2013 Participants

James Coates

  • BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences
  • Development of the primate neocortex

Many of the functions of the brain, including the senses, movement and thought, are organised in the outer structure called the neocortex. While it is known that gradients of molecules regulating gene expression contribute to the initial establishment of the neocortex, the mechanisms responsible for specifying functional areas (so-called arealisation) remain unknown. The project will look at the spatial and temporal patterns of gene expression in the visual cortex of a nonhuman primate, which has >20 areas devoted to processing visual information.

Funding Source: Newcastle University, undertaken at Monash University, Australia