Constructing the cerebral cortex: Neurogenesis and fate determination

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Sitting at the apex of neural processing in the mammalian brain is the cerebral cortex, the convoluted sheet of neurons covering the two cerebral hemispheres. Neurons within the neocortex underlie our most sophisticated cognitive and perceptual abilities and are thus highly specialized for the analysis of sensory inputs or the generation of motor outputs. The position, connectivity, and morphology of each neuron reflect its particular function. Although neurons in the adult brain are organized in highly ordered and differentiated arrays, these cells arise from dividing progenitor cells of a simple neuroepithelium in which cells appear morphologically indistinguishable. This review addresses the question of how diverse neuronal phenotypes are generated from apparently homogeneous progenitors in appropriate numbers, times, and positions during the development of the cerebral cortex, focusing on key steps in neurogenesis including the molecular control of cell number, the decision to generate a neuron, and cell type specification.