Archived list of the 2015 seminars & events at the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences. January Fri, 16th Motor Unit Pathology in the Childhood Motor Neuron Disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy Dr Lyndsay Murray (CIP, University of Edinburgh) My lab is focusing on investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms which make motor neurons vulnerable to degeneration, with a specific interest in the childhood motor neurone disease spinal muscular atrophy. Our work aims to understand both the reasons why motor neurons are vulnerable and what mechanisms contribute to their degeneration. It is our hope that by understanding these processes we can develop ways in which to protect motor neurons in a variety of pathological contexts. Host: Mandy Jackson and Emanuel Busch Fri, 16th Engineering musculoskeletal tissues and tissue interfaces Dr Jennifer Paxton (CIP, University of Edinburgh) Musculoskeletal disease and disorders account for the greatest cause of disability in the world. While advances in medical technology have increased life expectancy within the population, the ageing population results in a greater burden on healthcare caused by age-related musculoskeletal diseases. In addition, musculoskeletal injuries are very common in the young, active population and the poor performance of current replacement technologies usually leads to the development of musculoskeletal degeneration. To address these issues, the field of tissue engineering has emerged and aims to combine biological and engineering principles to create functional replacement tissues for implantation. This talk will describe the current progress in engineering novel replacement ligaments in the laboratory, utilising techniques such as 3D cell culture, biomaterials and bioreactor development. In addition, other active projects in areas of musculoskeletal tissue engineering will be discussed, such as the engineering of complex multiphasic tissue interfaces to replicate native anatomical structures. Host: Mandy Jackson and Emanuel Busch Fri, 23rd Making and shaping the fruit fly kidney Dr Barry Denholm (CIP, University of Edinburgh) Host: Mandy Jackson and Emanuel Busch Fri, 23rd The role of Foxg1 in forebrain development: more than meets the eye Dr Vassiliki Fotaki (CIP, University of Edinburgh) The forebrain is the most anterior structure of the developing brain that will give rise to many adult brain structures such as the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, hypothalamus, thalamus and the eyes. I am interested in the molecular and cellular mechanisms that lead to a fully formed forebrain and my main research focus is the development of the eye. We study the function of genes that, when mutated in the embryo, may lead to ocular defects found in both mice and humans. Foxg1 is a transcription factor expressed in distinct domains in the developing forebrain, including the eyes. Mice mutant for Foxg1 (Foxg1-/-) have multiple eye defects, including coloboma, an eye disorder that accounts for ~10% of childhood visual impairment and blindness. The biological basis of coloboma lies in the defective closure of the developing eye along its ventral part, known as optic fissure. We are examining the cellular events and molecular pathways that are involved in the coloboma phenotype of the Foxg1-/- embryos aiming at acquiring a better understanding of this ocular disorder. Host: Mandy Jackson and Emanuel Busch Mary Pickford Lecture This is the first lecture of a new annual CIP seminar series. This year's lecture will be delivered by Prof Annette Dolphin (UCL). 30 January 2015 at 4 pm in the Lecture Theatre, HRB Mary Pickford Lecture Title: Trafficking of neuronal voltage-gated calcium channels and neuropathic pain Abstract: Voltage-gated calcium channels are required for neurotransmitter release and are the targets for a number of drugs. Recently we have studied the role of the auxiliary α2δ subunits of these channels, and have shown that they increase the trafficking of calcium channels to the plasma membrane. The α2δ-1 subunits are upregulated in sensory neurons in neuropathic pain and represent the target site for the anti-epileptic gabapentinoid drugs, which are also of therapeutic use in the alleviation of neuropathic pain. In my seminar I will examine the interplay between N-type calcium channels and α2δ subunits, using novel molecular tools and knockout mice. Host: Mike Shipston Prof Annette Dolphin's research profile Women in Science Round-table discussion for female researchers. Female