Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Early brain development is a highly dynamic period in which brain chemistry, circuitry and structure areundergoing massive change in a carefully orchestrated temporal sequence that is only partly understood.Changes occurring during brain development are guided not only by genetics but are also activity-dependent.Abnormalities in both physical form and function due to environmental and chemically induced changes inbrain development are well characterized, but it is becoming increasingly clear that many changes in braindevelopment do not manifest immediately, but rather, emerge later in life in response to stressors or cognitivechallenge. Understanding this neuro-developmental ""priming"" of CNS vulnerability, both how it occurs andhow it is expressed, is critical to explaining variability in adult behaviour including learning, memory andexecutive function. The experiments proposed herein are designed to further our understanding of long-termchanges in brain function resulting from neonatal intervention. We will utilize a chemical-induction model toexplore changes in simple and complex cognitive function that can be linked to changes in dopaminergicfunction in the prefrontal cortex regions. These investigations will build on previously publishedNSERC-funded foundational studies of the effect of early life chemical intervention on subsequent changes inbehavioural expression, including the increasingly interesting phenomenon of ""vulnerability priming"" of theCNS in relation to both adult cognition and cortical circuitry.