The genetics of brain development, and the impact of mutations that can occur during development, will be the topic of a lecture by Christopher Walsh, Bullard Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 4:10 p.m. His lecture is titled “Human Mental Retardation: Genes that Control the Shape and Size of the Human Brain.”
Walsh investigates cellular and genetic mechanisms of development of the cerebral cortex. Abnormal development of the cerebral cortex in humans results in epilepsy, autism, mental retardation, dyslexia and other learning disorders and perhaps some psychiatric conditions.
Walsh’s lecture will take place at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center/MRL Building Room 241. The lecture is free and open to the public.
The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center is a national center for research on development and developmental disabilities and a national Center for Excellence on Developmental Disabilities Research, Education, and Service. For more information, contact Stephanie Newton (615) 322-8240 or visit http://kc.vanderbilt.edu.
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Media contact: Melanie Moran, (615) 322-NEWS
melanie.moran@vanderbilt.edu