The Neuroscience Program

Neuroscience Research Video Video Length: 07:23

Bouret Laboratory Makita Laboratory McGee Laboratory Simerly Laboratory

Director:  Richard B. Simerly, PhD

How the brain functions depends on the organization of complex arrays of neuronal circuits that are established during development. We now know that a variety of neurological and psychiatric diseases have their origins in development, but we need to learn more about how the brain develops in order to identify effective therapies. The Neuroscience Program of The Saban Research Institute is focused on understanding basic developmental neurobiological events by using a combined molecular genetic and cellular imaging approach. Combined with in vivo imaging studies, this approach promises to provide novel mechanistic insights into the developmental origins of such devastating disorders as autism, fragile X syndrome, and juvenile obesity.

By focusing on key developmental critical periods and incorporating insight gained from clinical observation, the scientists of the Neuroscience Program work to understand the relationship between abnormal brain development and disease. The long-term goal of the Program is to exploit the inherent plasticity of the neonatal central nervous system to rescue normal function of affected brain circuitry and restore the full range of learning and experience that is the essential component of childhood.

Program Members

 
Affiliate Members