Comments on the genetic control of forebrain development

This review focuses on a description of two studies that are currently ongoing in the Rubenstein laboratory. The first is the analysis of the Dlx homeobox genes in controlling differentiation of forebrain GABAergic neurons, the principal type of inhibitory neurons. The second is the analysis of mechanisms that control formation of regions of the cerebral cortex; Fgf signaling appears to have a central role in formation of the frontal cortex. We are currently exploring the possibility that both processes contribute to childhood neuropsychiatric disorders.