Review: New insights into brain development and behavior
A recent review by researchers at Children’s National, published in Trends in Neurosciences, offers a new and in-depth understanding of how the amygdala is formed during fetal developmental.
The medial amygdala (MeA) is a central structure of the brain for regulation of social and emotional behaviors. Amygdala dysfunction is associated with a host of developmental conditions including autism spectrum disorders (ASD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the consequences of early life stress. To date, there has been a lack of comprehensive understanding of how the amygdala forms developmentally.
A recent review by researchers at Children’s National Hospital, published in Trends in Neurosciences, offers a new and in-depth understanding of how this complex structure is formed during fetal developmental and the role it plays in social behavior.
“This extensive review conveys the latest findings on how the amygdala is formed from development across preclinical models and humans,” says Joshua Corbin, PhD, interim director of the Center for Neuroscience Research at Children’s National and lead author of the review. “Past and present work in our lab has contributed critical knowledge of how this important structure forms from development and implications for human conditions.”
Moving the field forward
Malformation of the amygdala is a hallmark feature of disorders of social cognition such as ASD. Additionally, amygdala development is highly susceptible to early life stress and influences altered fear and anxiety responses in individuals who have been faced with early life stress.
“Despite our growing understanding of MeA development and its role in behavior, many critical questions remain. However, with cutting-edge tools like transcriptomic profiling, subcircuit-level circuit mapping, CRISPR mutagenesis and targeted gene delivery, we’re on the brink of uncovering different neurons in the amygdala form and shape social behaviors,” says Dr. Corbin.
Children’s National leads the way
Dr. Corbin’s team is among only a handful of groups in the world focused on understanding amygdala development. Investigators within the Center for Neuroscience Research at Children’s National have a shared goal of understanding the biological underpinnings of neurodevelopmental disorders.
You can read the full review published in Trends in Neurosciences.