CIP-seminar speakers will talk about their careers and share their experince as women in science. Speaker: Prof Annette Dolphin (UCL) Friday, 30th January 2:30 am - 3:30 pm, venue: Hugh Robson Building, room:174 February Fri, 6th Regulation of synaptic plasticity by neuropsychiatric disorder risk factors Dr Kate Smith (University of Bristol) Disruption of synapse structure, function and plasticity are frequently shown to be associated with neuropsychiatric disorders, suggesting that synapses may represent a common substrate for many of these diseases. In support of this, recent genetic association studies have implicated multiple postsynaptic density proteins in neuropsychiatric disease, highlighting the importance of fully understanding the molecular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in the context of health and disease. I will present data revealing a synaptic function for bipolar disorder risk factor Ankyrin-G, and thereby provide novel insight into synapse regulation by a key psychiatric risk gene and furthering our understanding of psychiatric disorder pathogenesis. Host: Mike Shipston Fri, 13th Gut-brain signaling for hunger and reward: is ghrelin the best spice? Prof. Suzanne L. Dickson (University of Gothenburg) “Hunger is the best spice” is an old and wise saying acknowledging the fact that almost any food tastes better when we are hungry. The neurobiological underpinnings of this lore include activation of the brain’s reward system and the stimulation of this system by a hunger-promoting hormone from the stomach, ghrelin. By targeting the mesoaccumbal dopamine system, ghrelin recruits pathways important for food reward-related behaviors that are essential for survival in times of famine but that promote over-eating and obesity in times of plenty. Host: Gareth Lengv Prof. Suzanne L. Dickson's research profile Women in Science Round-table discussion for female researchers. Female CIP-seminar speakers will talk about their careers and share their experince as women in science. Speaker: Prof. Suzanne L. Dickson (University of Gothenburg) Friday, 13th January 9:30am - 10:30am, venue: Hugh Robson Building, room:G6 Fri, 20th Identifying regulators of synapse growth and function in Frontotemporal Dementia Dr Sean T Sweeney (University of York) Our research centres on the role of the endosome in regulating signals controlling synapse growth. Appropriate regulation of synaptic growth is a key mechanism in regulating the fidelity of synaptic communication. We work with the larval neuromuscular junction of Drosophila as a model glutamatergic synapse to identify endosomal related signaling events occurring in human pathological conditions. We study, in particular, a form of Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) that has a perturbed endosome due to ESCRT III dysfunction. We have used our Drosophila model of FTD in a forward screen to identify factors regulating progression of the disease at the neuronal level and we are now building up a picture of cellular events critical to the maintenance of normal synaptic function when affected by this form of FTD. I will describe the results of our screen to date and outline the role that autophagy, innate immunity and mis-regulation of synaptic growth signals have to play in synaptic dysregulation in FTD. Host: Richard Ribchester & Mike Shipston Dr Sean T Sweeney's research profile Fri, 27th Optogenetic probing of cortico-thalamic Calcium waves in vivo Prof. Albrecht Stroh (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) In the context of combining optical detection of neuronal population activity and optogenetics, - all optical physiology - we demonstrated that an optical fiber-based recording and stimulation system allows for optogenetic stimulation and simultaneous readout of network function of neurons in sensory cortices in vivo. Using this approach, we probed the initiation of thalamo-cortical slow-oscillation-associated Ca2+ waves. Cortico-thalamic slow oscillations determine internal brain states, playing a major role in memory consolidation. We demonstrate that pulse-like optogenetic stimulation (3 - 50 ms) of a small group layer 5 cortical neurons is sufficient for the induction of global brain Ca2+ waves. Surprisingly, we find that the Ca2+ waves behave like global ‘network Ca2+ spikes’. However, fiber-based recordings allow only for focal recordings of neuronal activity. Therefore, we next combined spatio-temporally precise optical Ca2+ recordings with blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI. We