Laboratory of Systems Neural Development

New manuscript in submission defining the role of GABA transmission in the neonate.  The answer to the long running question of whether GABA is excitatory early in development may be....it depends.

bioRXiv:  "Regional heterogeneity of developing GABAergic interneuron excitation in vivo"

"By measuring the activity through the depth of the cerebral cortex and underlying thalamus, an area which is highly connected to the cortex and often injured around the time of birth, the research team will provide insight into the circuit changes that may underlie human fetal cortical development and inform future studies of brain injury in infants.

“We know from looking at EEGs of infants born pre-term that brain activity takes a big step forward before the time of birth,” Colonnese explained. “This leap in the continuity of brain activity, is probably crucial for consciousness and...

While we understand much about the specialized circuits that produce activity in the fetal retina, and the consequences of disruption of that activity for eye and brain outcomes, we know little of the actual brain activity that supports the earliest stages of visual development in the intact animal. Our recent experiments show that early retinal activity is not passively transmitted to the visual cortex. Rather, it is actively amplified and transformed by mechanisms unique to the developing brain. This proposal will use a rodent model of fetal brain development to follow the propagati...

Review of thalamocortical stages in sensory development

New results on the degree to which retinal waves correlate activity in LGN and V1.

The study published today in the journal eLIFE describes a unique specialization of the fetal brain for ensuring reliable transmission of early activity.