Human brain is two separate organs, Stanford Medicine-led research finds

Stanford Medicine researchers discovered that the human brain consists of two distinct organs that evolved independently, rather than being a single unified structure as previously believed. The forebrain—responsible for higher-level thinking like language and reasoning—develops from a different progenitor cell than the hindbrain (brain stem), which controls essential functions like breathing and heartbeat. This finding could improve laboratory cultivation of hindbrain neurons and advance research into devastating brain stem diseases like ALS and spinal muscular atrophy.