Mammalian Development & Cell Biology (MACE Lab)

IONS

Research 

The mammalian cerebral cortex plays key roles in learning and memory, the control of sensory and motor functions or of our emotions. The proper execution of these tasks depends on a long process of embryonic and postnatal development which relies on the production by neural stem cells of the appropriate number of neurons with proper identities that migrate to their specific location and make connections with each other. Defective signaling pathways during development are the causes of human brain disorders such as lissencephalies and heterotopias, mental retardation, dyslexia, schizophrenia, autism, epilepsy and many others. The goal of our laboratory is to better define the mechanisms of neural cell proliferation, migration, differentiation and synaptogenesis.

A better understanding of how the brain develops in normal conditions and in disease will provide new concepts for therapeutic approaches to improve diagnosis and to treat and prevent neurodevelopmental disorders.