developed an amplitude and duration-based algorithm capturing slow-oscillation-associated Up-Down state transitions in the Ca2+ traces Using this vector as a regressor for the fMRI data, we discovered a spatially confined correlation between spontaneous slow oscillatory activity and the BOLD signal. These results of a region-specific recruitment in slow wave sleep suggest a prominent role of slow oscillations in cortical signal processing. Host: Nathalie Rochefort Prof. Albrecht Stroh's research profile March Fri, 6th Magnetoencephalography as a Tool in Cognitive Neuroscience: A Translational Perspective Dr Peter Uhlhaas (Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow) In the presentation, I will summarize our recent work with Magnetoencephalography (MEG) which has examined the role of neural oscillations during normal brain functioning as well as in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Our studies in normal participants suggest that single-trial fluctuations of neural oscillations can be used to predict working memory capacity, highlighting the mechanistic contribution of rhythmic activity towards higher cognitive processes. Moreover, we have successfully applied MEG source-reconstruction techniques to assess phase-coupling between cortical gamma-band activity and thalamic alpha oscillations, highlight the suitability of MEG to examine cortical-subcortical interactions. In addition, we have carried out several studies which have examined the role of gamma-band oscillations and event-related fields (ERFs) in sensory processing in schizophrenia and ASDs. The pattern of dysfunctional gamma-band activity and aberrant ERF-responses in schizophrenia are consistent with the effects of ketamine in healthy volunteers, highlighting the central role of aberrant NMDA-receptor functioning for the understanding of abnormal circuit functioning in schizophrenia. In addition to investigations into the adult cortex, our recent work has employed MEG to understand the developmental trajectory of neural oscillations during adolescence and the possibility to develop a biomarker for early detection and diagnosis of ScZ. Host: Christos Gkogkas Dr Peter Uhlhaas' research profile Fri, 13 Decision making in foraging Dr Birgitta Olofsson (Department of Zoology and LMB in Cambridge) To thrive animals need to modify foraging and food choice behavior according to the nutrient value of a food source. For example, as a patch of food is depleted, animals make decisions about leaving that patch in order to seek better feeding opportunities. Similarly, if a food source is deficient in specific nutrients or causes sickness, animals can modify their response to it from attraction to avoidance. Such decisions require feedback systems that modify behavior by combining assessments of food quality and abundance and information on the animal’s internal nutritional state. We seek to understand the molecular and neuronal link between the physiology of an animal and the plasticity of its responses to food. Because of the complexity of these decision-making processes, we are using C. elegans as a model. Given the centrality of feeding behavior to animal survival, we expect that many of the molecular mechanism we discover will be conserved across animal phyla, including in humans. Host: Emanuel Busch Dr Birgitta Olofsson's research profile Fri, 20th Sensory integration in the mouse forepaw system Dr James Poulet (MDC, Berlin) Sensory processing involves the integration of different modalities of sensory input with internally generated activity. Sensory integration is especially evident in the somatosensory system where thermal and mechanosensory are combined to generate a unified percept during object manipulation. I will present a multi-level analysis of thermal and tactile processing in the mouse forepaw system from the somatosensory afferent neurons to forepaw primary somatosensory and motor cortex and the ability of mice to perceive thermal and tactile stimuli. Our data show that primary somatosensory cortical neurons are multimodal for thermal and tactile stimulation and are required for thermal perception, moreover tactile responses in motor cortex are involved in the control of the forelimb reaching. Host: Ian Duguid Dr James Poulet's research profile April Fri, 17th Is it time to scrap the ‘standard model’ of the basal ganglia? Some thoughts about how brains control of movement/behavior. Prof. Gordon Arbuthnott (OIST Graduate University, Okinawa, Japan) Abstract: The organization of human movements is probably the most