10/07/24
Professor Beatriz Rico has been granted a prestigious Discovery Award worth approximately £4m to investigate the development of inhibitory circuits in the human cerebral cortex. The grant will enable Professor Rico and her lab to unravel the molecular and cellular rules that orchestrate the emergence of synapses in the developing human brain, a fundamental question in neuroscience.
Beatriz Rico, Professor of Developmental Neurobiology in the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology and the MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders said of the award:
“Cognitive function in humans is sustained by a precise repertoire of brain connections that reach its highest complexity in the cerebral cortex. While we have made progress in understanding the correlation between genes and circuit development and function in other species, we still know nothing about how human synapses develop despite being hot spots for neurodevelopmental disorders. We cannot treat successfully what we do not know. I am delighted and grateful to Wellcome for granting us a Discovery Award, which will enable us to uncover insights into the emergence of human circuits over the next eight years.
The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation that supports the best science to address the most urgent health issues across the world. Discovery Awards are designed to support established researchers and teams at the forefront of their fields to pursue bold ideas to deliver significant shifts in our understanding of health and wellbeing.
Professor Rico’s Discovery Award will address a fundamental challenge in biomedicine and uncover the mechanisms controlling the emergence of cortical circuitries, including interneuron connectivity, in humans. All our thoughts and behaviours rely upon the precise assembly and fine-tuning of synapses in the brain, which are exceptionally complex in our cerebral cortex. The remarkable diversity of interneurons in the cerebral cortex allows these cells to influence pyramidal cells in several ways, increasing their computational powers. Whilst we are beginning to understand the development of cortical circuits in animal models, we do not how this complexity emerges in humans, a pressing question for understanding neurodevelopmental conditions.
The programme of work will investigate the hypothesis that human inhibitory circuitries use universal and specific molecular codes in their formation, distinct from other species. Prof Rico and her lab will use cutting-edge technology, including single-cell RNA sequencing, xenotransplantation, and human tissue to explore how interneurons assemble their synapses. There is increasing evidence to suggest that impaired neuronal circuit development in the cerebral cortex may underlie the emergence of several neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism and schizophrenia. Professor Rico’s work will deliver a new understanding of neural circuit development and the mechanisms governing interneuron connectivity.
