Elevated gene expression levels distinguish human from non-human primate brains

Mario Cáceres, Joel Lachuer, Matthew A. Zapala, John C. Redmond, Lili Kudo, Daniel H. Geschwind, David J. Lockhart, Todd M. Preuss, Carrolee Barlow

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

405 Scopus citations

Abstract

Little is known about how the human brain differs from that of our closest relatives. To investigate the genetic basis of human specializations in brain organization and cognition, we compared gene expression profiles for the cerebral cortex of humans, chimpanzees, and rhesus macaques by using several independent techniques. We identified 169 genes that exhibited expression differences between human and chimpanzee cortex, and 91 were ascribed to the human lineage by using macaques as an outgroup. Surprisingly, most differences between the brains of humans and non-human primates involved up-regulation, with ≈90% of the genes being more highly expressed in humans. By contrast, in the comparison of human and chimpanzee heart and liver, the numbers of up- and down-regulated genes were nearly identical. Our results indicate that the human brain displays a distinctive pattern of gene expression relative to non-human primates, with higher expression levels for many genes belonging to a wide variety of functional classes. The increased expression of these genes could provide the basis for extensive modifications of cerebral physiology and function in humans and suggests that the human brain is characterized by elevated levels of neuronal activity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)13030-13035
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume100
Issue number22
DOIs
StatePublished - 28 Oct 2003
Externally publishedYes

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