Decision making and degree of confidence – How confident are you about your choices?

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We are making decisions based on our sensation in our daily life. When playing football you may want to throw a ball to the place where fewer opposing players are running. However, sometimes you have to make decisions without full confidence, for example when you can only glance at a group of players running around […]

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Retinal Direction Selectivity… Reversed!!!

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In a recent paper, “Visual Stimulation Reverses the Directional Preference of Direction-Selective Retinal Ganglion Cells” (2012), the lab of Dr. Marla Feller demonstrated direction reversal of a subgroup of  Direction Selective Ganglion Cells in the mouse retina.  The finding is contrary to the predominant dogma that direction selectivity is endowed by circuity that is hard-wired.  […]

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Hungry? Why wait?* Intermittent fasting improves functional recovery after spinal cord injury.

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Spinal cord injury (SCI), while typically anatomically incomplete, often results in the dramatic loss of sensory and motor function with limited recovery. Dr. Wolfram Tetzlaff, the Associate Director of the International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries (ICORD) and professor in the Departments of Zoology and Surgery at the University of British Columbia, investigated the efficacy of […]

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We are all connected: Major insights are emerging from human connectomes

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David Van Essen is from Washington University where he is an Edison Professor of Neurobiology and Department Head of Anatomy and Neurobiology.  He is also a principle investigator of the Human Connectome Project (HCP), a project designed to map the human connectome as accurately as possible in a large number of normal adults and make […]

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Wait, do fish even have ears? Using zebrafish to study molecular mechanisms of hearing loss.

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Hearing loss and vestibular dysfunction are among the most common disabilities in the world, affecting nearly one third of older adults. While much progress has been made researching the mechanisms underlying congenital deafness, the molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying adult-onset hearing loss and vestibular dysfunction are poorly understood. In the vast majority of cases of […]

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Move it, move it!: Modeling stereotyped behaviors in C. elegans

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A big question in biology is how to understand complex animal behavior. We want to know why it happens, how it happens, what are predictors of those behaviors. Caenorhabditis elegans is an excellent animal model for studying behavior because its movements can be simplified and described in four discrete dimensions or “eigenworms”. (See figure 1 below.) […]

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It’s too hot, get me out of here!

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The ability to achieve homeostasis in the face of varying environmental conditions is vitally important to the survival of an organism. A critical aspect of homeostasis is maintaining a temperature suitable for cellular processes. Using the model C. elegans, the Sengupta lab examined the neural circuits underlying their major thermoregulation strategy, negative thermotaxis (moving away […]

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Gene Networks Regulating Cortical Neuron Fate

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The generation of neuronal diversity ultimately determines the architecture and complexity of the brain. Birthdate and place are key factors contributing to the fate of a neuron, however those two factors alone are not sufficient to predict exactly how neurons differentiate with markedly different projections, connectivity, morphology, electrophysiology, and genetic expressions. In some instances during […]

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The Role of Major Histocompatability Complex Class I in Cortical Synapse Development & Function

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Synapses are constantly changing in the human brain, especially during key developmental time points and often in response to activity. The mechanisms by which synapse formation, disintegration and pruning are managed are still not entirely clear. Kimberly McAllister’s lab works on this topic, seeking to identify and characterize the molecules involved in synaptic regulation. Among […]

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Making Memories: The Role of Activity-Dependent CRTC1 in Synapse-to-Nucleus Signaling

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How does a memory come to be With so many synapses in a dendritic tree? With umpteen connections betwixt cells, How does a nucleus come to tell When and which genes transcribed will be Sufficient to mediate plasticity? The Martin Lab at UCLA Believes that they have found a way. When transmitter binding allows calcium […]

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