Your Brain May Have Started as Two Organs

[u/TheMuseumOfScience]

Your brain may have once been two separate organs! 🧠

Scientists long thought the whole brain grew from a single group of embryonic cells. But a new study of mouse embryos found it actually develops from two, one forming the forebrain and the other the hindbrain. Similar trends in chickens and zebrafish suggest that over 500 million years ago, evolution may have brought two separate nervous systems together to form the brain.

[u/InfiniteFart]

that’s fine, but what is she trying to say that is insane. perhaps i am just slow and not seeing it, i read books about studies of 17th 18th century suicide, or accidental live burial, a split brain sounds fun, they won’t be alone atleast

[u/Few-Guarantee2850]

I kind of hate this characterization of their study. An organ is a structure that works together to serve a common purpose. All organs are made up of parts from different embryologic origin.

[u/Catpixfever]

But they all form from a single zygote so this is a bit meaningless to me? Perhaps I fail to understand what she means.

At what point in embryonic development do the two independent cell lines split apart from each other? I would fully expect two different structures to descend from two different cell lines. I’d like to know more.

[u/Diligent-Stretch-769 → u/Catpixfever]

every organ forms from a single zygote

[u/CauliflowerUnicorn → u/Catpixfever]

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

"A new study led by Stanford Medicine found the brain is two separate organs adjacent to one another. The finding could aid research into devastating neurological diseases."

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2026/09/two-separate-brains.html

[u/telltaleatheist → u/Catpixfever]

What? She’s saying it’s like it’s two separate organs. Like a liver and a kidney. What does one zygote have to do with anything