Journal
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES
Volume 77, Issue 8, Pages 1435-1460Publisher
SPRINGER BASEL AG
DOI: 10.1007/s00018-019-03315-x
Keywords
Mouse; Chick; Robo; Radial Glia; Neurogenesis; Primate
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Funding
- Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities [PGC2018-102172-B-I00, SAF2017-92781-EXP, SAF2015-69168-R] Funding Source: Medline
- Severo Ochoa Programme for Centers of Excellence in Research and Development [SEV-2017-0723] Funding Source: Medline
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [201820E129] Funding Source: Medline
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The cerebral cortex varies dramatically in size and complexity between amniotes due to differences in neuron number and composition. These differences emerge during embryonic development as a result of variations in neurogenesis, which are thought to recapitulate modifications occurred during evolution that culminated in the human neocortex. Here, we review work from the last few decades leading to our current understanding of the evolution of neurogenesis and size of the cerebral cortex. Focused on specific examples across vertebrate and amniote phylogeny, we discuss developmental mechanisms regulating the emergence, lineage, complexification and fate of cortical germinal layers and progenitor cell types. At the cellular level, we discuss the fundamental impact of basal progenitor cells and the advent of indirect neurogenesis on the increased number and diversity of cortical neurons and layers in mammals, and on cortex folding. Finally, we discuss recent work that unveils genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying this progressive expansion and increased complexity of the amniote cerebral cortex during evolution, with a particular focus on those leading to human-specific features. Whereas new genes important in human brain development emerged the recent hominid lineage, regulation of the patterns and levels of activity of highly conserved signaling pathways are beginning to emerge as mechanisms of central importance in the evolutionary increase in cortical size and complexity across amniotes.
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