Samantha Edwards

• BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences
• Investigating the expression profile of EphA5, EphA6 and EphA7 in the developing marmoset visual cortex.

The neocortex is the outermost region of the brain and is responsible for processing the sensory information. The neocortex is organised into functionally unique and cytoarchitecturally distinct areas. To understand how the borders between cortical areas arise during development, we investigated the role of the Eph/ephrin family of guidance cue molecules in selectively guiding cortical neurons to specific regions, in a primate model. RNA in situ hybridisation revealed the homogenous expression of the receptors EphA5, -A6 and –A7 across the visual cortex. After birth, EphA5 adopted a distinct profile across the cortex, suggesting an are-specific migration.

Funded by: Newcastle University, undertaken at Monash University, Australia