Decision by division: making cortical maps

By P. Rakic, Albert E. Ayoub, J. Breunig, M. H. Dominguez. 2009

289 citations recorded by the source corpus.

In the past three decades, mounting evidence has revealed that specification of the basic cortical neuronal classes starts at the time of their final mitotic divisions in the embryonic proliferative zones. This early cell determination continues during the migration of the newborn neurons across the widening cerebral wall, and it is in the cortical plate that they attain their final positions and establish species-specific cytoarchitectonic areas. Here, the development and evolutionary expansion of the neocortex is viewed in the context of the radial unit and protomap hypotheses. A broad spectrum of findings gave insight into the pathogenesis of cortical malformations and the biological bases for the evolution of the modern human neocortex. We examine the history and evidence behind the concept of early specification of neurons and provide the latest compendium of genes and signaling molecules involved in neuronal fate determination and specification.

Subfields: Cell Biology, Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Developmental Neuroscience

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Citations in the corpus

Neural plasticity across the lifespan (2016, background): “It is now accepted that both types of signals are critical to the developing nervous system, and moreover, that both types of signals can influence each other (see Rakic et al.20 and O’Leary et al.21 for review).”
What is normal in normal aging? Effects of Aging, Amyloid and Alzheimer’s Disease on the Cerebral Cortex and the Hippocampus (2014, background): “…measure to interpret, since it is the product of two genetically independent metrics (thickness and area) (Panizzon et al., 2009), and is affected by fundamentally different neurobiological properties during development and evolution (Rakic, 2009; Rakic et al., 2009; White et al., 2010).”
Brain organoids: advances, applications and challenges (2019, background): “…in the field because the cerebral cortex is the most unique and evolutionarily expanded region of the human brain, in comparison to that of other animals, and is often severely affected in many neurological disorders (Bystron et al., 2008; Hansen et al., 2010; Lui et al., 2011; Rakic, 2009).”
A developmental and genetic classification for malformations of cortical development: update 2012 (2012, background): “This process is regulated by interplay between intrinsic genetic mechanisms and extrinsic infor- mation relayed to cortex by thalamocortical input and other, lar- gely unknown, factors (O’Leary et al., 2007; Rakic et al., 2009; Supplementary material).”
The Cellular and Molecular Landscapes of the Developing Human Central Nervous System (2016, unknown): “…cortical areal identity, which mouse studies show is governed by graded expression of transcription factors during early embryonic development , followed by extrinsic signaling from thalamic axonal inputs (Chou et al., 2013; O'Leary et al., 2007; Rakic et al., 2009; Rash and Grove, 2006).”
ind the blind brain to understand the sighted one ! Is there a upramodal cortical functional architecture ? (2014, background): “The cortical arealization process starts with the onset of morhogenenetic gradients in the embryonic cerebral vesicles secreted y patterning centers (Rakic et al., 2009).”
Cortical Thickness or Grey Matter Volume? The Importance of Selecting the Phenotype for Imaging Genetics Studies (2009, unknown): “On the other hand, it has been hypothesised that each functional cortical column of the brain corresponds to several of what has been called “ontogenetic columns” of precursor, proliferative cells from the ventricular zone in the embryo (Rakic, 1988; Rakic et al., 2009).”