Researchers led by Rutgers have made a groundbreaking discovery on how cell types in the human brain collaborate to form intricate networks. This study sheds light on the cellular foundations of cognition and mental health.
Researchers led by Rutgers University have pulled back the veil on the complex ways brain cells cooperate to create large-scale functional networks in the human brain. This extraordinary discovery, detailed in a study published in Nature Neuroscience, promises to revolutionize our understanding of brain health and disease.
By identifying these cellular foundations, the study provides a novel perspective on the cellular underpinnings of cognition and mental health.
“These findings highlight a connection between the functional organization of the human brain and its cellular underpinnings,” senior author Avram Holmes, an associate professor of psychiatry at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and core faculty member of the Rutgers Brain Health Institute and the Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research, said in a news release.
Historically, the brain’s functional properties have been examined using tissue samples from post-mortem studies or through invasive techniques in animals. Methods such as histology, tracing neural pathways, electrophysiology and lesion analysis have been pivotal. However, advances in genetics and technology now allow for more precise study of brain cells within human tissue.
In their research, the scientists utilized recently developed post-mortem gene expression atlases. These atlases map how genes differentially express across various brain regions, enabling the exploration of how different cell types spatially align with brain networks observed in the general population.
Their findings revealed that certain cell-type distributions correspond with specific networks in the brain’s cortex. This discovery was made both at the level of individual cell types and through multivariate cellular profiles, or fingerprints.
“The study has significant implications for understanding the cellular basis of brain functions across health and disease,” Holmes added.
The implications of this research are vast. It paves the way for future studies aiming to explore how diverse cell types collaborate within the brain’s networks and test other potential models of how cells contribute to brain function. Future research should focus on integrating the hierarchical structure of these diverse cell definitions in analyses and considering alternative models of in vivo brain functioning, Holmes suggested.
As our understanding of the brain’s cellular organization deepens, this study marks a significant leap toward unraveling the complexities of the brain and ultimately improving mental health outcomes.