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Study finds human brain grows from two separate cell lineages

Study finds human brain grows from two separate cell lineages

New Capabilities

Stanford team grows human hindbrain motor neurons in a dish from the newly identified hindbrain lineage, opening routes to study ALS and spinal muscular atrophy

September 19th, 2026: The Independent publishes international coverage

Overview

Updated Sep 23

Scientists grew functional human hindbrain motor neurons in a lab dish after discovering the brain develops from two separate groups of progenitor cells, not one. The Stanford Medicine-led team reported the finding Sept. 18 in Nature Neuroscience.

One cell group, marked by the gene Otx2, builds the forebrain and midbrain. A separate group, marked by Gbx2, builds the hindbrain. The two never mix. The dish-grown neurons give researchers a way to study ALS, spinal muscular atrophy, and the hindbrain appetite circuits targeted by weight-loss drugs. The same two-origin pattern appears in chickens, monkeys, zebrafish, and acorn worms.

Why it matters

Scientists can now grow human hindbrain neurons in a dish, opening routes to study ALS, spinal muscular atrophy, and the appetite circuits behind weight-loss drugs.

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Key Indicators

2
Separate progenitor cell populations
One forms the forebrain and midbrain; a distinct population forms the hindbrain.
550 million
Years ago the dual-origin brain system appeared
The same two-origin pattern appears in chickens, monkeys, zebrafish, and acorn worms. The shared ancestor lived at least 550 million years ago.
3
Main brain regions in adults
Forebrain handles higher thought; hindbrain (brain stem) controls automatic functions.

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People Involved

Kyle Loh
Kyle Loh
Associate professor of developmental biology, Stanford Medicine; senior author
Leading follow-up studies on spinal cord origin
 Carolyn Dundes and Rayyan Jokhai
Carolyn Dundes and Rayyan Jokhai
Graduate students, Stanford Medicine; co-first authors
Co-authored the published study

Organizations Involved

Stanford Medicine
Stanford Medicine
Academic medical research institution
Lead institution behind the research

The research arm of Stanford University's medical school.

Timeline

3 events Latest: September 19th, 2026 · 2 months ago

  1. The Independent publishes international coverage

    Latest Media

    The Independent reported the study for an international audience, framing the hindbrain neuron breakthrough as a route to studying ALS and spinal muscular atrophy.

  2. Stanford-led study published in Nature Neuroscience

    Publication

    Team reports the brain develops from two separate progenitor cell populations, enabling growth of human hindbrain neurons in a dish.

  3. Nature news publishes independent coverage with expert skepticism

    Media

    Nature's news section reported the study and quoted unnamed researchers who disagree with the two-cell-population conclusion, though they praised the method for growing hindbrain neurons.

Scenarios

1

Lab-grown hindbrain neurons accelerate ALS and SMA drug screening

Likely Resolves by Sep 18, 2027

Discussed by: Kyle Loh and co-authors; coverage in New Scientist and ScienceAlert

Researchers use the new technique to grow human hindbrain motor neurons and screen candidate treatments for ALS and spinal muscular atrophy, diseases that destroy the neurons controlling swallowing and speech. The same neurons could clarify exactly how GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide suppress appetite through hindbrain circuits.

2

Independent labs confirm the two-lineage brain model

Likely Resolves by Mar 18, 2028

Discussed by: Developmental biology community

Other research groups replicate the finding in their own embryo studies, confirming that hindbrain and forebrain arise from distinct progenitor populations. Independent replication would cement the model in textbooks and teaching materials that currently describe a single developmental origin.

3

Two-origin model extended to the spinal cord

Possible Resolves by Sep 18, 2028

Discussed by: Kyle Loh's lab

The Stanford team has said it wants to determine the developmental origin of the spinal cord. If the spinal cord follows one of the two established lineages, it would show how far the dual architecture extends through the central nervous system and could reshape models of spinal cord injury and repair.

4

Independent labs challenge the two-lineage model

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Researchers quoted in Nature news coverage

Nature's coverage cites experts who doubt the conclusion that forebrain and hindbrain arise from two non-mixing cell populations. They may conduct their own embryo lineage-tracing experiments to test the claim. If replication fails, the two-lineage model could be revised, though the lab-grown hindbrain neurons would still stand as a practical tool.

5

Dish-grown hindbrain neurons reveal how GLP-1 drugs suppress appetite

Possible Resolves by End of 2027

Discussed by: Kyle Loh; New Scientist coverage

Loh says the dish-grown neurons should let researchers watch how glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs such as semaglutide act on human hindbrain appetite circuits. Mouse studies already tie the drugs' appetite suppression to the hindbrain. Human neurons in a dish could show the exact mechanism and support weight-loss drugs with fewer side effects.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1868

Neural crest discovery (1868)

Embryologist Wilhelm His identified neural crest cells, a separate embryonic population that migrates to form much of the peripheral nervous system, the face, and parts of the heart. It showed the nervous system does not come from a single source.

Then

Opened a new field of study on a distinct cell lineage that behaves differently from the main neural tube.

Now

Became a pillar of developmental biology and linked defects in one lineage to specific birth conditions.

Why this matters now

Like the Stanford finding, it overturned single-origin dogma about how the nervous system forms and pointed to distinct lineages with distinct fates.

1960s

Split-brain studies, Roger Sperry (1960s)

Sperry's work on patients whose corpus callosum had been severed showed each brain hemisphere could function semi-independently, processing information and even forming intentions separately.

Then

Rewrote understanding of lateralization; the hemispheres visibly handled different tasks.

Now

Earned Sperry a Nobel Prize (1981) and entrenched the view of the brain as a composite of semi-independent parts.

Why this matters now

Provides a precedent for treating the brain as built from collaborating subsystems rather than a single unified organ.

1960s–1990s

Adult neurogenesis debates (1960s–1990s)

For decades the field held that no new neurons form in the adult brain. Joseph Altman's 1960s work suggested otherwise and was largely dismissed; Fred Gage's 1990s studies confirmed it in humans.

Then

A storm of replication disputes before the evidence settled.

Now

Transformed research on memory, depression, and brain repair, and showed how stubbornly developmental dogmas resist revision.

Why this matters now

Demonstrates the pattern of a foundational brain-science dogma persisting for decades before being overturned by better evidence.

Sources

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Stanford Medicine EurekAlert! New Scientist ScienceAlert New York Post Reddit r/science Nature Earth.com India Today The Times of India Tech Explorist BioTechGrid The Independent New Atlas Science News Today