How Cortical Interneurons Develop: Current and Future Research

This resource available to SfN members and FENS members. Please log in or link your FENs membership for access.

Inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid-containing (GABAergic) interneurons may comprise only around 20% of all cortical neurons, but they play important roles in cortical function. Not only do they control and orchestrate the activity of excitatory glutamatergic pyramidal cells of the neocortex, contributing to regulation of the overall activity levels of the brain, but they also mediate the precise processing of information in the different cortical networks.

Their importance is further manifested by increasing evidence that implicates them in brain disorders such as schizophrenia and epilepsy, as well as autism spectrum disorders.

Cortical GABAergic interneurons are highly heterogeneous, forming distinct functional classes with unique molecular, morphological, and electrophysiological characteristics. Recent transcriptomic analysis reveals that 20 molecularly distinct interneuron types exist in the mammalian neocortex. This remarkable heterogeneity is the outcome of a long developmental journey.

About the Contributors

Myrto Denaxa, PhD

Myrto Denaxa is a PI at the Alexander Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Center, Greece. Denaxa obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Patras, Greece, and her master’s and PhD from the University of Crete Medical School, Greece.

Domna Karagogeos, PhD

Domna Karagogeos is a professor of molecular biology and developmental neurobiology at the University of Crete Medical School and collaborating researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Greece. Karagogeos received her bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Simmons College, her master’s and PhD in cell and developmental biology from Harvard University.