Cerebellar nuclei evolved by repeatedly duplicating a conserved cell-type set

Cerebellar evolution Cerebellar nuclei, substructures of the cerebellum, transfer information from the cerebellum to other parts of the brain. Using single-cell transcriptomics, Kebschull et al. have now identified a conserved pattern of cerebellar nuclei structure that has been repeated through evolution (see the Perspective by Hatten). Ranging from mice to chickens to humans, cerebellar nuclei are made up of region-specific excitatory neurons and region-invariant inhibitory neurons. In humans, a facet connecting the cerebellum to the frontal cortex is enhanced. Science , this issue p. eabd5059 ; see also p. 1411