Researchers in the US created a detailed atlas showing how astrocytes, star-shaped support cells in the brain, differ across brain regions, animal species and life stages. The atlas will help to understand how these cells influence brain development, function and disease.

The team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology analysed 1.4 million brain cells from mice and marmosets across six stages of life, from embryo to old age. They focused on four key brain regions:  

• prefrontal cortex, involved in decision-making and planning 

• motor cortex, which controls movement  

• striatum, linked to reward and motivation  

• thalamus, a hub for sensory processing.  

prefrontal cortex, involved in decision-making and planning 

motor cortex, which controls movement  

striatum, linked to reward and motivation  

thalamus, a hub for sensory processing.  

By examining which genes were active in different astrocytes, the researchers showed that astrocytes are highly specialised. Cells from different brain regions displayed unique patterns of gene activity, with the greatest changes occurring between birth and early adolescence. 

While mice and marmosets shared broad similarities, important differences were found between species. For example, astrocytes in marmosets appeared more mature at birth than those in mice. This suggests that brain cells develop at different speeds across species, meaning findings from mice cannot always be directly translated to primates or humans. The results highlight the importance of considering both age and species when studying brain cells and brain diseases. 

“It’s really important for us to pay attention to non-neuronal cells’ role in health and disease,” said Guoping Feng from MIT, lead author of the study published in Neuron.