QBI Neuroscience Seminar: Understanding the developmental origins of cortical malformations

Event Details

Date:

Wednesday, 30 September 2015 - Wednesday, 30 September 2015

Time:

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Room:

QBI Level 7 Auditorium

UQ Location:

Queensland Brain Institute (St Lucia)

URL:

http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/neuroscience-seminars

Event category(s):

Full Description:: Associate Professor Helen Cooper, Laboratory Head: Neural Migration Laboratory
Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland
Title: Understanding the developmental origins of cortical malformations
Abstract:
The goal of our laboratory is to gain insight into the fundamental principals governing the development of the neocortex and to understand how changes in the activity of key genes lead to functional disruption. Radial progenitors (RPs) in the embryonic brain give rise to all neurons in the central nervous system. Successful development of the neocortex relies on the delicate balance between RP self-renewing symmetric and neurogenic asymmetric divisions and the ability of newborn neurons to migrate into the correct cortical layer. Loss of RP function disrupts these essential processes, leading to cortical malformations. Evidence is now emerging that the aetiology of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism is also linked to a failure in these developmental processes. Our recent studies in the embryonic mouse cortex have identified novel and unexpected roles for the axon guidance receptors, Neogenin and Ryk, in ensuring the integrity of corticogenesis.