The mode of neural stem cell division in the forebrain proliferative zones profoundly influences neocortical growth by regulating the number and diversity of neurons and glia. Long-term time-lapse multiphoton microscopy of embryonic mouse cortex reveals new details of the complex three-dimensional rotation and oscillation of the mitotic spindle before stem cell division. Importantly, the duration and amplitude of spindle movement predicts and specifies the eventual mode of mitotic division. These technological advances have provided dramatic data and insights into the kinetics of neural stem cell division by elucidating the involvement of spindle rotation in selection of the cleavage plane and the mode of neural stem cell division that together determine the size of the mammalian neocortex.