For the first time, Allen Institute records the activity of a rare, mysterious kind of brain cell

For the first time, Allen Institute records the activity of a rare, mysterious kind of brain cellResearchers at Seattle's Allen Institute for Brain Science have captured the first-ever recording of electrical spikes from von Economo neurons — a rare kind of cell that's found deep in the human brain and may be associated with social intelligence. The cells were recovered from living tissue that was removed from the brain of a woman in her 60s in order to gain access to a tumor. The tissue found its way to the Allen Institute through a program that quickly transports donated tissue from Seattle-area hospitals to the institute's lab for analysis. Institute researcher Ed Lein and his colleagues… Read More