CEREBRAL DYSGENESIS - AN OVERVIEW

A significant portion of patients with neurodevelopmental abnormalitie s (mental retardation, learning disabilities, and so forth) have no de finable cause for these problems. Mounting evidence suggests a substan tial number of these idiopathic conditions have subtle abnormalities o f brain development (cerebral dysgenesis) as the inherent pathophysiol ogic event. In this article the authors summarize normal and abnormal brain development, the diagnostic approach to idiopathic neurodevelopm ental anomalies, and the new molecular genetic insights into the under lying causes of brain malformations.