Comparative analysis reveals distinctive epigenetic features of the human cerebellum.

ABSTRACT: Identifying the molecular underpinnings of the neural specializations that underlie human cognitive and behavioral traits has long been of considerable interest. Much research on human-specific changes in gene expression and epigenetic marks has focused on the prefrontal cortex, a brain structure distinguished by its role in executive functions. The cerebellum shows expansion in great apes and is gaining increasing attention for its role in motor skills and cognitive processing, including language. However, relatively few molecular studies of the cerebellum in a comparative evolutionary context have been conducted. Here, we identify human-specific methylation in the lateral cerebellum relative to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, in a comparative study with chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

SUBMITTER: Guevara EE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8101944 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature