Summary of the Winter Meeting of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland
January 25, 2010
The symposium on Development of the Human Neocortex was held in St Anne’s College, Oxford from 5th to 7th of January 2010. Leading researchers from all over the world presented their data on human cortical development. Topics ranging from evolutionary perspectives of cortical development to neurodevelopment diseases were presented.
The data presented covered all aspects of cortical development including gradients of early gene expression necessary in setting up the early cortical map, neurogenesis, cortical lamination, migratory patterns, and pathways of the developing neurons. Identification and characterization of specific subtypes of neurons were also presented including their morphology, localisation, and distribution (e.g., Cajal-retzius neurons, interstitial neurons etc). The latest developments (in terms of characterization of cell types) in the field of signaling centers (e.g., cortical hem and anterior neural ridge etc) were also discussed. Data from neuro-imaging techniques like functional MRI, diffusion tensor imaging and 3D models (OPT) were presented showing their use in interpretation of complex gene expression pattern and anatomy of the developing human embryo.
The meeting also included education related presentations on Neuro-Imaging and Education. The topics discussed ranged from development of brainTower neuroanatomical models system to approaches to learning anatomy across different healthcare professions. The highlight of the meeting was a lecture from Prof Pasko Rakic from the University of Yale who discussed the importance of working directly on human tissue by presenting the unique features of human cortical development without undermining the role of other animal models in understanding human cortical development.