Molecular Neurobiology - The Foa & Gasperini Group

Understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate brain development and brain dysfunction.

Development of the nervous system is a complex, highly co-ordinated process. Neurons in the brain and spinal cord are connected and “wired” together to form circuitry that regulates all body function. Surprisingly, while the mature human brain contains trillions of neural connections, a relatively small number of genes control the way in which these connections are formed and modified. Human gene mutations that change protein function can lead to altered synaptic and cognitive function later in life. Many significant neurological conditions are now seen as alterations in “brain connectivity” and our research focus is to identify the fundamental mechanisms that regulate connectivity with the aim of identifying new drug targets.