important function of the brain; think of which aspects of your life would continue without movement! Many movement disorders seem to have their origin in the basal ganglia – a system of deep brain nuclei below the cortex that seem to be damaged in many diseases. There is a powerful model of this system that has been growing in complexity since it was first described in 1988. This talk will pose the question – is it time to admit that the model is no longer true? I will discuss several results that are casting grave doubts on the basic assumptions of the model and on its usefulness in understanding Parkinson’s disease in particular. We will also explore some recent work that suggests that we have missed an important clue in the structure of the biggest nucleus of the basal ganglia; the striatum. Recent experiments suggest that there is a hidden substructure in this nucleus that communicates with its neighbours only via long loops including one that contacts the dopamine cells that are most vulnerable in Parkinson’s disease. Could we have been looking in the wrong direction for clues about the symptoms all this time? Host: Tom Gillingwater Prof. Gordon Arbuthnott's research profile Fri, 24th What we can learn from mendelian disorders of phosphoinositide metabolism Dr Antonella de Matteis (Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine, Italy) Abstract: The phosphoinositides (PIs) are key and versatile controllers of membrane trafficking along the exocytic and endocytic pathways. The subcellular distribution of the different PI species reflects the activity of the PI kinases and phosphatases that are differentially distributed among the different cell compartments. Indeed, a cell PI-map was originally delineated guided by the localization of PI-binding protein modules indicating that PI(4,5)P2 and PI(3,4,5)P3 are enriched at the PM, PI(3)P and PI(3,5)P2 in the endo-lysosomal and autophagosomal system, and PI(4)P at the Golgi complex. However, the time seems ripe to revisit this map as a body of experimental evidence has accumulated showing that the functional roles of the different PI species are far less confined than originally envisaged on the basis of the steady state distribution of these PI probes. Here we show that OCRL, the PI(4,5)P2 5-phosphatase mutated in Lowe syndrome, whose role in membrane trafficking has been considered so far to be confined to early endosomes and nascent phagosomes, is indeed a key controller of the autophagy flux through lysosomes, and it does so by patrolling the phosphoinositide composition of lysosomes and lysosome-autophagosome fusion. Host: Giusy Pennetta Dr Antonella de Matteis' research profile Women in Science Round-table discussion for female researchers. Female CIP-seminar speakers will talk about their careers and share their experince as women in science. Speaker: Dr Antonella de Matteis (Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine, Italy) Friday, 24th March 10:00am - 11:00am, venue: Hugh Robson Building, room:G6 Fri, 8th A neural basis for melanocortin-4 receptor regulated appetite Dr Alastair Garfield (Centre for Integrative Physiology & Harvard Medical School, Boston) Abstract: Pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)- and agouti-related peptide (AgRP)-expressing neurons are oppositely regulated by caloric depletion and co-ordinately stimulate and inhibit homeostatic satiety, respectively. This bimodality is principally underscored by the antagonistic actions of these ligands at downstream melanocortin-4 receptors (MC4R) within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Although this population is critical to energy balance the underlying neural circuitry remains unknown. Enabled by mice expressing Cre-recombinase in MC4R neurons, we demonstrate bidirectional control of feeding following real-time activation and inhibition of PVHMC4R neurons and further identify these cells as a functional exponent of ARCAgRP neuron-driven hunger. Moreover, we reveal this function to be mediated by a PVHMC4Ràlateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN) pathway. Activation of this circuit encodes positive valence, but only in calorically depleted mice. Thus, the satiating and appetitive nature of PVHMC4RàLPBN neurons supports the principles of drive reduction and highlights this circuit as a promising target for anti-obesity drug development. Host: Mike Shipston May Fri, 29th Purines insulin resistance and the carotid body: a tale with multiple inputs Dr Silvia Vilares Conde (Faculty of Medical Sciences, New University