Your place in your cellular 'family tree' predicts how your brain is wired better than your actual cell type.
April 1, 2026
Original Paper
Mitotic lineage adds predictive information beyond cell type in the C. elegans connectome
bioRxiv · 2022.11.01.514680
AI-generated illustration
The Takeaway
It was long assumed that a neuron's identity and genetic type dictated who it connected to. This research shows that the specific lineage of cell divisions (which 'ancestor' cell it came from) provides unique instructions for the connectome that go beyond genetic programming.
From the abstract
During nervous system development, repeated cell divisions of the zygote give rise to a "family tree" of neurons related by mitotic lineage. The developmental process also gives rise to neuronal connections, and neurons phenotypically converge to different cell types. Neural connections are steered by cell type, but they may be driven in part by lineage: We do not know if lineage matters for the developmental neurogenesis process. We thus asked if mitotic lineage predicts neural connections beyo