[CTN] UWLoo Cntr Theo Neursci Seminar Tuesday 14:30 March 8

[Britt Anderson]

Mayank Mehta of UCLA will be speaking via Zoom (meeting no and password
to follow next week) on Tuesday at 14:30.

His title and abstract are:

Title: From virtual reality to reality: How neurons make maps 

A part of the brain called the hippocampus is thought to be crucial for
learning and memory and implicated in many incurable disorders ranging
from Autism to Alzheimer's. Hence, it is crucial to understand how the
hippocampus works. Decades of research shows that hippocampal damage in
humans causes loss of episodic or autobiographical memory. But, such
memory traces in hippocampal single neurons are hard to find. Instead
research in the rodent hippocampus shows that the neurons encode spatial
maps, or place cells. Place cells are common in rodents but rare in
humans or nonhuman primates. These major discrepancies have hampered not
only scientific progress, but also diagnosis and treatment of major
disorders including ADRD. I will share our findings using virtual
reality that address these questions and provide surprising answers that
can significantly advance translation of basic science to treatments.

Hope to see you all there, and remember that we have a live Brain Day
(real speaker in a real meeting room) on April 6.

Regards, Britt

-- 
Britt Anderson, PhD & MD
Director, Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience
Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Psychology
University of Waterloo, Canada
https://brittlab.uwaterloo.ca