Introduction
The Rosehip neuron is a newly found type of brain neuron with a distinct shape and set of gene expression patterns. Postmortem human brain samples were used by neuroscientists to discover this novel form of the neuron. They reasoned that humans had rosehip neurons, whereas rodents do not.
What Is a Rosehip Neuron in the Human Brain?
The “rosehip neuron” is the name given to the novel cell type because of its resemblance to a rose shrub fruit.
To some extent, it appears that rosehip acts as an inhibitory neuron, limiting the amount of information that reaches specific regions of the brain. Pyramidal neurons, which form up two-thirds of the neocortical neuron cells, appear to be linked to rosehips.
The rosehip neurons appear bushy. The term “rosehip” is derived from their bushy look. To begin with, the term “rosehip” referred to the rose plant’s auxiliary fruit. After the petals fall off, the rosehip neuron resembles the rose’s accessory fruit. Neuroscientists typically employ rodents as model species. However, this sort of neuron does not occur in humans. This could explain why so many medicines for brain illnesses work in mice models but not in people if the rosehip neuron exists.
In the postmortem brains of two men in their 50s, researchers found rosehip neurons in the top layer of the cortex. Inhibitory neurons, including the rosehip neuron, are found throughout the brain. As a result, the brain’s neural activity is inhibited.
It appeared that rosehip neurons have a distinct genetic make-up. Genes specific to the rosehip neurons were activated. Pyramidal neurons and other neurons developed connections with them as well. The name “pyramidal neuron” comes from the shape of these brain cells.
