On Dec. 13, 2023, the Allen Institute and collaborators announced that after six years and 32 million cells, scientists had created the first full cellular map of a mammalian brain. The study results were released in a set of 10 papers in Nature, a network of researchers unveiled an atlas cataloging the location and type of every cell in the adult mouse brain.

Using advanced technologies that profile individual cells, the teams identified over 5,300 cell types – far more than known before – and pinpointed their locations within the brain’s intricate geography.