Nowakowski, Tomasz J, Nano, Patricia R, Matho, Katherine S, Chen, Xiaoyin, Corrigan, Emily K, Ding, Wubin, Gao, Yuan, Heffel, Matthew, Jayakumar, Jaikishan, Kaplan, Harris S, Kronman, Fae N, Kovner, Rothem, Mannens, Camiel CA, Song, Mengyi, Steyert, Marilyn R, Venkatesan, Sridevi, Wallace, Jenelle L, Wang, Li, Werner, Jonathan M, Zhang, Di, Yuan, Guohua, Zuo, Guolong, Ament, Seth A, Colantuoni, Carlo, Dulac, Catherine, Fan, Rong, Gillis, Jesse, Kriegstein, Arnold R, Krienen, Fenna M, Kim, Yongsoo, Linnarsson, Sten, Mitra, Partha P, Pollen, Alex A, Sestan, Nenad, Tward, Daniel J, van Velthoven, Cindy TJ, Yao, Zizhen, Bhaduri, Aparna, Zeng, Hongkui (November 2025) The new frontier in understanding human and mammalian brain development. Nature, 647 (8088). pp. 51-59. ISSN 0028-0836
Abstract
Neurodevelopmental disorders that cause cognitive, behavioural or motor impairments affect around 15% of children and adolescents worldwide1, with diagnoses of profound autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder increasing in the USA and contributing to a major economic burden2,3. Yet the origins and mechanisms of these conditions remain poorly understood, limiting progress in therapies. Comprehensive cell atlases of the developing human brain, alongside those of model organisms such as mice and non-human primates, are now providing high-resolution measures of gene expression, cell-type abundance and spatial distribution. In this Perspective, we highlight recent studies that have identified novel developmental cell populations, revealed conserved and divergent patterns of cell genesis, migration and maturation across species, and begun testing hypotheses that link them to processes ranging from transcriptional control of cell fate specification to the emergence of complex behaviours. We present remaining conceptual and technical challenges and provide an outlook on how further studies of human and mammalian brain development can empower a deeper understanding of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Future efforts expanding to additional developmental stages, including adolescence, as well as whole-brain, multimodal and cross-species integration, will yield new insights into how development shapes the brain. These atlases promise to serve as essential references for unravelling mechanisms of brain function and disease vulnerability, and for advancing precision medicine.
| Item Type: | Paper |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | organism description > animal organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > organs types and functions > brain organism description > animal > mammal organism description > animal > mammal > rodent > mouse organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > organs types and functions organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions organism description > animal > mammal > rodent |
| CSHL Authors: | |
| Communities: | CSHL labs > Mitra lab CSHL labs > Zador lab |
| SWORD Depositor: | CSHL Elements |
| Depositing User: | CSHL Elements |
| Date: | November 2025 |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Nov 2025 13:49 |
| Last Modified: | 06 Nov 2025 13:49 |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/42001 |
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