Distinct molecular mechanisms for development of brain asymmetries?

Abstract

Brain and behavioral asymmetries are often associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, but have yet uncovered genetic and developmental mechanisms. A recent study by Vingerhoets and colleagues (2018), published in Brain Structure and Function, examined neural structural and functional asymmetries in a cohort of patients with situs inversus totalis, with and without primary ciliarly dyskinesia as a second diagnosis. The authors showed a potential for independent randomization of handedness, language dominance, and visceral laterality; this provides the first experimental hint that different mechanisms for symmetry breaking and molecular cascades may be involved in producing asymmetry of body and brain.