Von Economo Neurons, Autism, and Intuition.

Recently discovered brain cells called Von Economo cells (VENs), named after the neurobiologist who described them, are unique in that there are only about 200,000 of them in a normal adult human. That’s amazing because just about any other type of brain cell we have number in the billions. Up until just recently, we saw these cells only in the great apes and not in any other animals. They are present but rare numbering only five or six...