Mouse lemur, a promising model for primate studies

Research from a global consortium has produced a cell atlas of the mouse lemur brain, revealing distinct brain cell features in primates.

Comparative studies of brain cell types across species are essential to understanding the evolution and specialisation of primate brains. While rodents and Old World monkeys are frequently studied, data from more distantly related primates remains scarce. 

The mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus), a small, nocturnal primate from Madagascar, diverged early in primate evolution, occupying a key position for comparative neuroscience.

The Tabula Microcebus Consortium, led by researchers from Stanford University, generated an atlas of nearly 780,000 cells from 12 different brain regions of adult mouse lemurs and compared it with equivalent data from humans, macaques and mice. 

The study, published in Nature, identified both conserved and divergent characteristics in brain cell function in all animals and even a specific cell type found only in primates. The study was conducted using post-mortem brain samples from adult mouse lemurs, sourced from ethically maintained research colonies. 

This landmark study provides critical insight into the architecture of primate brains and establishes the mouse lemur as a model not only for evolutionary neuroscience but also for studying brain development, ageing and disease.