This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

A team from the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), has developed the first multiomic atlas of the mouse embryonic thalamus, providing a detailed reconstruction of how the different neuronal cell types in this brain region emerge during development.

Published in Nature Neuroscience, the study reveals that sensory neurons and those involved in motor and associative functions follow distinct developmental trajectories from very early stages. The researchers also identify the gene Sp9 as an essential regulator of the proper establishment of visual neuron identity.

The thalamus is a key brain structure that not only relays information to the cerebral cortex but also integrates sensory signals and contributes to the organization of sensory maps. Over the past few years, the Development, Plasticity and Reprogramming of Sensory Circuits laboratory, led by researcher Guillermina López-Bendito at the IN CSIC-UMH, has helped shed light on this active role of the thalamus.

This brain region is made up of distinct nuclei, each containing groups of neurons specialized in sensory, motor and associative functions. However, questions remain about how these nuclei form during embryonic development and what determines the identity of their neurons. In this study, collaboration with José López-Atalaya, head of the Cellular Plasticity and Neuropathology laboratory at the IN CSIC-UMH, has made it possible to reconstruct the developmental trajectories of these cells and identify the genetic programs involved in their differentiation.

Source link