Research shows how cell types form human brain networks

Rutgers researchers from the Brain Health Institute (BHI) and the Center for Advanced Human Brain Imaging Research (CAHBIR) have discovered how different types of brain cells work together to form large-scale functional networks in the human brain: interconnected systems that support everything from sensory processing to complex decision-making – paving the way for new insights into brain health and disease.

By locating these cellular foundations, the studypublished in Nature Neuroscienceprovides a deeper understanding of the cellular foundations of cognition and mental health.

The brain's functional properties arise from the varied cell types in the cortex, the outermost layer responsible for many complex mental tasks. A major goal in neuroscience research is to understand how our genetic, molecular, and cellular processes support the organizational properties of the brain, as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Historically, scientists studied the properties of brain organization by examining post-mortem tissue samples or using invasive techniques in animals, such as studying tissue structure (histology), tracing neural pathways, measuring electrical activity (electrophysiology) or observing changes after specific areas were damaged. (lesion methods).

Thanks to advances in genetics and technology, researchers can now more closely study how brain cells are organized in human tissue.

In this study, Rutgers researchers used recently developed post-mortem gene expression atlases, which map how genes are differentially expressed in brain regions, to explore how different types of cells may spatially connect to studies of brain networks in the general population .

Researchers found that certain cell type distributions map to specific networks in the cerebral cortex, both at the level of individual cell types and multivariate cellular profiles, or fingerprints.

“These findings highlight a link between the functional organization of the human brain and its cellular basis,” said senior author Avram Holmes, associate professor of psychiatry at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and core faculty member of the Rutgers Brain Health Institute and Center. for advanced research into human brain scans.

“The study has significant implications for understanding the cellular basis of brain functions in health and disease,” Holmes said.

This research lays the foundation for future studies to investigate how our diverse cell types work together within brain networks and to test other potential models of how cells contribute to brain function.

Future studies should explore ways to integrate the hierarchical structure of these diverse cell definitions into analyzes and consider alternative models of in vivo brain functioning, Holmes said.