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Why is man smarter than the mouse?
10/20/2011
Stem cells in the human brain produce far more nerve cells than corresponding cells in mice. Jürgen Knoblich, a researcher at the Vienna Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (IMBA) found out what mechanisms are responsible, and why the orientation of the cells plays a role.
The rapid evolution of brain size, and in consequence intelligence, is a distinctive feature in the evolution of mammals. Although the genes of mice and humans are more than a 90% match the cerebral cortex of a mouse has around eight million nerve cells (neurons) while in humans there are more than 15 billion - a significant difference.
>>find out more about the Knoblich Lab
