Transcription factor, which in cooperation with EMX2, acts to generate the boundary between the roof and archipallium in the developing brain. May function in combinations with OTX1/2 to specify cell fates in the developing central nervous system. Interacts with WRD11 (via the N-terminal and the central portion of the protein); the interaction associates EMX1 with GLI3. Might be shuttling between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. Cerebral cortex. Belongs to the EMX homeobox family.