A six-layered cerebral cortex is a uniquely mammalian structure and is the center of cognitive function. The processes and genetic controls that govern its development are subjects of intensive study and have captured the attention of many developmental biologists. One major goal in this field is the identification of the factors and pathways that control the generation of precise numbers of the principal cell types within the cerebral cortex:neurons, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. A second major goal is to understand how these building blocks are targeted to the different structures within the cortex, and how they are interconnected to establish functional networks.
The understanding of the ontogeny of the cerebral cortex requires us to understand not only how this structure is built in a step-by-step fashion, but also how this innate program is designed to interact with environmental influences to promote plasticity. Although this is an immense challenge, we need to...
