Neuronal differentiation during the development of the Enteric nervous system.

The development of the nervous system is vital to establishing a functioning organism. The enteric nervous system controls the function of the gastrointestinal tract, in particular, its motility. Errors in the development of the enteric nervous system could be the underlying cause of many gastrointestinal disorders, including paediatric motility disorders, where children have functional defects in the control of their gastrointestinal tract. One possible explanation for how these disorders occur is that there are defects in the enteric nervous system circuits. However, how these neurons connect up with each other into circuits during normal development has not been studied in the past. In this project, we will address this issue and examine how enteric neurons form functional electrical circuits, using microscopic imaging to monitor the electrical activity in the cells. This will lead to more studies to understand how abnormal wiring of the circuits can take place and lead to these paediatric motility disorders.