Investigating the role of embryonic neural progenitor diversity in the formation and function of striatal neural circuits

胚胎大脑中的特化细胞，被称为神经祖细胞，产生了大脑中所有成熟的神经元，包括纹状体，这是一个在控制许多运动和认知行为中起关键作用的大脑区域。这些胚胎神经祖细胞有很多形状和大小，在很多方面都不同，包括它们的位置、它们分裂产生子神经元的速度和它们的形态。目前尚不清楚为什么存在这么多不同类型的祖细胞，以及它们与成年期大脑中的神经元和神经回路之间的关系。本博士研究计划旨在确定来自这些不同祖细胞的成熟神经元中表达的基因，并追踪它们与大脑中其他神经元的突触连接。它还旨在描述纹状体中这些神经元与大脑另一个区域（称为丘脑）神经元之间连接的电特性，丘脑是已知的传递感觉信息的区域。最后，本博士研究计划旨在选择性地沉默来自不同胚胎神经祖细胞的成熟神经元，并确定它们在运动和认知行为中的作用。总之，这些实验的结果将揭示纹状体中成熟神经元的胚胎起源如何塑造它们的身份、连通性和功能。

Specialised cells in the embryonic brain, termed neural progenitors, give rise to all mature neurons in the brain, including the striatum,a brain region which plays a critical role in the control of many motor and cognitive behaviours. These embryonic neural progenitor cells come in many shapes and sizes and can differ in many aspects including their location, how fast they divide to produce daughter neurons and their morphologies. It remains unclear why so many different types of progenitors exist and how they relate to the neurons and neural circuits in the brain in adulthood. This DPhil Research Proposal aims to determine the genes which are expressed in the mature neurons derived from these different progenitors and to trace their synaptic connections to other neurons in the brain. It also aims to characterise the electrical properties of the connections between these neurons in the striatum and neurons in another brain region, named the thalamus, which is known to relay sensory information. Finally, this DPhil Research Proposal aims to selectively silence mature neurons derived from different embryonic neural progenitors and establish their role in motor and cognitive behaviours. Together, the results from these experiments will uncover how the embryonic origin of mature neurons in the striatum shapes their identity, connectivity and function.