Early Development of Neuronal Circuitry of the Human Prefrontal Cortex

Abstract

In revealing the neurobiological basis of cognitive and psychological development in humans, neuroscientists mostly depend on close correspondence between structural, functional, and behavioral features during specific phases of development (Casey, Giedd, & Thomas, 2000; Casey, Tottenham, Liston, & Durston, 2005; Hammock & Levitt, 2006; Kagan & Baird, 2004; Levitt, 2003). Because the neural circuitry that underlies cognitive development is expected to be simpler in the developing than in the adult brain, the developmental approach should provide an easier analysis of principal elements of the neuronal circuitry: synapses, presynaptic axons, and postsynaptic neurons.