Unveiling the Enigmatic Complexity of the Human Brain

An international team of scientists has mapped the human brain in unprecedented detail, identifying over 3,300 types of brain cells, significantly more than previously known. However, the researchers have only a limited understanding of what most of these newly discovered cells do. The brain atlas project, funded by the National Institutes of Health, utilized new technologies to probe millions of human brain cells and examine their gene activity. The findings reveal that the brain's diversity extends beyond the cerebral cortex, with many cell types found in deeper regions. The research also compared the human brain to those of other primates, finding that all cell types in human brains matched those in chimpanzees and gorillas, our closest living relatives.