The difference between our brains and those of primates is remarkably slim:
Scientists discover why the human brain is so big
It is one of the defining attributes of being human: when compared with our closest primate relatives, we have incredibly large brains.
Now scientists have shed light on the reasons for the difference, by collecting cells from humans, chimps and gorillas and turning them into lumps of brain in the laboratory.
Tests on the tiny “brain organoids” reveal a hitherto unknown molecular switch that controls brain growth and makes the human organ three times larger than brains in the great apes.
Tinker with the switch and the human brain loses its growth advantage, while the great ape brain can be made to grow more like a human’s.
“What we see is a difference in cellular behaviour very, very early on that allows the human brain to grow larger,” said Dr Madeleine Lancaster, a developmental biologist at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. “We are able to account for almost all of the size difference.”
Scientists discover why humans have such big brains
Also, "Brain Organoids" will be the name of yet another of my imaginary punk bands.
Scientists discover why the human brain is so big
It is one of the defining attributes of being human: when compared with our closest primate relatives, we have incredibly large brains.
Now scientists have shed light on the reasons for the difference, by collecting cells from humans, chimps and gorillas and turning them into lumps of brain in the laboratory.
Tests on the tiny “brain organoids” reveal a hitherto unknown molecular switch that controls brain growth and makes the human organ three times larger than brains in the great apes.
Tinker with the switch and the human brain loses its growth advantage, while the great ape brain can be made to grow more like a human’s.
“What we see is a difference in cellular behaviour very, very early on that allows the human brain to grow larger,” said Dr Madeleine Lancaster, a developmental biologist at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. “We are able to account for almost all of the size difference.”
Scientists discover why humans have such big brains
Also, "Brain Organoids" will be the name of yet another of my imaginary punk bands.
