Neuronal dendritic morphology and intrinsic properties are specialized for their function. Dendritic defects are strongly associated with numerous neurodevelopmental disorders. In this proposal, I endeavor to identify roles of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) in dendritic regulation of auditory neurons. Absence of FMRP
results in fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most frequent inherited monogenetic cause of autism, presenting with a constellation of symptoms that include intelligence deficits and sensory dysfunction. I propose to study FMRP regulation during development of very well characterized binaural circuitry in the brainstem and its role in regulation of dendritic morphology and biochemistry following changes in afferent activity and integrity.
I will conduct detailed analyses in the chicken nucleus magnocellularis (NM) and nucleus laminaris (NL), a well-characterized animal model for studying auditory temporal processing and a tractable system for gene manipulation, and will extend some analyses to human brains.
Overall, these studies will provide insight into FMRP regulation of dendritic arborization and specialized
properties for auditory processing neurons, and insight into mechanisms of vertebrate neuronal development and disease pathology.
