Human cognitive abilities are generally thought to arise from cortical expansion over the course of human brain evolution. In addition to increased neuron numbers, this cortical expansion might be driven by adaptations in the properties of single neurons and their local circuits. We review recent findings on the distinct structural, functional, and transcriptomic features of human cortical neurons and their organization in cortical microstructure. We focus on the supragranular cortical layers, which showed the most prominent expansion during human brain evolution, and the properties of their principal cells: pyramidal neurons. We argue that the evolutionary adaptations in neuronal features that accompany the expansion of the human cortex partially underlie interindividual variability in human cognitive abilities.

人类的认知能力通常被认为源于人类大脑进化过程中的皮层扩张。除了增加神经元数量外，这种皮层扩张可能是由单个神经元及其局部回路的特性适应所驱动的。我们回顾了最近关于人类皮层神经元的独特结构、功能和转录组学特征及其在皮层微观结构中的组织的发现。我们专注于在人类大脑进化过程中表现出最显着扩张的超颗粒皮质层，以及它们的主要细胞的特性：锥体神经元。我们认为，伴随人类皮层扩张的神经元特征的进化适应部分地构成了人类认知能力的个体差异性。