| Abstract: |
The neocortex is a complex brain structure that commands higher functions, such as sensory perception, emotion, and cognition. Information processing in the neocortex is facilitated by numerous functional columns, the basic unit of the neocortex, in which a vertical ensemble of neurons is assembled into functional microcircuits by specific synaptic connections. However, the mechanisms underlying precise microcircuit assembly in the developing neocortex are largely unknown. A series of studies showed that cell lineage plays a key role in microcircuit assembly in the neocortex. At the beginning of neocortical development, lineage-specific electrical synapses emerge between progenitor and progeny, and subsequently develop between radially situated sister excitatory neurons in the neocortex. Furthermore, early developmental processes, such as neurogenesis and neuronal migration serve as determinants of lineage-dependent electrical synapse formation between excitatory neurons, and thereby guide precise microcircuit assembly in the neocortex. Therefore, lineage instructs the formation of cortical columns (eg, visual cortex). © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
