounted for, many brain–IQ associations vanish. The differences are modifiable: improving sleep and reducing chronic family stress could reshape neurodevelopment, underscoring the potential of community and policy interventions.
A new review introduces the term criticome to describe a development window from birth to about age 25 in which social, motor, and sensory experiences can profoundly shape adulthood. The study notes that highly stimulating screen time may crowd out important real-world interactions and activities, potentially impacting language development and brain regions like Broca’s area, and it may contribute to childhood obesity. Experts advise reducing screen time and boosting human interaction, with a gradual plan and involvement from families, while acknowledging that decades of research are needed to fully answer these questions.