Home > Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders > Neuronal Migration Disorders

Definition

Neuronal migration disorders are a diverse group of congenital brain abnormalities that arise specifically from defective formation of the central nervous system. During early brain development, neurons are born and move over large distances to reach their targets and thereby give rise to the different parts of the brain. The control of this process is highly orchestrated and dependent on the expression of various environmental and genetic factors that continue to be discovered in genetic studies of mice and humans. The critical role neuronal migration plays in brain development is evident from the variety of gross malformations that can occur when it goes wrong. Defective neuronal migration leads to a broad range of clinical syndromes, and most affected patients will have a combination of