Abstract
One of the most striking features of the nervous system is the topography of most of its interconnections. During development, neurons navigate over relatively long distances to connect in a predictable orientation and order. Understanding the genesis of these topographic connections is central not only to research on neural development, but also to efforts to regenerate a working set of connections following injury. Unfortunately, the events that are critical to the ordering of neuronal projections are difficult to observe directly; therefore, most attempts to study these processes in the vertebrate central nervous system rely upon a neuroanatomical examination of populations of axons in fixed tissue. Based upon such data, some of the principles important for neuronal patterning have been elucidated. Furthermore, the data has been used to infer the single cell behaviors that might be responsible for the formation of patterned nerve connections. The challenge now facing the field is to test experimentally the predictions made for the cellular dynamics and positional cues proposed to underlie the formation of neuronal maps.
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Fraser, S.E., O’Rourke, N.A. (1990). The Role of Neuronal Dynamics and Positional Cues in the Patterning of Nerve Connections. In: Björklund, A., Aguayo, A.J., Ottoson, D. (eds) Brain Repair. Wenner-Gren Center International Symposium Series. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-11358-3_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-11358-3_18
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
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