Study Reveals How Humans Develop Larger Brains Than Other Apes

At birth, human brains contain approximately three times as many neurons as those of newborn chimpanzees and gorillas, despite sharing similar gestation periods. Why do humans have such large brains when compared to other apes? To find out, researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, United Kingdom, recently grew and studied miniature brain organoids to mimic the early brain development of humans, gorillas, and chimpanzees.