Specialized glial cells within the hippocampus of the brain regulate important morphological events in embryonic development

对过去经历的记忆，以及我们学习新信息的能力，都是在大脑中一个叫做海马体的区域进行处理的。为了做到这一点，组成海马体的细胞必须在胚胎发育期间正确形成。这项建议研究了调节海马体形成的细胞和分子机制。这项工作在全国范围内的好处是提供了关于正确的大脑形成和功能的基础过程的基本知识，并了解当大脑无法正常运作时，哪些过程被破坏。这种干扰会导致智力迟缓和学习困难，在老年人中，无法形成和存储新的记忆，就像痴呆症一样。

Memories of past experiences, and our ability to learn new information, is processed in a region of the brain called the hippocampus. In order for this to occur, the cells that make up the hippocampus must form correctly during embryonic development. This proposal investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating hippocampal formation. The national benefit of this work is to provide basic knowledge about the processes that underlie correct brain formation and function, and to understand what processes are disrupted when the brain fails to function correctly. Such disruptions lead to mental retardation and learning difficulties, and in the aged, an inability to form and store new memories, as occurs in dementia.