A new look at the human brain is beginning to reveal the inner lives of its cellular residents.
The results just start to scratch the surface of understanding the mysteries of the brain. Still, they provide the most intimate look yet at the cells that build the brain, and offer clues about how the brain enables thoughts, actions and memories. The collection of data may also guide researchers in their hunt for the causes of brain disorders such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease and depression.
The new brain map is a result of a coordinated international research effort called the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Initiative Cell Census Network, or BICCN, which ramped up in 2017. Many of the studies in the collection are based on a powerful technology called single-cell genomics. The method reveals which genes are active inside of a single cell, information that provides clues about the cell’s identity and job.
As part of the BICCN, researchers examined all sorts of brains. One project detailed the cells in small pieces of live brain tissue taken from 75 people undergoing surgery for tumors or epilepsy, an approach that’s been used on smaller scales before (SN: 8/7/19). Another looked at samples taken from the brains of 17 deceased children. Still another looked at brain tissue from seven people, seven chimpanzees, four gorillas, three rhesus macaques and three marmosets.
2023-10-12 14:58:33
Original from www.sciencenews.org