Developmental Neuroscience Program

Director Richard B. Simerly, PhD

•  Faculty •  Scholarly Publications •  Featured Story

Laboratories •  Bouret Laboratory •  Makita Laboratory  •  McGee Laboratory •  Simerly Laboratory

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 abilities, personality, and physiology that every child deserves.

Faculty

Scholarly Publications  

Bergemann ER, Boles RG. Maternal inheritance in recurrent early-onset depression. Psychiatr Genet. 2010 Feb;20(1):31-4. PMID: 20010317.

Boles RG, Friedlich P. Should patients be screened for 12S rRNA mutations before treatment with aminoglycosides? Mitochondrion. 2010 Jun;10(4):391-2. Epub 2010 Mar 16. PMID: 20302974.

Boles RG, Lovett-Barr MR, Preston A, Li BU, Adams K. Treatment of cyclic vomiting syndrome with co-enzyme Q10 and amitriptyline, a retrospective study. BMC Neurol. 2010 Jan 28;10:10. PMID: 20109231; PMCID: PMC2825193.

Boles RG, Zaki EA, Lavenbarg T, Hejazi R, Foran P, Freeborn J, Trilokekar S, McCallum R. Are pediatric and adult-onset cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) biologically different conditions? Relationship of adult-onset CVS with the migraine and pediatric CVS-associated common mtDNA polymorphisms 16519T and 3010A. Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2009 Sep;21(9):936-e72. Epub 2009 Apr 8. PMID: 19368653.

Borchert M, Tarczy-Hornoch K, Cotter SA, Liu N, Azen SP, Varma R; MEPEDS Group. Anisometropia in Hispanic and African-American infants and young children in the multi-ethnic pediatric eye disease study. Ophthalmology. 2010 Jan;117(1):148-153.e1. Epub 2009 Oct 8. PMID: 19818509; PMCID: PMC2814917.

Bouret SG. Early life origins of obesity: role of hypothalamic programming. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2009 Mar;48(Suppl 1):S31-8. PMID: 19214056.

Bouret SG. Leptin, nutrition, and the programming of hypothalamic feeding circuits. Nestlé Nutr Workshop Ser Pediatr Program. 2010;65:25-35; discussion 35-9. Epub 2010 Feb 1. PMID: 20139672.

Bouret SG. Neurodevelopmental actions of leptin. Brain Res. 2010 Sep 2;1350:2-9. Epub 2010 Apr 24. 1350:2-9, 2010. PMID: 20399755.

Bouret SG. Role of early hormonal and nutritional experiences in shaping feeding behavior and hypothalamic development. J Nutr. 2010 Mar;140(3):653-7. Epub 2010 Jan 27. PMID: 20107150.

Bouret SG, Bates SH, Chen S, Myers MG, Simerly RB. Distinct effectors of leptin receptor signaling are required for development of hypothalamic feeding circuits. (Cell Metabolism, under revision)

Caron E, Sachot C, Prevot V, Bouret SG. Distribution of leptin-sensitive cells in the postnatal and adult mouse brain. J Comp Neurol. 2010 Feb 15;518(4):459-476. PMID: 20017211.

Chaplin C, Borchert MS, Fink C, Garcia-Filion P, McCulloch DL. Light-adapted electroretinograms in optic nerve hypoplasia. Doc Ophthalmol. 2009 Oct;119(2):123-32. Epub 2009 Aug 11. PMID: 19669817.

Crain MJ, Chernoff MC, Oleske JM, Brogly SB, Malee KM, Borum PR, Meyer WA 3rd, Mitchell WG, Moye JH, Ford-Chatterton HM, Van Dyke RB, Seage Iii GR. Possible mitochondrial dysfunction and its association with antiretroviral therapy use in children perinatally infected with HIV. J Infect Dis. 2010 Jul 15;202(2):291-301. PMID: 20533872; PMCID: PMC2913975.

De Grandis E, Parodi S, Conte M, Angelini P, Battaglia F, Gandolfo C, Pessagno A, Pistoia V, Mitchell WG, Pike M, Haupt R, Veneselli E. Long-term follow-up of neuroblastoma-associated opsoclonus-myoclonus-ataxia syndrome. Neuropediatrics. 2009 Jun;40(3):103-11. Epub 2009 Dec 17. PMID: 20020394.

