Two Developmental Tracks Forge the Human Brain, New Study Finds
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.