The brain is the body’s most complex organ, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. And though the average human brain weighs a mere 3 pounds — somewhere in the neighborhood of a pineapple — it contains a labyrinth of 86 billion intricately networked neurons and nonneuronal cells, all with different but essential responsibilities.
In 2017, the National Institutes of Health launched its Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative, or the BRAIN Initiative. The $375 million project involves an international consortium of research centers focused on exploring and cataloging human, primate, and rodent brain-cell types.
The group’s research has currently identified more than 3,300 types of human brain cells — far more than was previously suspected. Yet the function of myriad cells remains mysterious.
“Mapping out the different types of cells in the brain and understanding how they work together will ultimately help us discover new therapies that can target individual cell types relevant to specific diseases.”
The researchers’ findings were published in more than 20 papers in 2023. In one of the studies, University of California San Diego researchers analyzed 1.1 million human brain cells to create detailed maps of gene switches in brain-cell types. They discovered links between characteristics of cell types and common neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, and major depression.
“The human brain isn’t homogenous,” explains senior study author Bing Ren, PhD, professor at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, in a press release. “It’s made up of an enormously complex network of neurons and nonneuronal cells, with each serving different functions. Mapping out the different types of cells in the brain and understanding how they work together will ultimately help us discover new therapies that can target individual cell types relevant to specific diseases.”
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