# ASU-led team maps 5.3 million brain cells of 55 rhesus macaques across the lifespan

- Published: 2026-11-13 13:07 UTC
- Section: Life & Health › Neurotechnology
- Tags: aging brain atlas, rhesus macaque brain, single-nucleus RNA sequencing, BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network, age-related gene expression, Alzheimer's disease overlap, microglia aging, prefrontal cortex aging, sex differences brain aging, Arizona State University
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-9d5bf6a36ab422138ca6b1d0_asu_led_team/

**ASU-led researchers profiled cells in 11 brain regions of rhesus macaques from infancy to old age and compared age-related gene changes with Alzheimer's disease.**

![ASU-led team maps 5.3 million brain cells of 55 rhesus macaques across the lifespan](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/4aabfe438024b2b5.jpg)
*Louisa Howard, Miguel Marin-Padilla, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain*

A team led by Arizona State University has published a high-resolution atlas of the aging primate brain, according to newswise.com. [1] The analysis covers 5.3 million individual brain cells from 55 rhesus macaques, from early life to old age. [1] The paper is part of a Cell Press package of 27 studies from the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network, which brings together dozens of labs in nine countries and 50 institutions. [1] Across the whole package, the teams profiled over 29 million cells from human, macaque and marmoset brains. [1]

The ASU team used single-nucleus RNA sequencing, which measures gene activity in individual cells instead of averaging signals across tissue. [1] They analyzed 11 brain regions, including areas involved in memory, decision-making and motor control. [1] The dataset contains 12 major cell classes and 225 subtypes, from neurons to glial and immune cells. [1]

## Which brain cells change with age

According to the authors, aging does not affect all brain cells equally. [1] Neurons remain relatively stable in number, while astrocytes, microglia and oligodendrocytes show substantial shifts in abundance and molecular state over time. [1] One subtype of excitatory neurons in the cortex declines sharply with age; these neurons are also known to be depleted in Alzheimer's disease. [1]

The changes also differ between regions. [1] Areas involved in higher cognitive function, such as the prefrontal cortex, show particularly strong age-related changes in gene activity, while parts of the cerebellum show distinct patterns of cellular change. [1]

## Overlap with Alzheimer's disease and sex differences

Many genes whose expression changes with age also change in Alzheimer's disease, often in the same direction. [1] In some cases, more than half of the age-related gene changes overlapped with those seen in Alzheimer's. [1] Microglia, the brain's immune cells, showed particularly strong overlap. [1]

Overall cell composition was similar in males and females. [1] Subtle molecular differences appeared within specific cell types and regions, including those implicated in sex-biased neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. [1] The authors note that sex should be considered a biological variable in brain aging research. [1]

The atlas is the first major output of the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network, whose goal is a complete atlas of the cell types in the human brain. [1] Study leader Noah Snyder-Mackler called the dataset foundational for studying the biology of aging. [1]

## Sources

1. [newswise.com](https://www.newswise.com/articles/landmark-atlas-of-the-aging-brain-completed2)

---

Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-9d5bf6a36ab422138ca6b1d0_asu_led_team/