Pacific Cascade Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience

Hiroki R. Ueda, MD, PhD (University of Tokyo, Japan) will present a seminar titled “Towards Human Systems Biology of Sleep/Wake Cycles: The Role of Calcium and Phosphorylation in Sleep” on Monday, November 18, 2024, 10:00 am, in the UW Life Science Building, Room 401.

Abstract: Sleep is regulated by a homeostatic mechanism that increases sleep pressure as wakefulness hours progress. While this process of sleep regulation has been recognized for decades, the neural mechanism behind it has been elusive. While much of the search for the sleep homeostat has focused on “sleep substances” Dr. Ueda’s focus on “wakefulness substances” led to the discovery of the role of calcium and calcium-dependent phosphorylation in sleep homeostasis, and a novel and more holistic model on the role of sleep and wakefulness on synaptic plasticity.

The University of Washington Computational Neuroscience Center will host a seminar by Carl Petersen on November 20, 2024.  A trainee lunch with Carl will be held directly after the seminar in the CNC (G207)

Carl Petersen
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)

Location: Foege S-060
Date/Time:  November 20, 2024; 12pm – 1pm

Seminar Title:  “Context- and learning-dependent sensorimotor transformation”

Precisely-wired neuronal circuits process sensory information in a learning- and context-dependent manner in order to govern behavior. Simple whisker-dependent sensory decision-making tasks in mice reveal contributions of distinct cell types and brain regions participating in the conversion of sensory information into goal-directed licking motor output through reward-based learning. Task learning appears to be accompanied by target-specific routing of sensory information to specific downstream brain regions in a context-dependent manner. An important challenge for the future is to understand in further detail the brain-wide neural circuit mechanisms connecting cell type-specific processing of sensory information with the motor neurons ultimately responsible for goal-directed action initiation and motor control.

Tuesday, Oct 29, 2024, 4:30 pm, Magnuson Health Sciences Center T747: Einar Hille Memorial Lecture In Neurosciences: Richard Tsien (New York University), “Channels, Signaling Lipids and Neuronal Information Flow” 

Wednesday, November 6, 2024, 12:00 pm, SOCC 354: Mariano Gabitto, Assistant Investigator, Allen Institute for Brain Science

Wednesday, November 13, 12:00 pm, SOCC 354: Research Roundtable with Stuber, Bruchas, and Golden labs; Short overviews and updates with CNC labs 

Thursday, Nov 14, 2024, 9:30 am, Magnuson Health Sciences Center G328: Yi Gu (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke), “The cognitive map in medial entorhinal cortex represents nonspatial information” 

Wednesday, Nov 20, 2024, 12:00 pm, Foege S060: Carl Petersen, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Thursday, Nov 21, 2024, 9:30 am, Magnuson Health Sciences Center G328: Talmo Pereira (Salk Institute for Biological Studies), “Quantifying behavior using deep learning” 

UW Computational Neuroscience Center:  Neuroscience, AI, and Society Seminar

Speaker:  Nicole Rust (Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania)
Seminar Title: Elusive Cures: Why Neuroscience Hasn’t Solved the Mystery of Brain and Mental Illness

Date:  October 1, 2024
Location:  UW Health Sciences, Room K069
Time:  7:00 pm

ABSTRACT: Understanding the human brain is one of the great scientific challenges of our time. Progress in brain research has been accelerating rapidly for decades, following breakthroughs in biotechnology and artificial intelligence. But the translation of discoveries about the brain into treatments and cures for brain and mental disorders has not happened as many expected. What’s been missing?

In this event, Nicole Rust will take us on her personal journey to find answers. Drawing on her decades of experience on the front lines of neuroscience research, she will reflect on the history of our quest to understand the brain, how far we have come and what remains to be discovered. She will argue that treating a brain or mental disorder is more like redirecting a hurricane than fixing a domino chain of cause and effect, and that only by facing the brain’s complexity head-on will we have any hope of finding better treatments and cures. She will profile the pioneering ideas about the brain and mind that researchers are using to tackle this complexity, and the reasons we can be optimistic that the next few decades of brain research will be more impactful than the last.

Neuroscience, AI and Society Seminar

Nicole Rust, Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania

Date:  October 1, 2024
Time: 7 pm; the lecture will be followed by a reception in the Rotunda.
Location: University of Washington Health Sciences K069

Title: Elusive Cures: Why Neuroscience Hasn’t Solved the Mystery of Brain and Mental Illness

Abstract: Understanding the human brain is one of the great scientific challenges of our time. Progress in brain research has been accelerating rapidly for decades, following breakthroughs in biotechnology and artificial intelligence. But the translation of discoveries about the brain into treatments and cures for brain and mental disorders has not happened as many expected. What’s been missing?

In this event, Nicole Rust will take us on her personal journey to find answers. Drawing on her decades of experience on the front lines of neuroscience research, she will reflect on the history of our quest to understand the brain, how far we have come and what remains to be discovered. She will argue that treating a brain or mental disorder is more like redirecting a hurricane than fixing a domino chain of cause and effect, and that only by facing the brain’s complexity head-on will we have any hope of finding better treatments and cures. She will profile the pioneering ideas about the brain and mind that researchers are using to tackle this complexity, and the reasons we can be optimistic that the next few decades of brain research will be more impactful than the last.

NBIO Presents: Rachel Wong (UW Neurobiology & Biophysics)
Title: Circuit assembly and reassembly of the vertebrate retina
WHEN Thursday, Sep 26, 2024, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
CAMPUS LOCATION Magnuson Health Sciences Center G (HSG); ROOM G328
Abstract:
Vision relies on the output of the many functionally distinct and precisely wired circuits of the retina. Using transgenic techniques, imaging methods and electrophysiology, we seek to uncover the developmental mechanisms that help establish the wiring specificity of retinal circuits in vertebrates. Moreover, because injury or disease can cause rewiring after maturation, we are also reconstructing retinal circuits impacted by the loss of input in order to identify the challenges to circuit repair.

NBIO Presents: Christine Constantinople (New York University)
WHEN Thursday, Oct 17, 2024, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
CAMPUS LOCATION Magnuson Health Sciences Center G (HSG); ROOM G328

NBIO Presents: Marcos Sotomayor (The Ohio State University)
WHEN Thursday, Oct 24, 2024, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
CAMPUS LOCATION Magnuson Health Sciences Center G (HSG); ROOM G328

Einar Hille Memorial Lecture In Neurosciences: Richard Tsien (New York University)
WHEN Tuesday, Oct 29, 2024
CAMPUS LOCATION Magnuson Health Sciences Center G (HSG); ROOM G328

NBIO Presents: Yi Gu (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
WHEN Thursday, Nov 14, 2024, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
CAMPUS LOCATION Magnuson Health Sciences Center G (HSG); ROOM G328

NBIO Presents: Talmo Pereira (Salk Institute for Biological Studies)
WHEN Thursday, Nov 21, 2024, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
CAMPUS LOCATION Magnuson Health Sciences Center G (HSG); ROOM G328