Our lab is studying the developmental mechanisms patterning connections in the cerebral cortex. We are specifically interested in identifying the signaling pathways controlling three important and inter-related aspects of cortical neurons differentiation: migration, axon pathfinding and dendritic differentiation. In order to analyze the role of specific signaling pathways in the specification of cortical connectivity, we are combining a wide array of molecular and cellular approaches such as: (1) biochemistry and proteomics, (2) time-lapse confocal microscopy, (3) calcium-imaging, (4) ex vivo and in utero electroporation, (5) in vitro co-culture assays and (6) analysis of mice presenting targeted gene deletion or promoter-driven GFP expressing mice.