of Lisbon) Host: Mark Evans venue: Gaddum Lecture Theatre, 1 George Square June Fri, 12th Metabolic Control by the AMP-activated Protein kinase Prof Benoit Viollet (Institut Cochin, Paris, France) Host: Mark Evans Prof Benoit Viollet's research profile Joint CNR-CIP 2nd year PhD Student talks Wed 24 June, Hugh Robson Building lecture theatre This year we’ve decided to adopt a 3 minute thesis format for the presentations. We hope this will make for a stimulating and enjoyable couple of hours and we encourage everyone from both centres to attend. Following the presentations there will be opportunity to continue discussions over lunch in the HRB common room. You can register here: CNR-CIP 2nd year PhD Student talks August Wed, 23rd, 12.30-13.30pm (Gaddum Lecture Theatre) Unraveling the complexity and diversity of neurons and their connections Dr. Nelson Spruston (Janelia Research Campus, Virginia, USA) We study the function of neurons (and recently glia) in the hippocampus. This structure is a nexus of behaviorally relevant information arriving from many brain areas. These external representations are combined with internal representations of recent experiences—short-term memories—to generate output that is distributed to other brain areas, in order to adaptively guide behavior and form long-term memories. The goal of our lab is to understand how different hippocampal cell types communicate with their synaptic partners within and outside of the hippocampal circuit, altering their activity and connections as a function of experience. Host: Ian Duguid Dr Nelson Spruston's research profile September Wed, 9th, 09:15 - 17:00 Centres' Symposium 2015 The 2015 joint Symposium will take place on Wed, 9th September in the Hugh Robson Lecture Theatre in George Square. This Symposium will be an excellent opportunity to welcome all new Fellows and Lecturers to our supportive and interactive community. Talks are followed by a social event which will allow for further discussion of ideas and hopefully opportunities for potential collaborations. The finalised speaker programme and e-ticket registration for the event can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/centres-symposium-tickets-18095925400 programme Fri, 11th From TRP channels to Two Pore Channels: diversity of function through evolution Dr Michael X. Zhu (The University of Texas) Host: Mark Evans Dr Michael Zhu's research profile Patrick Wild Centre Mini Symposium Thursay, 17th, 2 pm - 5 pm Guest speakers: Dr Stephanie Barnes, Dr Aleks Domanski, Prof. Jen Darnell and Prof. Shona Chattarji Host: Peter Kind Dr Jennifer C. Darnell's research profile Prof Shona Chattarji's research profile Women in Science Thursday, 24th September 2:00pm - 3:00pm Round-table discussion for female researchers. Female CIP-seminar speakers will talk about their careers and share their experince as women in science. Speaker: Prof Carol Ann Mason (Columbia University). venue: Hugh Robson Building, room:G6 Mary Pickford Lecture 25 September 2015 at 12:30 pm in the Lecture Theatre, HRB This is the second lecture of an annual CIP seminar series. This year's lecture will be delivered by Prof Carol Ann Mason (Columbia University). Wiring the embryonic eye to the brain for binocular vision Prof Carol Mason's research profile About Mary Pickford October Fri, 2nd Explicit memory creation during sleep: a causal role of place cells in navigation Dr Karim Benchenane (ESPCI, Paris) Memory is the ability to adapt our behavior by using a stored information that has been previously encoded. The first investigations of the neuronal bases of the memory trace concerned its properties (location, cellular and molecular mechanisms, among others). However, to understand how memory processes are achieved at the scale of neurons, we must provide evidence about the necessity of a neuronal subpopulation to support the memory trace, but also its sufficiency. This question can be addressed by studying hippocampal neurons in spatial memory tasks. These neurons called "place cells" fire when animals are in a particular location of the environment, called "place field". Accordingly, hippocampal place cells assemblies are believed to support the cognitive map that is used to drive spatial behavior. Moreover, it has been show that place cells' activity observed during waking is replayed during subsequent sleep, and it has been proposed that these reactivations are involved in memory consolidation. To test the causal relationship between place cell firing and the location in physical space, we developed a brain