The generation of a functional nervous system involves a multitude of steps that are
controlled by just a few families of extracellular signaling molecules. Among these, the …

The prefrontal cortex (PFC), seat of the highest-order cognitive functions, constitutes a
conglomerate of highly specialized brain areas and has been implicated to have a role in …

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a disorder of brain development. Most cases lack a clear
etiology or genetic basis, and the difficulty of re-enacting human brain development has …

Reciprocal deletion and duplication of the 16p11. 2 region is the most common copy number
variation (CNV) associated with autism spectrum disorders. We generated cortical organoids …

While larger brains possess concertedly larger cerebral cortices and cerebella, the relative
size of the cerebral cortex increases with brain size, but relative cerebellar size does not. In …

The cerebral cortex has a central role in cognitive and emotional processing. As such,
understanding the mechanisms that govern its development and function will be central to …

Background Exposure to maternal immune activation (MIA) in utero is a risk factor for
neurodevelopmental disorders later in life. The impact of the gestational timing of MIA …

Researchers have now identified many highly penetrant genetic risk factors for autism
spectrum disorder (ASD). Some of these genes encode synaptic proteins, lending support to …

Some autism spectrum disorders (ASD) likely arise as a result of abnormalities during early
embryonic development of the brain. Studying human embryonic brain development directly …

The Ras family GTPases (Ras, Rap1, and Rap2) and their downstream mitogen-activated
protein kinases (ERK, JNK, and p38MAPK) and PI3K signaling cascades control various …