Human Brain Development

The development of the human brain is a highly complex process that unfolds over several decades and is reliant on the diversity and precise spatiotemporal regulation of the transcriptome. There is increasingly persuasive evidence that dysregulation of the transcriptional, regulatory, and epigenetic processes underlying the spatial and temporal progression of neurodevelopment can have dire consequences for brain function or impact strongly on the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, despite ongoing efforts, our understanding of different facets of the transcriptional, epigenetic, and regulatory architecture of the human brain, remains highly incomplete.

We present the generation and integrated analysis of a variety of tissue (transcriptome, methylation status, histone modifications) and single cell/nucleus-level (transcriptome) genomic data modalities across multiple brain regions over the entire span of human neurodevelopment. These data, generated from age- and often donor-matched samples, comprise the most comprehensive multi-platform functional genomic analysis of the developing human brain.