Neuronal Developement

1. What is neural induction? Which mechanisms mediate neural induction?

2. Please explain the mechanics of neurulation!

3. Does the neural anlage formed during neural induction have anterior or posterior CNS characteristics?

4. What are the fundamentally different forms of neurulation?

5. Please explain the concept of planar and vertical signals in neural patterning!

6. Which roles does the so-called “Spemann Organizer” have in CNS development?

7. Which mechanisms control dorso-ventral patterning in the spinal cord?

8. Please describe an experiment that identified a ventral signaling center in the spinal cord.

9. Which mechanisms "posteriorize" the neural plate?

10. How can you visualize WNT signals in vivo?

11. Which organizing centers have been identified in the early CNS?

12. What happens when one transplants cell from the “isthmus” (mid-hindbrain boundary) into the diencephalon?

13. At what levels does the Midbrain-Hindbrain-Boundary Organizer control neural development?

14. Are there segmented regions in the brain? How is segmentation defined?

15. How can you determine experimentally that a region in the brain is segmented?

16. Please explain the molecular mechanisms of retinoic acid signaling?

17. How is the retinoic acid gradient established during neural pattern formation?

18. How does retinoic acid act on patterning the hindbrain?

19. What is “neurogenesis”?

20. Please explain a molecular mechanism that selects those cells within a precursor domain in the CNS that will be able to develop into neurons.

21. Why do not all cells in a precursor domain become neurons at a given time point in development – and what will those cells be that do not undergo neurogenesis ?

22. How does the brain “grow”?

23. Are there new neurons formed in the mammalian brain – and if so, where?

24. Please explain the constitution of a neural stem cell niche!

25. Please explain how the identify of specific neurons is defined in the early nervous system and thus their specific differentiation?

26. Can you organize the steps in neural development starting from formation of their first neural tissue to simple neuronal circuits?

27. Which fundamental mechanisms can guide axons to their targets?

28. Please explain the proper formation of retino-tectal projections and the “retinotopic map”!