L’encefalo: fisiologia e psicopatologia
dello sviluppo

An elementary panorama on the functioning and development of the brain cortex in the embryo, foetus and child is sketched out. The neurons of the cortex are organised in functional columns, lined in six strata, each of them having vertical connections in the column itself, and horizontal connections with the far areas of the cerebral grey matter. The cortex is divided into areas, differentiated according to the microstructure (Brodmann’s areas) and to their functions (sensory, motor, associative and mixed areas). However, this gross subdivision does not explain the complexity of superior cerebral functions. The construction of the cortex takes place on the layout of a general plan organised by architect genes and under the action of numerous molecules having local effect on adhesion, recall, inhibition and proliferative stimuli. It is during these phases that migration, gyration and synaptogenesis defects, which cause neuropsychiatric pathologies such as epilepsy, dyslexia, and autism occur.