Many human psychiatric and neurological conditions have developmental origins but cannot be studied adequately in animal models. The human cerebral cortex has some unique genetic, molecular, cellular and anatomical features, which need to be further explored. The Anatomical Society devoted its summer meeting to the topic of Human Brain Development in June 2018 to tackle important issues related to human cerebral cortex development. The meeting was organised by Prof Molnár and Dr Clowry, and held at St John's College in Oxford.
The participants provided a broad overview of the structure of the human brain in the context of scaling relationships across the brains of mammals, conserved principles and recent changes in the human lineage. Speakers considered how neuronal progenitors diversified in humans to generate an increasing variety of cortical neurons. The formation of the earliest cortical circuits of the earliest generated neurons in the subplate was discussed together with their involvement in neurodevelopmental pathologies. Gene expression networks and susceptibility genes associated to neurodevelopmental diseases were discussed and compared with the networks that can be identified in organoids developed from induced pluripotent stem cells that recapitulate some aspects of in vivo development. New views were discussed on the specification of glutamatergic pyramidal and γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic interneurons.
With the advancement of various in vivo imaging methods, the histopathological observations can be now linked to in vivo normal conditions and to various diseases. Prof Molnár and Dr Clowry's review gives a general evaluation of the exciting new developments in these areas. The human cortex has a much enlarged association cortex with greater interconnectivity of cortical areas with each other and with an expanded thalamus. The human cortex has relative enlargement of the upper layers, enhanced diversity and function of inhibitory interneurons and a highly expanded transient subplate layer during development.
Here we highlight recent studies that address how these differences emerge during development focusing on diverse facets of our evolution. - Prof Molnár
The full publication "Volume 235, Issue 3 Symposium Issue: Human Cortex Development" is available to read in Journal of Anatomy.