Cited by 3,083Single-cell and spatial transcriptomicsGene expression and cancer classificationBioinformatics and Genomic Networks

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 36 of the 38 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 31 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

An anatomically comprehensive atlas of the adult human brain transcriptome

Open access

Abstract

Neuroanatomically precise, genome-wide maps of transcript distributions are critical resources to complement genomic sequence data and to correlate functional and genetic brain architecture. Here we describe the generation and analysis of a transcriptional atlas of the adult human brain, comprising extensive histological analysis and comprehensive microarray profiling of ∼900 neuroanatomically precise subdivisions in two individuals. Transcriptional regulation varies enormously by anatomical location, with different regions and their constituent cell types displaying robust molecular signatures that are highly conserved between individuals. Analysis of differential gene expression and gene co-expression relationships demonstrates that brain-wide variation strongly reflects the distributions of major cell classes such as neurons, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes and microglia. Local neighbourhood relationships between fine anatomical subdivisions are associated with discrete neuronal subtypes and genes involved with synaptic transmission. The neocortex displays a relatively homogeneous transcriptional pattern, but with distinct features associated selectively with primary sensorimotor cortices and with enriched frontal lobe expression. Notably, the spatial topography of the neocortex is strongly reflected in its molecular topography—the closer two cortical regions, the more similar their transcriptomes. This freely accessible online data resource forms a high-resolution transcriptional baseline for neurogenetic studies of normal and abnormal human brain function.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/nature11405

Cites

36 of 36 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

0 of 31 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

Show all 75 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 22
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 11
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
30 of 30
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The two or three clinically unremarkable adult male brains studied are sufficiently representative of the adult human brain for the atlas's general conclusions.

    “Two complete normal male brains were analysed from donors aged 24 and 39 years”
    “in a small number of high-quality, clinically unremarkable brains”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Microarray transcript levels measured in post-mortem brain tissue reflect the in vivo transcriptional state of the corresponding brain regions.

    “RNA was isolated from each sample and used to generate labelled cRNA probes for hybridization to custom 64K Agilent microarrays.”
    “The output of the data generation pipeline described above is a detailed quantitative map of transcript distribution across the entire brain.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The primary feature distinguishing the human brain from other species is the enormous expansion of the neocortex relative to total brain volume.

    “The primary feature that distinguishes the human brain from that of other species is the enormous expansion of the neocortex relative to total brain volume.”
3 of 3

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Show all 38 references

2 of the 38 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Hurd, Y. L. & Hall, H. in Handbook of Chemical Neuroanatomy. (Dopamine) (eds Dunnett, S.B., Bentivoglio, M., Bjorklund, A., & Hokfelt, T. ) Ch. IX 525–571 (Elsevier, 2005)

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Items 401–500 of 1,012

Metadata

Authors
Hawrylycz, M. J., Lein, E. S., Guillozet-Bongaarts, A. L., Shen, E. H., Ng, L., Miller, J. A., van de Lagemaat, L. N., Smith, K. A., Ebbert, A., Riley, Z. L., Abajian, C., Beckmann, C. F., Bernard, A., Bertagnolli, D., Boe, A. F., Cartagena, P. M., Chakravarty, M. M., Chapin, M., Chong, J., Dalley, R. A., Daly, B. D., Dang, C., Datta, S., Dee, N., Dolbeare, T. A., Faber, V., Feng, D., Fowler, D. R., Goldy, J., Gregor, B. W., Haradon, Z., Haynor, D. R., Hohmann, J. G., Horvath, S., Howard, R. E., Jeromin, A., Jochim, J. M., Kinnunen, M., Lau, C., Lazarz, E. T., Lee, C., Lemon, T. A., Li, L., Li, Y., Morris, J. A., Overly, C. C., Parker, P. D., Parry, S. E., Reding, M., Royall, J. J., Schulkin, J., Sequeira, P. A., Slaughterbeck, C. R., Smith, S. C., Sodt, A. J., Sunkin, S. M., Swanson, B. E., Vawter, M. P., Williams, D., Wohnoutka, P., Zielke, H. R., Geschwind, D. H., Hof, P. R., Smith, S. M., Koch, C., Grant, S. G. N., & Jones, A. R.
Affiliations
  • Allen Institute for Brain Science (US)
  • Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
  • University of California, Irvine (US)
  • University of Maryland Medical Center (US)
  • University of Maryland, Baltimore (US)
  • University of Washington (US)
  • Banyan Biomarkers (United States) (US)
  • Georgetown University (US)
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • University of Edinburgh (GB)
Corresponding author
Hawrylycz, Michael J.
Venue
Nature
Published
2012-09
Volume
489
Issue
7416
Pages
391-399
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2055655674
Cited by
3,083
References
38
Citations by year
2026: 341 · 2025: 365 · 2024: 320 · 2023: 259 · 2022: 267 · 2021: 274 · 2020: 243 · 2019: 173 · 2018: 165 · 2017: 163 · 2016: 169 · 2015: 134 · 2014: 123 · 2013: 72 · 2012: 10
FWCI
43.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • University of Twente Research Information (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • Wellcome Trust (066717, 077155)
  • European Commission (241498, 242167, 241995)
  • Health Resources and Services Administration
  • National Institute of Standards and Technology
  • U.S. Public Health Service (1C76HF15069-01-00, 1C76HF19619-01-00)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH085801, R37MH060233)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gene expression and cancer classification
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Bioinformatics and Genomic Networks
Keywords
human brain transcriptome, transcriptional atlas, gene expression mapping, differential gene expression, gene co-expression, neuronal cell types, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, microglia, primary sensorimotor cortex, frontal lobe, calbindin-D28k, hippocampus, postmortem brain, brain cell types
MeSH terms
Adult, Anatomy, Artistic, Animals, Atlases as Topic, Brain, Dopamine, Health, Hippocampus, Humans, Macaca mulatta, Male, RNA, Messenger, Species Specificity, In Situ Hybridization, Neocortex, Internet, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Gene Expression Profiling, Databases, Genetic, Mice, Post-Synaptic Density, Transcriptome, Calbindins, S100 Calcium Binding Protein G

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-06, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).

A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-06 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review