TRAIN Talk

Atypical genomic patterning of the cerebral cortex in autism with poor early language outcome
7 April 2021
7 April 2021

When: 2pm – 3 pm
Where: on-line through the Zoom platform.

Seminar organized by the interdepartmental strategic project TRAIN 

Speaker:

  • Michael Vincent Lombardo, head of the Laboratory for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders (LAND) - Italian Institute of Technology, Rovereto

Atypical genomic patterning of the cerebral cortex in autism with poor early language outcome
Cortical regional identities develop through anterior-posterior (A-P) and dorsal-ventral (D-V) prenatal genomic patterning gradients. Here we find that A-P and D-V genomic patterning of cortical surface area (SA) and thickness (CT) is intact in typically developing and autistic toddlers with good language outcome, but is absent in autistic toddlers with poor early language outcome. Genes driving this effect are prominent in midgestational A-P and D-V gene expression gradients and prenatal cell types driving SA and CT variation (e.g., progenitor cells versus excitatory neurons). These genes are also important for vocal learning, human-specific evolution, and prenatal co-expression networks enriched for high-penetrance autism risk genes. Autism with poor early language outcome may be linked to atypical genomic cortical patterning starting in prenatal periods and which impacts later development of regional functional specialization and circuit formation.

To get the access code please contact Ilaria Basadonne (i.basadonne [at] unitn.it)