machine interface allowing the identification of a single place cell in real time that triggered automatically electrical stimulations of medial forebrain bundle known to induce reward in rodent. Using this BCI during sleep allowed us to use the activity of a place cells when its firing is decorated from the true position of the animal in the environment. By triggering intracranial rewarding stimulations by place cell spikes during sleep, we induced an explicit memory trace, leading to a goal-directed behavior toward the place field. In addition to the evidence of a creation of memory during sleep, this demonstrates that place cells' activity during sleep still conveys relevant spatial information and that this activity is functionally significant for navigation.Host: Nathalie Rochefort Dr Karim Benchenane's research profile Fri, 9th Deciphering the functional organization of neural circuits controlling mammalian locomotor movements Prof Ole Kiehn (Karolinska Institute) Neuronal circuits in the nervous system are the basis of all behaviours. A major challenge to neuroscientist is to understand in which neuronal circuits different behaviours are coded and how such circuits operate in the complex mammalian nervous system. For locomotor behaviours, like walking, motor circuits in the spinal cord itself generate the actual timing and coordination of the rhythmic muscle activity. These circuits are at the core of generating locomotion and understanding the operational organization of these circuits is key to understand how the behaviour is generated. In this talk, I will discuss findings from our lab that have revealed the role of designated populations of neurons that serve key functions in the spinal locomotor network including excitatory and inhibitory interneuron networks with distinct molecular identity that are engaged in generating the rhythm- or pattern of locomotor movements. I will also address how locomotor networks are selected to secure appropriate coordination of movements at different speeds of locomotion and discuss how command signals from the brain may initiate and stop the behaviour. Our experiments have provided functional insights to the principal mode of operation of large-scale mammalian motor circuits and shown how network operation may be linked to specific behavioural motor outcomes. Host: Julia Schiemann Host: Julia Schiemann Prof Ole Kiehn's research profile Fri, 16th Deciphering the spatial and temporal requirements for SMN, the spinal muscular atrophy protein Dr Umrao Monani (Columbia University) Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is common (~1:10,000 newborns) pediatric neuromuscular disorder caused by low levels of the Survival of Motor Neuron (SMN) protein. Accurately modeling the disease, particularly for the pre-clinical development of SMN-based therapies, requires the introduction of the human SMN2 gene into the genomes of lower organisms. Our lab was instrumental in using this approach to develop one of the first mouse models of SMA. Over the past decade, we have used these mice to reveal novel aspects of SMA pathology and define key tissues that contribute to the SMA phenotype. The lab’s current focus builds on this work to identify new determinants of the SMA phenotype, both as a means of understanding disease biology as well as a springboard to developing novel therapeutic strategies. Host: Tom Gillingwater/ Lyndsay Murray Dr Umrao Monani's reserach profile Fri, 23rd Studying vision in mice: unexplored functions and developing therapy Prof Rob Lucas (University of Manchester) Host: Paul Le Tissier Prof Rob Lucas' research profile Thu, 29th Gaddum LT, 4:15 pm Molecular bases of neurodegeneration Prof. Dr. Eva Žerovnik (Josef Stefan Institute, Slovenia) Prof Eva Žerovnik will present her studies on the mechanism of protein aggregation towards amyloid fibrils of some model proteins (beta-2 microglobulin, prion protein, stefin B) obtained from structural and kinetic data. What happens in the cell when proteins aggregate will also be discussed. The case of stefin B (cystatin B) will be described not only as a model protein but also as a physiologically important protein whose absence or mutation causes progressive myoclonus epilepsy of type 1 - EPM1. This cysteine proteinase inhibitor may have alternative functions; one role is in autophagy and another in the cell's response to misfolded proteins. Understanding the molecular and cellular bases of neurodegeneration may lead to new drugs to fight neurodegenerative diseases. Host: Andrew Jarman Prof. Dr. Eva Žerovnik's