PATTERNING OF THE EMBRYONIC FOREBRAIN

The vertebrate forebrain is derived from the anterior neural plate, wh ere anteroposterior, dorsoventral and local patterning mechanisms spec ify regional identify. The recent identification of genetic regulators of these processes has opened the way to elucidating how the major fo rebrain regions (i.e. cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus, and hy pothalamus) are formed, and how molecular lesions in these processes c ause human birth defects.