Cortical Development and Neurotransmission
A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Research".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 9
Special Issue Editors
Interests: developmental disorders of the nervous system; early life stress; cortical development; STEM education
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In 1997, Joanne Berger Sweeney and I published a widely cited review on the effects of modulatory neurotransmitters on cerebral cortical development. In this review, we focused on animal models that had helped to inform the understanding of developmental disorders in the human brain. The models we investigated centered on experimental manipulations of the neurotransmitters acetylcholine, dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin and their impact on cortical morphogenesis and behavior. Back then, most studies relied on anatomical and neurochemical/neuropharmacological approaches. Now, nearly a quarter century later, we would like to re-examine how knowledge has evolved concerning the role of modulatory neurotransmitters on cortical development and function. Since our literature review for the 1997 paper, a plethora of new experimental techniques as well as new model systems have come online to explore synaptic interactions and molecular signaling chains connected to neurotransmitter actions. Imaging tools have broadened the ability to directly peer into the human brain and correlate structural and functional alterations with gene expression data. This volume aims at re-examining the current understanding of the role that modulatory neurotransmitters play in the functional morphogenesis of cerebral cortex through the lens of experimental models and studies of human brain and behavior.
Prof. Dr. Christine Hohmann
Prof. Dr. Joanne Berger-Sweeney
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- cerebral cortex
- neurotransmission
- neuromodulatory neurotransmitters
- developmental brain disorders
- molecular mechanism
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