Determinants of primate neurogenesis and the deployment of top-down generative networks in the cortical hierarchy.

Abstract

What I cannot create I do not understand - Richard Feynman 1978 Because primate cortical development exhibits numerous specific features, the mouse is an imperfect model for human cortical development. Expansion of supragranular neurons is an evolutionary feature characterizing the primate cortex. Increased production of supragranular neurons is supported by a germinal zone innovation of the primate cortex: the Outer SubVentricular Zone, which along with supragranular neurons constitute privileged targets of primate brain-specific gene evolution. The resulting cell-type diversity of human supragranular neurons link cell and molecular evolutionary changes in progenitors with the emergence of distinctive architectural features in the primate cortex. We propose that these changes are required for the expansion of the primate cortical hierarchy deploying top-down generative networks with potentially important consequences for the neurobiology of human psychiatric disorders.