Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42120382›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Spindle neurons in human cortex possess distinctive firing properties and transcriptomic signatures.

Wei Ke, Shuxuan Lyu, Mengmeng Jin, Shaoqing Jiao, Liang Li, Heyuan Zhang, Kexin Ling, Cuiping Tian, Yiquan Song, Liu Chen and 13 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

23 authors.

Wei Ke *Department of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, State Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disorders, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, MOE Innovative Center for New Drug Development of Immune Inflammatory Diseases, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0002-8248-4338
Shuxuan Lyu *Department of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, State Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disorders, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, MOE Innovative Center for New Drug Development of Immune Inflammatory Diseases, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4196-5461
Mengmeng Jin *State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
Shaoqing Jiao *AI for Science Interdisciplinary Research Center, School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1037-7253
Liang LiDepartment of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, State Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disorders, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, MOE Innovative Center for New Drug Development of Immune Inflammatory Diseases, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Heyuan ZhangDepartment of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, State Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disorders, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, MOE Innovative Center for New Drug Development of Immune Inflammatory Diseases, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Kexin LingDepartment of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, State Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disorders, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, MOE Innovative Center for New Drug Development of Immune Inflammatory Diseases, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Cuiping TianiHuman Institute, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China.
Yiquan SongAnhui Province Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Intelligent Processing, HFCNS Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Liu ChenAnhui Province Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Intelligent Processing, HFCNS Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Quansheng HeDepartment of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, State Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disorders, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, MOE Innovative Center for New Drug Development of Immune Inflammatory Diseases, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Yujie XiaoDepartment of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, State Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disorders, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, MOE Innovative Center for New Drug Development of Immune Inflammatory Diseases, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Suixin DengCenter for Medical Genetics, School of Life Sciences, MOE Key Laboratory of Rare Pediatric Diseases, Hunan Key Laboratory of Animal Models for Human Diseases, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Liu FanLingang Laboratory, Shanghai, China.
Huawei MuMOE Key Laboratory of Brain-Inspired Intelligent Perception and Cognition, National Engineering Laboratory for Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology and Application, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Hui YangDepartment of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2865-5311
Hua-Tai XuLingang Laboratory, Shanghai, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1113-0455
Hao WangMOE Key Laboratory of Brain-Inspired Intelligent Perception and Cognition, National Engineering Laboratory for Brain-Inspired Intelligence Technology and Application, Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7958-3090
Ai-Hui TangAnhui Province Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Intelligent Processing, HFCNS Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3715-6714
Jiajie PengAI for Science Interdisciplinary Research Center, School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, China. jiajiepeng@nwpu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3857-7927
Jie HeState Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China. jiehe@ion.ac.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2539-2616
Hui GuoDepartment of Neurosurgery, Shanghai Deji Hospital-The 9th Clinical College, Qingdao University, Shanghai, China. guohui@shneuro.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-9322-3268
Yousheng ShuDepartment of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, State Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disorders, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, MOE Innovative Center for New Drug Development of Immune Inflammatory Diseases, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. yousheng@fudan.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2834-2876

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 32100930National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 32200953
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Spindle neurons (SPNs), also known as von Economo neurons (VENs), are predominantly found in large-brained species including humans. SPNs in human neocortex are implicated in cognitive functions and affected in various brain disorders. Despite their unique morphology, whether SPNs possess distinctive electrophysiological properties and transcriptomic identities remains unclear. Here, we performed whole-cell patch clamp recording (134 cells) together with RNA-sequencing (patch-seq, 124 cells) on visually identified SPNs and pyramidal cells (PCs) in human cortical slices. Compared with putative extratelencephalic-projecting PCs, SPNs possess less complex proximal apical dendrites and emanate axons from the basal dendritic trunk. Additionally, they exhibit heightened excitability and characteristic firing properties, including robust bursting and persistent firing pattern. Patch-seq analysis revealed transcriptomic heterogeneity within SPNs, and identified their fingerprint genes. Collectively, our results indicate that SPNs form a molecularly and functionally distinctive neuronal population, which may serve as a specialized neural substrate for human cortical processing.

Indexed as

Action PotentialsCerebral CortexNeocortexNeuronsTranscriptomeAdultAxonsDendritesFemaleGene Expression ProfilingHumansMalePatch-Clamp TechniquesPyramidal Cells

Identifiers

PMID42120382
PMCPMC13376633

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Registered trials

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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.