Changes in Frontocortical Function Originating During Brain Development in the Rat.

早期大脑发育是一个高度动态的时期，在这个时期，大脑的化学、电路和结构都是动态的。 在一个精心安排的时间序列中经历着巨大的变化，这只是部分理解。 大脑发育过程中发生的变化不仅受遗传学的指导，而且还依赖于活动。 由于环境和化学引起的变化， 大脑发育的特点很好，但越来越清楚的是，大脑中的许多变化 发展不会立即表现出来，而是在生活后期出现，以应对压力或认知 挑战.了解这种中枢神经系统脆弱性的神经发育“启动”，包括它是如何发生的， 它是如何表达的，对于解释成人行为的变化至关重要，包括学习，记忆和 执行功能本文提出的实验旨在进一步了解长期 新生儿干预导致的脑功能变化。我们将利用化学诱导模型， 探索简单和复杂认知功能的变化，这些变化可能与多巴胺能神经递质的变化有关。 在前额叶皮层区域发挥作用。这些调查将建立在先前公布的 NSERC资助的早期生命化学干预对随后变化的影响的基础研究 行为表达，包括越来越有趣的“脆弱性启动”现象， 中枢神经系统与成人认知和皮质回路的关系。

Early brain development is a highly dynamic period in which brain chemistry, circuitry and structure are undergoing massive change in a carefully orchestrated temporal sequence that is only partly understood. Changes occurring during brain development are guided not only by genetics but are also activity-dependent. Abnormalities in both physical form and function due to environmental and chemically induced changes in brain development are well characterized, but it is becoming increasingly clear that many changes in brain development do not manifest immediately, but rather, emerge later in life in response to stressors or cognitive challenge. Understanding this neuro-developmental "priming" of CNS vulnerability, both how it occurs and how it is expressed, is critical to explaining variability in adult behaviour including learning, memory and executive function. The experiments proposed herein are designed to further our understanding of long-term changes in brain function resulting from neonatal intervention. We will utilize a chemical-induction model to explore changes in simple and complex cognitive function that can be linked to changes in dopaminergic function in the prefrontal cortex regions. These investigations will build on previously published NSERC-funded foundational studies of the effect of early life chemical intervention on subsequent changes in behavioural expression, including the increasingly interesting phenomenon of "vulnerability priming" of the CNS in relation to both adult cognition and cortical circuitry.