ReviewNature2024
A molecular and cellular perspective on human brain evolution and tempo.
Review in Nature, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 32 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed.
- CCNB1IP1 regulatory evolution underlies gradual increases in cortical size and folding in primates.Nature genetics · 2026Article
- Transcriptome of fetal cortex of tree shrew underlying the emergence of outer subventricular zone.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Olduvai Domains Downregulate Mitochondrial Pathways to Promote Human Brain Evolution and Neoteny.Research square · 2026Article
- A consensus atlas of human brain development defines cell type-specific maturation trajectories across the lifespan.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A Role for Astrocyte Metabolism in Species-Specific Neuronal Development.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Regional heterogeneity in phenotypic and genetic associations between bone and brain in humans.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Ultrasound Activated Piezoelectric Dural Patches to Drive Endogenous Neural Stem Cell-Mediated Repair Traumatic Brain Injury.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Developmental trajectories of somatostatin-positive interneurons in the human auditory cortex from migration to maturation.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Cell type-agnostic transcriptomic signatures enable uniform comparisons of neural maturation.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- miR-203 facilitates timely cell fate transitions via epigenetic modulation during early embryogenesis.Science advances · 2026Article
- circSH3GL3 inhibits glioma progression and invasion via regulating the PI3K/AKT and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways by competitively binding with miR-21-5p.Molecular and cellular biochemistry · 2026Article
- Decoding the cellular landscape of biological stress in the human brain.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
- Article
- A cellular basis for the mammalian nocturnal-diurnal switch.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2026Article
- Early life shifts in cortical inhibitory-excitatory balance underlies sensitive periods and skill development.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2026Article
- A transcriptomic atlas of astrocyte heterogeneity across space and time in mouse and marmoset.Neuron · 2025Article
- Neocortical neurogenesis: a proneural gene perspective.The FEBS journal · 2025Review
- Dissecting Gene Regulatory Networks Governing Human Cortical Cell Fate.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Stem cell-derived neural organoids as platforms to investigate glioblastoma invasion and migration: A systematic review.World journal of stem cells · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The evolution of the modern human brain was accompanied by distinct molecular and cellular specializations, which underpin our diverse cognitive abilities but also increase our susceptibility to neurological diseases. These features, some specific to humans and others shared with related species, manifest during different stages of brain development. In this multi-stage process, neural stem cells proliferate to produce a large and diverse progenitor pool, giving rise to excitatory or inhibitory neurons that integrate into circuits during further maturation. This process unfolds over varying time scales across species and has progressively become slower in the human lineage, with differences in tempo correlating with differences in brain size, cell number and diversity, and connectivity. Here we introduce the terms 'bradychrony' and 'tachycrony' to describe slowed and accelerated developmental tempos, respectively. We review how recent technical advances across disciplines, including advanced engineering of in vitro models, functional comparative genetics and high-throughput single-cell profiling, are leading to a deeper understanding of how specializations of the human brain arise during bradychronic neurodevelopment. Emerging insights point to a central role for genetics, gene-regulatory networks, cellular innovations and developmental tempo, which together contribute to the establishment of human specializations during various stages of neurodevelopment and at different points in evolution.
Indexed as
Identifiers
38898293What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.