research profile Fri, 30th Manipulating circuits in the brain: from memories to psychiatric diseases Dr Roger Redondo (Roche, Basel) Host: Tara Spires-Jones Fri, 6th New directions for cerebral organoids in modelling human brain Dr Madeline Lancaster (LMB, Cambridge) In an effort to better understand human brain development, Madeline has developed a new model system, called cerebral organoids. Cerebral organoids, or mini-brains for short, are 3D tissues generated from human pluripotent stem cells that allow modelling of human brain development in vitro. Through a process of directed differentiation and a supportive 3D microenvironment, neural precursor tissue can spontaneously self-organize to form the stereotypic organization of the early human embryonic brain. She has shown that cerebral organoids can model neurodevelopmental disorders, such as microcephaly, a disorder characterized by a significantly reduced brain size. Her current interests focus on other neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and intellectual disability, by introducing mutations seen in these disorders and examining their roles in pathogenesis in the context of organoid development. Her studies will hopefully shed light on fundamental questions about what makes us human and begin to tackle difficult questions pertaining to a number of debilitating neurological diseases. Host: John Mason Dr Madeline Lancaster's research profile Women in Science Round-table discussion for female researchers. Female CIP-seminar speakers will talk about their careers and share their experince as women in science. Speaker: Dr Madeline Lancaster (LMB Cambridge) Friday, 6th November 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm, venue: Hugh Robson Building, room: G6 Fri, 13th Electrophysiological studies in live human brain tissue: implications for health and disease. Dr Mark Cunningham (Newcastle University) Host: David Wyllie Dr Mark Cunningham's research profile Tue, 17th The Patrick Wild Centre Mini Symposium Dr Dan Ehninger (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Germany) & Professor Mauro Costa-Mattioli (Baylor College of Medicine, US) 17 Nov at 1:30 pm, Gaddum Lecture Theatre, 1 George Square Fri, 20th Midlifecrisis, a 'wormologist' starts to worry about aging and neurodegeneration. Dr Anton Gartner (University of Dundee) Parkinson's Disease (PD) is the second most common Neurodegenerative Disease and affects 1-2% of the population aged above 65. Human genetics, largely focused on Mendelian inherited loci provided important inroads to start understanding the functional pathology of the disease which is linked with the loss of dopaminergic neurons. However the majority PD cases appear to be idiopathic, possibly linked to oxidative stress. We started to adapt C. elegans as a system that allows for unbiased genetic screen to uncover factors that protect dopaminergic neurons from neurodegeration. Host: Maria Doitsidou and Sebastian Greiss Dr Anton Gartner's research profile Fri, 27th Neural control of state transitions in the Drosophila larval locomotor system Dr Stefan Pulver (University of St Andrews) Many animals are able to smoothly transition from one locomotor mode to another; however, the circuit mechanisms that facilitate such transitions remain poorly understood. We are currently using the locomotor system of larval Drosophila to examine how small numbers of interneurons can trigger changes in directed locomotion. As a first step, we have identified a population of ascending abdominal interneurons that trigger backwards locomotion in larvae. Using a combination of anatomy, electrophysiology, live imaging, and optogenetics, we are beginning to unravel how dynamics of activity within these neurons bias locomotion in freely behaving animals. Overall, this work in Drosophila aims to provide a foundation for uncovering general principles of motor control in both invertebrate and vertebrate model organisms. Host: Richard Ribchester Dr Stefan Pulver's research profile December Fri, 4th Neural and genetic mechanisms of social bonding, empathy and social loss: Implications for treating autism. Dr Larry Young (Emory University, Atlanta). Host: Mike Ludwig SHARPEY SCHÄFER LECTURE 2015 The first lecture in this series was delivered in 1935, the year of Edward Sharpey-Schäfer's death. This year's lecture will be delivered by Dr Larry Young (Emory University, Atlanta). 4th December 2015 at 1:00 pm in the Lecture Theatre, HRB Edward Sharpey-Schäfer Dr Larry Young's research profile This article was published on 2022-10-17