Garcia-Filion P, Fink C, Geffner ME, Borchert M. Optic nerve hypoplasia in North America: a re-appraisal of perinatal risk factors. Acta Ophthalmol. 2010 Aug;88(5):527-34. Epub 2008 Dec 24. PMID: 19141149.

Khanlou N, Mathern GW, Mitchell WG, Salamon N, Pope WB, Yong WH, Vinters HV. Cortical dysplasia with prominent Rosenthal fiber formation in a case of intractable pediatric epilepsy. Hum Pathol. 2009 Aug;40(8):1200-4. Epub 2009 May 8. PMID: 19427021.

Ma NS, Fink C, Geffner ME, Borchert M. Evolving central hypothyroidism in children with optic nerve hypoplasia. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Jan-Feb;23(1-2):53-8. PMID: 20432806.

McCulloch DL, Garcia-Filion P, Fink C, Chaplin CA, Borchert MS. Clinical electrophysiology and visual outcome in optic nerve hypoplasia. Br J Ophthalmol. 2010 Aug;94(8):1017-23. Epub 2009 Dec 2. PMID: 19955198.

Mullier A, Bouret SG, Prevot V, Dehouck B. Differential distribution of tight junction proteins suggests a role for tanycytes in blood-hypothalamus barrier regulation in the adult mouse brain. J Comp Neurol. 2010 Apr 1; 518(7):943-62. PMID: 20127760; PMCID: PMC2892518.

Multi-Ethnic Pediatric Eye Disease Study (MEPEDS) Group. Prevalence and causes of visual impairment in African-American and Hispanic preschool children: the multi-ethnic pediatric eye disease study. Ophthalmology. 2009 Oct;116(10):1990-2000.e1. Epub 2009 Jul 9. PMID: 19592106; PMCID: PMC2757506.

Myers, MG Jr, Simerly RB. The neuroendocrinology and neuroscience of energy balance. Front Neuroendocrinol. 2010 Jan;31(1):1-3. Epub 2009 Oct 23. PMID: 19854213; PMCID: PMC2813945.

Partikian A, Mitchell WG. Neurodevelopmental and epilepsy outcomes in a North American cohort of patients with infantile spasms. J Child Neurol. 2010 Apr;25(4):423-8. Epub 2009 Sep 11. PMID: 19749181.

Patterson CM, Bouret SG, Dunn-Meynell AA, Levin BE. Three weeks of postweaning exercise in DIO rats produces prolonged increases in central leptin sensitivity and signaling. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2009 Mar;296(3):R537-48. Epub 2009 Jan 21. PMID: 19158409; PMCID: PMC2665854.

Patterson CM, Bouret SG, Park S, Irani BG, Dunn-Meynell AA, Levin BE. Large litter rearing enhances leptin sensitivity and protects selectively bred diet-induced obese rats from becoming obese. Endocrinology. 2010 Sep;151(9):4270-9. Epub 2010 Jul 28. PMID: 20668022; PMCID: PMC2940492.

Rivkees S, Fink C, Nelson M, Borchert M. Prevalence and risk factors for disrupted circadian rhythmicity in children with optic nerve hypoplasia. Br J Ophthalmol. 2010 Oct;94(10):1358-62. Epub 2010 Jun 24. PMID: 20576785.

Rosser T, Muir J, Panigrahy A, Baldwin EE, Boles RG. Transient leukoencephalopathy associated with X-linked Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. J Child Neurol. 2010 Aug;25(8):1013-6. Epub 2010 May 14. PMID: 20472869.

Sirois PA, Montepiedra G, Kapetanovic S, Williams PL, Pearson DA, Malee K, Garvie PA, Kammerer BL, Nichols SL, Nozyce ML, Mintz M, Mitchell WG, Oleske JM; IMPAACT/PACTG 219C Team. Impact of medications prescribed for treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder on physical growth in children and adolescents with HIV. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2009 Oct;30(5):403-12. PMID: 19827220; PMCID: PMC2836888.

Waters EM, Simerly RB. Estrogen induces caspase-dependent cell death during hypothalamic development. J. Neurosci. 2009 Aug;29(31):9714-8. PMID: 19657024.

Zaki EA, Freilinger T, Klopstock T, Baldwin EE, Heisner KR, Adams K, Dichgans M, Wagler S, Boles RG. Two common mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms are highly associated with migraine headache and cyclic vomiting syndrome. Cephalalgia. 2009 Jul;29(7):719-28. Epub 2009 Feb 1. PMID: 19220304.