Although Nde1–/– mice also exhibit decreased cortical size (Feng and Walsh, 2004; Pawlisz et al., 2008), the microcephaly observed in patients is much more severe, which suggests NDE1 may play a more crucial role in the cortical development of humans than it does in mice (Mosca et al., 2017). Here, NDE1 is linked to microcephaly.