'Brain on a chip' reveals how the brain folds

(Weizmann Institute of Science) Our brains are already wrinkled like walnuts by the time we are born. Babies born without these wrinkles - smooth brain syndrome - suffer from severe developmental deficiencies and their life expectancy is markedly reduced. The gene that causes this syndrome recently helped Weizmann Institute of Science researchers to probe the physical forces that cause the brain's wrinkles to form.