Scientists Grow Fully Functional Brain Tissue in the Lab

What they grew were essentially miniature cortices

The cortex is basically the brain's outer layer of neural tissue. In the image available below, it's depicted in dark violet. As you can see, it's not very thick. Au contraire, it's been documented to measure merely 2 to 4 millimeters (0.079 to 0.157 inches). 

Studies have shown that cerebral cortex is involved in a whole lot of processes such as memory, awareness, perception, language, thought and even consciousness.

Like other brain regions, the cortex can sometimes misfire. To be able to identify the problem and fix it, medical experts must first know exactly how the cortex works.

With this in mind, researchers at the National Institutes of Health set out to find a way to grow miniature cortices in the lab, just to be able to study them in detail. And they succeeded.

Well, they didn't grow cerebral cortices per se. What they did manage to create was three-dimensional structures in which cells talked to each other as if part of an actual brain and that behaved strikingly similar to the real deal. Budding cortices, if you will.

Mind you, the scientists behind this research project are the first to admit that actual human brains are far more complex than the structures they grew in laboratory conditions.

Still, they say that their miniature cortices could serve as a model to study and better understand brain circuitry, maybe even test emerging trusts designed to treat neurological issues.

“The cortex spheroids grow to a state in which they express functional connectivity, allowing for modeling and understanding of mental illnesses,” said scientist Thomas R. Insel.

“They do not even begin to approach the complexity of a whole human brain. But that is not exactly what we need to study disorders of brain circuitry,” he went on to explain.

The cortex is the brain's outer layer