Graphical simulation of early development of the cerebral cortex

Much experimental data exists concerning the development of the cerebral co rtex. There is a need for a common vehicle to integrate this data and to al low the testing of hypotheses concerning development. Computer simulation a nd visualization are powerful mechanisms for hypothesis testing, Our long-t erm goal is to create a robust, extensible, portable tool for simulation an d visualization of cortical development to serve both research and educatio nal purposes. This paper describes a simulation program, SimCortex, which m odels the early stages of development of the cerebral cortex of the mouse. Version 1.0 of SimCortex models the proliferation of progenitor cells in th e pseudostratified ventricular epithelium (PVE), the generation of young ne urons and their migration into the cortical plate, which is the forerunner of cell layers II through VI of the adult cortex. We present an overview of the design and implementation of SimCortex, sample output of the system an d a comparison of our results with experimental data. We conclude with a br ief overview of proposed future enhancements of the system. (C) 1999 Elsevi er Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.