The idea of ​​sprouting an entire human brain from cells in a laboratory has historically been considered closer to science fiction than science.

However, since experiments began with organoids (groups of cells from the same part of the body that, to a certain extent, are like miniature versions of their respective organs) that idea no longer seems so far-fetched.

Now, as the image shows, a further step has been taken in increasing the complexity of these sets of cells. An international team led by Tatsuya Osaki, from the University of Tokyo in Japan, has managed to connect human brain organoids (“mini brains”), grown from stem cells in the laboratory, to each other. The connections have been made through bundles of axons (“natural cables” used by brain cells to connect with each other).

The most striking thing is that the behavior of the resulting set of brain organoids has changed…

In separate brain organoids, the constituent cells end up displaying relatively simple electrical activity. Instead, when the research team connected two brain organoids in the way described, the cells increased the complexity of their behavior and synchronized with each other in very specific patterns, in a way reminiscent of how a human brain is organized.

(Image: Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo)

Osaki and his colleagues present the technical details of their experiment in the academic journal Nature Communications, under the title “Complex Activity and Short-Term Plasticity of Human Cerebral Organoids Reciprocally Connected with Axons.” (Fountain: NCYT by Amazings)

The idea of ​​sprouting an entire human brain from cells in a laboratory has historically been considered closer to science fiction than science.

However, since experiments began with organoids (groups of cells from the same part of the body that, to a certain extent, are like miniature versions of their respective organs) that idea no longer seems so far-fetched.

Now, as the image shows, a further step has been taken in increasing the complexity of these sets of cells. An international team led by Tatsuya Osaki, from the University of Tokyo in Japan, has managed to connect human brain organoids (“mini brains”), grown from stem cells in the laboratory, to each other. The connections have been made through bundles of axons (“natural cables” used by brain cells to connect with each other).

The most striking thing is that the behavior of the resulting set of brain organoids has changed…

In separate brain organoids, the constituent cells end up displaying relatively simple electrical activity. Instead, when the research team connected two brain organoids in the way described, the cells increased the complexity of their behavior and synchronized with each other in very specific patterns, in a way reminiscent of how a human brain is organized.

(Image: Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo)

Osaki and his colleagues present the technical details of their experiment in the academic journal Nature Communications, under the title “Complex Activity and Short-Term Plasticity of Human Cerebral Organoids Reciprocally Connected with Axons.” (Fountain: NCYT by Amazings)