A new study from the Imai Group has been published in Science Advances. While the prevailing view has long held that synaptic pruning occurs in the adolescent cerebral cortex, this study reveals that synapse formation at specific sites on dendrites plays an essential role in the development of brain function during adolescence.
Because mutations in schizophrenia-associated factors impair spine formation during adolescence, deficient spine formation during this developmental period may be linked to (a subset of) schizophrenia. The study also suggests that dendritic integration in layer V pyramidal neurons may be disrupted in schizophrenia models.
These findings are expected to advance our understanding of brain development and the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders.
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Press Release: https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/en/researches/view/368
Science Advances : https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adw8458
