Mitochondria exhibit high degree of heterogeneity within various tissues, including differences in terms of morphology, quantity, or function. Mitochondria can even vary among distinct sub-compartments of the same cell. Emerging evidence suggest that the molecular diversity of mitochondria can influence the identity and functionality of a given cell type. Human pathologies affecting mitochondria typically cause tissue and cell-type-specific impairment. Mitochondrial diversity could thus play a contributing role not only in physiological cell fate specification but also during pathological disease development. In this review, we discuss the role of mitochondrial diversity in brain function during health and disease. Recent advances in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) research and the derivation of cerebral organoids could provide novel opportunities to unveil the role of mitochondrial heterogeneity for the function of the human brain. Mitochondrial diversity might be at the bases of the cell-type-specific vulnerability of mitochondrial disorders and may represent an underappreciated target of disease intervention.

线粒体在各种组织中表现出高度的异质性，包括形态，数量或功能方面的差异。线粒体甚至可以在同一细胞的不同子室之间变化。新兴证据表明，线粒体的分子多样性可以影响给定细胞类型的特性和功能。影响线粒体的人类病理通常会导致组织和细胞类型特异性损伤。因此，线粒体多样性不仅可以在生理细胞命运规范中发挥作用，而且在病理性疾病发展过程中也可以发挥作用。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了线粒体多样性在健康和疾病期间在脑功能中的作用。诱导多能干细胞（iPSC）研究和脑类器官的衍生的最新进展可能提供新的机会来揭示线粒体异质性在人脑功能中的作用。线粒体多样性可能是线粒体疾病特定于细胞类型的脆弱性的基础，可能代表了疾病干预的目标不足。