The Development of Spontaneous Synchronized Activity in Mouse Cerebral Cortex

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

The mammalian brain is arguably the most complex organ of any living being, and how its more than 100 billion neurons and several trillion connections among them develop remains largely a mystery. The PIs and other researchers have shown that one of the essential features of brain development is the occurrence of spontaneous waves of electrical activity that propagate across large structures in the brain and which serve to allow developing neurons to communicate with each other. The PI's laboratory uses optical and electrophysiological methods applied to the mouse brain to study how these spontaneous waves are initiated in the brain at the appropriate stages of development. The proposed experiments aim to show that specific populations of pacemaker neurons initiate these waves, and that these pacemaker populations change during early development. This change in pacemaker identity is thought to allow waves of activity to occur over longer periods of development than would be possible with a single pacemaker type. The expected results of these studies are to understand: (1) which neurons serve as pacemakers for spontaneous activity at each stage of development; (2) How the transition between pacemakers occurs; and (3) whether this transition involves a form of learning by the embryonic brain. Disruptions of spontaneous waves of activity in the human brain is likely to be the cause of many clinical abnormalities of brain development, and understanding how activity is initiated should allow us to gain insights into the basic mechanism involved in such ailments. This project will provide outstanding training opportunities for graduate students studying developmental neuroscience.