Cortical organoids develop spontaneous sleep-like oscillations after 6 months in culture

Summary

UCLA neuroscientists cultured human iPSC-derived cortical organoids for 6 months and recorded spontaneous slow oscillations indistinguishable from NREM sleep slow waves in premature neonates using multi-electrode arrays. Single-cell sequencing confirmed the presence of mature excitatory and inhibitory neuron subtypes, astrocytes, and early oligodendrocyte precursors at the 6-month timepoint.