Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Scientists reveal the hidden instructions that build the human brain

sciencedaily.com · 11dShare

UCLA researchers have discovered two powerful influences that help guide how the human brain forms before birth. Radial glia, stem cells responsible for producing much of the cerebral cortex, change their behavior depending on how they process glucose and on physical contact with signals arriving from the thalamus. Those signals can alter which types of neurons are produced, including upper-layer neurons that are especially prominent in humans.

First report: How the developing human brain takes instructions: Two UCLA studies reveal what guides its most important stem cells — newsroom.ucla.edu, 11d