The CERDEV project tackles the complex molecular principles underlying the development of cerebellar neurons and their subtype-specific identities, which are essential for proper brain function but remain poorly understood. The cerebellum, a highly conserved brain structure across mammals, plays a vital role in modulating motor outputs, making understanding these principles crucial for society and potentially informing future research on cerebellar disorders. The project's overall objectives are to investigate the transcriptional programs governing the generation, diversity, and developmental circuit assembly of cerebellar neurons, with a particular focus on Purkinje cells (PCs), granule cells (GCs), and molecular layer interneurons (MLIs).To achieve these objectives, we used cutting-edge techniques such as FlashTag, single-cell RNA sequencing and ATAC-seq, and spatial transcriptomics to create a pioneering 4D atlas of the mouse cerebellum during development. This atlas provides a comprehensive insight into the cerebellum's development by placing cells within their spatial and temporal context, offering a more complete understanding of cerebellar neuron diversity. Furthermore, we developed in silico methods to study the postnatal differentiation and circuit assembly of neurons, providing valuable insights into cerebellar disorders and potentially informing future studies on neuron development in other brain areas. Overall, the CERDEV project contributes significantly to our understanding of the intricate relationships between neuron birth, molecular diversity, and spatial distribution, paving the way for advances in neuroscience and the study of neurological conditions.
