Development of prefrontal cross-hemispheric communication as pre-requisite for the emergence of decision making and social cognition

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Ileana L. Hanganu-Opatz
• Subject Area: Developmental Neurobiology ; Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 563625846

Cognitive flexibility encompasses multiple behavioral features that enable optimal survival in a permanently changing environment. Most of these features largely relies on the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and its local and long-range synchrony-based communication that enables transient strengthening of neuronal interactions. For this, not only intrahemispheric circuits are involved. The interhemispheric coupling of the PFC in gamma frequency band has also a high relevance for the switch from maintenance to update of behavioral strategies in decision making tasks. While the features of cognitive flexibility, including affective and social capacities, emerge during late development, the mechanisms responsible for the protracted maturation are still largely unknown. In the present proposal, we aim to uncover the contribution of early cell-specific interhemispheric projections to the age-dependent dynamics of activity patterns in the PFC and the maturation of decision making abilities and social cognition. We will build on recently established methodology for monitoring and manipulating neural circuits along development that has been spearheaded by the lab. We hypothesize that the switch from somatostatin (SST) to parvalbumin (PV) interneuron recruitment contributes to the age-dependent increase in cross-hemispheric gamma synchrony and contributes to the age-dependent trajectories of decision making and social recognition abilities.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants