Effect of prenatal glucocorticoid exposure on the cortical development and network

神经发育假说是解释精神障碍关键原因的假说之一。这是一种理论，即胎儿大脑发育异常可能会导致精神障碍的发病风险。在本研究中，我们研究了孕期糖皮质激素暴露对啮齿类动物大脑皮层/神经网络形成的影响。本研究发现，糖皮质激素暴露干扰了中间神经元向GABA能神经元的迁移，导致了皮质的异质性分布。此外，研究还发现，孕期接触糖皮质激素会导致青春期前额叶皮质体积减小，并导致脑白质各向异性异常。

The neurodevelopmental hypothesis is proposed as one of the hypotheses to explain critical cause of the mental disorder. This is the theory that fetal brain development abnormality may make an onset risk of mental disorder. In this study, we examined the effect of prenatal glucocorticoid hormone exposure on the cerebral cortex formation/neural network formation of rodent. This study has revealed so far that the glucocorticoid exposure disturbs the migration of interneuron which is to become GABAergic neuron and causes the heterogeneous distribution in the cortex. Furthermore, it has also revealed that prenatal glucocorticoid exposure reduces the volume of the prefrontal cortex and causes the anisotropy anomaly in the white matter in peri-adolescent period.