Stephen Wilson (University College London)

Breaking symmetry in the brain: from genes to circuits and behaviour

Host: Stefan Schulte-Merker

It is likely that the nervous systems of all bilaterally symmetric animals are left-right asymmetric with respect to processing of information and control of behaviour. However, we know very little about how asymmetries arise in development, how they are encoded in circuits and what their importance is for nervous system function. We use developmental, genetic, imaging and behavioural approaches to study habenular asymmetry in zebrafish to address these issues. One focus is to determine the mechanisms that lead to neurons on the left and the right acquiring different character and establishing lateralised circuit connectivity. In this presentation, I will discuss what we have learned about the role of the transmembrane Cachd1 protein in the acquisition of right-sided neuronal features and how we are using asymmetry mutants to explore how lateralisation impacts behaviour.

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