Developmental neurobiology, a pivotal subfield of neurobiology, investigates the formation of the nervous system. This course covers neural tube formation and patterning; neuronal proliferation and migration; neural crest cell development and axonal specification; neurite outgrowth and axonal pathfinding; as well as synapse formation, reorganization, and the morphogenesis of the central nervous system.

Syllabus

Chapter 1 An introduction to the field of development neurobiology

1-1 An introduction of development biology
1-2 Cellular structures of the nervous system
1-3 Origins of the nervous system

Chapter 2 Neural Tube Formation and Patterning

2-1 Transforming the Neural Plate into a Tube
2-2 Regulation of hinge points
2-3-1 Early Segmentation in the neural tube
2-3-2 Specification of forebrain regions
2-3-3 Regionalization of the mesencephalon and metencephalon regions
2-4 Patterning along the dorsal- ventral axis

Chapter 3 Proliferation and migration of neurons

3-1 Proliferation and cytodifferentiation within the neural tube
3-2 Regulation of the plane of cell division in the neuroepithelial cells
3-3 Fundamental cross-sectional organization of the developing neural tube
3-4-1 Cellular migration in the central nervous system
3-4-2 Radial glia cells as scaffold for the layering of the neocortex
3-4-3 Cajal-retzius cells-moving targets in the neocortex
3-4-4 Cellular migration in the cortex of cerebellum

Chapter 4 Neural crest cell

4-1 Formation and specification of the neural crest
4-2 Migration of the neural crest cells
4-3-1 Regionalization of the neural crest cells-Cranial neural crest
4-3-2 Regionalization of the neural crest cells-Trunk neural crest
4-3-3 Regionalization of the neural crest cells-Circumpharyngeal and sacral neural crest