The cerebral cortex is the control center of most of our higher-level brain functions, including thought, language, memory and emotion. During cortical development, billions of neurons and glia must be precisely specified and assembled into the intricate circuits that underlie these complex tasks. Disruption of these processes is associated with many devastating human neurological disorders, including epilepsy, schizophrenia, autism and intellectual disability.
Our lab studies several processes involved in the formation and function of neural circuits in the cerebral cortex:
Our lab studies several processes involved in the formation and function of neural circuits in the cerebral cortex:
- Cell-fate specification of neural stem cells into different classes of neurons and glia
- Patterning of the CNS by signaling pathways that control gene regulatory networks in neural stem cells
- The cellular and molecular mechanisms that control migration of newborn neurons and their integration into the cortical circuitry
- The role of a family of transmembrane proteins in dendrite arborization and synapse formation
