Study reveals surprise about the origin of the human brain

Follow-up – Al-Wasat Iraqi newspaper 

A new study led by researchers at Stanford University revealed that the human brain may not have arisen from a single ancestor, but from two brain progenitors that developed in parallel during the early stages of embryonic development.

The study showed that these two progenitors form during the blastula stage, a fundamental phase of embryonic development, before the various brain structures develop from them.

The researchers indicate that this evolutionary pattern may date back between 550 and 600 million years and that it exists in a number of organisms, including primates, mice, chickens and some fish.

Scientists believe the results could contribute to rethinking brain evolution and could, in the future, help develop better models for studying neurological diseases and disorders and devising new treatments for them.

The researchers stressed that the intention is not to say that humans have two separate brains, but rather that the brain may have evolved from two different embryonic sources.