Researchers Map Over 2.3 Million Mouse Brain Cells, Shedding Light on Human Brain Function

The research, part of the BRAIN Initiative, used artificial intelligence to predict DNA stretches determining brain cell types, and studied the evolution of gene regulation processes in human and primate brains.

• Researchers have mapped over 2.3 million brain cells from mice, shedding light on how different brain cell types are formed through gene regulation.
• The research is part of the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® Initiative, or the BRAIN Initiative®, which launched in 2014 to deepen our understanding of the inner workings of the human mind.
• The researchers analyzed more than 2.3 million individual brain cells from mice to create a comprehensive map of the mouse brain and used artificial intelligence to help predict what stretches of DNA are used to determine a brain cell’s type.
• The researchers also looked at the brains of humans and primates to study the evolution of the processes cells use to turn genes on and off.
• The researchers found that many of the genetic programs that determine cell type were in parts of the genome that have already been implicated in human diseases, such multiple sclerosis, anorexia nervosa and tobacco use disorder.

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