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The first neurons of the human cerebral cortex

Nature Neuroscience volume 9, pages 880–886 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

We describe a distinctive, widespread population of neurons situated beneath the pial surface of the human embryonic forebrain even before complete closure of the neural tube. These 'predecessor' cells include the first neurons seen in the primordium of the cerebral cortex, before the onset of local neurogenesis. Morphological analysis, combined with the study of centrosome location, regional transcription factors and patterns of mitosis and neurogenesis, indicates that predecessor cells invade the cortical primordium by tangential migration from the subpallium. These neurons, described here for the first time, precede all other known cell types of the developing cortex.

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Figure 1: Predecessor neurons in the forebrain and pioneer cells in the olfactory placode (OLP).
Figure 2: Predecessor neurons are present in the cortical primordium before the onset of local neurogenesis.
Figure 3: Patterns of mitosis and evidence for the direction of neuronal migration.
Figure 4: Expression of regional transcription factors in the telencephalon.
Figure 5: Predecessor neurons are neither interneurons of basal origin nor Cajal-Retzius cells.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to L.H. Tsai and Z. Xie for discussion about centrosomal function. We thank A. Goffinet, J. Kohtz and R. Hevner for generous gifts of reelin, Dlx and Tbr1 antibodies, respectively. This work was supported by grants from the UK Medical Research Council (C.B. and Z.M.), the US Public Health Service and the Kavli Institute for Neuroscience at Yale (P.R.), the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and Leading Scientific Schools in Russia (I.B.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX13PT, Oxfordshire, UK

    Irina Bystron, Zoltán Molnár & Colin Blakemore

  2. Department of Morphology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Irina Bystron

  3. Department of Neurobiology and Kavli Institute of Neuroscience, Yale University Medical School, New Haven, 06520-8001, Connecticut, USA

    Pasko Rakic

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Correspondence to Irina Bystron.

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Bystron, I., Rakic, P., Molnár, Z. et al. The first neurons of the human cerebral cortex. Nat Neurosci 9, 880–886 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1726

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