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Resumen:
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The neocortex (commonly referred to as cerebral cortex) is the most complex and recently evolved structure in the mammalian brain. It contains hundreds of cell-types assembled into sophisticated neural circuits that –by integrating information from the external and internal world– enable the extraordinary cognitive and sensorimotor capacities that make us human, from the delicate and precise movements of a music virtuoso to the intricate verbal and emotional processing required for poetry. The basic organization of the cerebral cortex is a product of developmental pattern formation, whose information is encoded in the genome and expressed by conserved genetic regulatory networks, which direct the construction of the stereotyped cortical architecture in the developing fetus. Nowadays, it is believed that a large proportion of neuropsychiatric disorders –as refractory epilepsies, autism or schizophrenia– have their origin in embryonic brain development. Therefore, dissecting the intrinsic determinants underlying –normal and abnormal– cortical development is a helpful path to fully comprehend the cerebral cortex itself and to offer therapeutical possibilities to those who suffer from neurodevelopmental pathologies. The plant Cannabis sativa (commonly known as marijuana) has been cultivated, with several purposes, by humans since Neolithic times. The most prominent psychoactive compound of cannabis is the ??-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), whose effects are mediated by its main molecular target, the CB1 cannabinoid receptor (CB1R). CB1R is strikingly abundant in the brain and many other regions of the body, where it exerts pleiotropic actions in the control of cell metabolism, physiology and function. This, along with a second (CB2) receptor, their endogenous ligands and the enzymes responsible of their synthesis and degradation conform the so-called Endocannabinoid System (ECS)...
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