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How to make a brain: new experiments challenge existing picture

Nature • September 18, 2026 • science

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New research challenges the long-held belief that a single type of progenitor cell forms the entire brain, showing instead that two distinct progenitor cell types generate different brain regions.
One progenitor cell type forms the hindbrain, responsible for vital functions like heartbeat and breathing, while the other produces the forebrain and midbrain, which govern higher-order functions such as reasoning and planning.
The study, published in Nature Neuroscience, also developed an efficient method to grow hindbrain motor-neuron cells from stem cells, which could advance research into neurodegenerative diseases like ALS.
Using mouse embryos and human pluripotent stem cells, researchers demonstrated that the two progenitor cell populations are mutually exclusive and locked into their specific brain region fates.
Although some scientists remain skeptical about the strict separation of these progenitor populations, the findings provide new insights into brain development and potential avenues for disease modeling.

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