Peter Huttenlocher, M.D.
Dr. Huttenlocher is a member of several academic associations including the American Academy of Neurology, the Society for Neuroscience, and the Child Neurology Society. He currently serves as a committee member for the John Merck Scholars Program and as member of the Medical Advisory Board for the March of Dimes. Major research interests for Dr. Huttenlocher include postnatal plasticisty and recovery from brain damage, synaptic development in the human cerebral cortex, the Neurocognitive effects of early unilateral brain damage, and Tuberous Sclerosis.
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Research Interests My clinical studies include longitudinal assessments of children with perinatal unilateral brain injuries, and both quantitative and functional studies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Similar problems are studied in animal models; for example, the effect of neonatal hemispherectomy on the development of the remaining hemisphere, including its capacity to take over some of the functions of the ablated side. The book I'm currently writing, Neural Plasticity: The Effects of Environment on the Development of the Cerebral Cortex (Harvard University Press, 2002), outlines my work in cortical development. My research in this area examines the role of synaptogenesis and normally occurring synapse elimination in various parts of the cortex to better understand the relationship between neural and functional development. For instance, maximum synaptic density occurs in Broca's area (responsible for speech production) after it occurs in Wernicke's area (responsible for receptive language), around 12 months of age when infants begin to utter their first words.
Recent Publications Gokhale, R., Huttenlocher, P.R., Brady, L., & Kirschner, B.S. (1997). Use of barbiturates in the treatment of cyclic vomiting during childhood. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 25, 64-67. Staba, M.J., Goldman, S., Johnson, F.L., & Huttenlocher, P.R. (1997). Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for Alexander's disease. Bone Marrow Transplantation, 20, 247-249. Precht, K.S., Lese, C.M., Spiro, R.P., Huttenlocher, P.R., Johnston, K.M., Christian, S.L., Kittikamron, K., & Ledbetter. D.H. (1998). Two 22q telomere deletions serendipitously detected by FISH. Journal of Medicine, General, 35, 939-942. Fox, J.W., Lamperti, E.D., Eksioglu, Y.Z., Hong, S.E., Feng, Y., Graham, D.A., Scheffer, I.E., Dobyns, W.B., Hirsch, B.A., Radtje Ram Berkovic, S.F., Huttenlocher, P.R., Walsh, C.A. (1998). Mutations in filamin 1 prevent migration of cerebral cortical neurons in human periventricular heterotopia. Neuron, 21, 1315-1325. Huttenlocher, P.R. (1999). Dendritic and synaptic development in human cerebral cortex: Time course and critical periods. Developmental Neuropsychology, 16, 347-349. Huttenlocher, P.R. (1999). Synaptogenesis in human cerebral cortex and the concept of critical periods. In N.A. Fox, L.A. Leavitt, and J.G. Warhol, (Eds.), The role of early experience in infant development, Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute, p. 15-28. Huttenlocher, P.R. (2000). The neuropathology of phenylketonuria: Human and animal studies. Fur. J. Pediatr. 159 (Suppl. 2): S102-S106. Chu, D., Huttenlocher, P.R., Levin, D.N., & Towle, V.L. (2000). Reorganization of the hand somatosensory cortex following perinatal unilateral brain injury. Neuropediatrics, 31, 63-69. Huttenlocher, P.R. (2002). Neural plasticity: The effects of environment on the development of the cerebral cortex. Perspectives in Cognitive Neuroscience. Stephen M. Kosslyn, Series Editor. Harvard University Press.
Selected Courses
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Dr. Peter R. Huttenlocher has been a Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology and a Member of the Committee on Neurobiology at the University of Chicago since 1976. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Buffalo and then went on to earn his M.D. from Harvard Medical School.
