Work

Making sense of neural development by comparing wiring strategies for seeing and hearing

Year: 2021

Type: review

Abstract: The ability to perceive and interact with the world depends on a diverse array of neural circuits specialized for carrying out specific computations. Each circuit is assembled using a relatively limited number of molecules and common developmental steps, from cell fate specification to activity-dependent synaptic refinement. Given this shared toolkit, how do individual circuits acquire their characteristic properties? We explore this question by comparing development of the circuitry for seeing and hearing, highlighting a few examples where differences in each system's sensory demands necessitate different developmental strategies.

Source: Science

DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz6317

Authors: A. A. Sitko, L. V. Goodrich

Institution: Harvard University

Language: English

Topic: Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms

Subfield: Developmental Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Eye Institute, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: Molecular control of neuronal shape and connectivity in the developing retina, Afferent-efferent interactions in the developing cochlea, Generation of mouse models to define the structural basis of Ntn1-DCC activity, Boston Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Genetic dissection of auditory circuit assembly