Human neocortical expansion involves glutamatergic neuron diversification
Berg J, Sorensen SA, Ting JT, Miller JA, Chartrand T, Buchin A, Bakken TE, Budzillo A et al.. Nature, 2021-10-06
Topic: Genetics and APOE
The neocortex is disproportionately expanded in human compared with mouse 1,2 , both in its total volume relative to subcortical structures and in the proportion occupied by supragranular layers composed of neurons that selectively make connections within the neocortex and with other telencephalic structures. Single-cell transcriptomic analyses of human and mouse neocortex show an increased diversity of glutamatergic neuron types in supragranular layers in human neocortex and pronounced gradients as a function of cortical depth 3 . Here, to probe the functional and anatomical correlates of this transcriptomic diversity, we developed a robust platform combining patch clamp recording, biocytin staining and single-cell RNA-sequencing (Patch-seq) to examine neurosurgically resected human tissues. We demonstrate a strong correspondence between morphological, physiological and transcriptomic phenotypes of five human glutamatergic supragranular neuron types. These were enriched in but not restricted to layers, with one type varying continuously in all phenotypes across layers 2 and 3. The deep portion of layer 3 contained highly distinctive cell types, two of which express a neurofilament protein that labels long-range projection neurons in primates that are selectively depleted in Alzheimer's disease 4,5 . Together, these results demonstrate the explanatory power of transcriptomic cell-type classification, provide a structural underpinning for increased complexity of cortical function in humans, and implicate discrete transcriptomic neuron types as selectively vulnerable in disease.
Key findings
- The neocortex is disproportionately expanded in human compared with mouse 1,2 , both in its total volume relative to subcortical structures and in the proportion occupied by supragranular layers composed of neurons that selectively make connections within the neocortex and with other telencephalic structures.
- Together, these results demonstrate the explanatory power of transcriptomic cell-type classification, provide a structural underpinning for increased complexity of cortical function in humans, and implicate discrete transcriptomic neuron types as selectively vulnerable in disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 48/100
Published in a top-tier journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 28 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 48 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 10 / 10 | Tier 1 — top-tier general journal (Nature) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2021 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 34616067) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 28 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 28 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 48 out of 100. |
| Total | 48 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Berg, J., Sorensen, S. A., Ting, J. T., Miller, J. A., Chartrand, T., Buchin, A., et al. (2021). Human neocortical expansion involves glutamatergic neuron diversification. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03813-8
Vancouver
Berg J, Sorensen SA, Ting JT, Miller JA, Chartrand T, Buchin A, et al. Human neocortical expansion involves glutamatergic neuron diversification. Nature. 2021. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03813-8. PMID: 34616067.
BibTeX
@article{berg2021-34616067,
author = {Berg, J. and Sorensen, S. A. and Ting, J. T. and Miller, J. A. and Chartrand, T. and Buchin, A. and Bakken, T. E. and Budzillo, A. and others},
title = {{Human neocortical expansion involves glutamatergic neuron diversification}},
journal = {Nature},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1038/s41586-021-03813-8},
pmid = {34616067},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03813-8}
}
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