What distinguishes the human brain from that of all other animals — including even our closest primate relatives? Yale researchers identified species-specific — particularly human-specific — features in an analysis of cell types in the prefrontal cortex of four primate species. They reported their f
What they found that makes us human may also make us susceptible to neuropsychiatric diseases.
To answer this, the scientists first asked whether there are there any cell types uniquely present in humans or other analyzed non-human primate species. After grouping cells with similar expression profiles they revealed 109 shared primate cell types. They also discovered five that were not common to all species. These included a type of microglia, or brain-specific immune cell, that was present only in humans and a second type shared by only humans and chimpanzees.
Another human-specific surprise was revealed in an analysis of gene expression in the microglia — the presence of the gene FOXP2. This discovery raised great interest among researchers because variants of FOXP2 have been linked to verbal dyspraxia, a condition in which patients have difficulty producing language or speech. Other research has also shown that FOXP2 is associated with other neuropsychiatric diseases, such as autism, schizophrenia, and epilepsy.
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