# Origin and timing of development of late-maturing neurons in the amygdala

> **NIH NIH R21** · CHILDREN'S RESEARCH INSTITUTE · 2020 · $271,894

## Abstract

Project Summary
The amygdala is a major processing center for emotional and social behaviors, aspects of which
are altered in developmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In humans,
the paralaminar nucleus of the amygdala (PL), located adjacent to basolateral amygdala
amygdala (BLA), contains a large population of immature neurons that persist into post-natal
stages, well past the maturational time course of the overwhelming majority of neurons in the
brain. Our recent studies have revealed that human PL neurons mature prominently during
childhood and adolescence (Sorrells et al., Nature Communications, 2019). This raises the
intriguing possibility that these neurons are essential for social/emotional changes that occur
during critical periods of postnatal development. Our preliminary data reveal that this
population is also present in mice. This opens up an exciting opportunity to use the mouse to
model this interesting neuronal population. The goals of this exploratory R21 application are to:
1) characterize the post-natal morphological, molecular and electrophysiological
maturational profiles of mouse PL neurons during the pre-pubertal critical period
temporally coinciding with emergence of emotional processing in humans and 2)
determine the developmental timing and origin of mouse PL neurons. As embryonic origin
and identity are intimately tied to adult neuronal function, these studies are also a important first
step to ultimately dissecting neural connectivity, function and role that these specialized cells
play in neuro-typical and -atypical social-emotional development.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10116629
- **Project number:** 1R21MH125367-01
- **Recipient organization:** CHILDREN'S RESEARCH INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** JOSHUA G CORBIN
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $271,894
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-15 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10116629

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10116629, Origin and timing of development of late-maturing neurons in the amygdala (1R21MH125367-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10116629. Licensed CC0.

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