Brain

CNCM Seminar: Dr. Joshua Trachtenberg
2022-01-25 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual Event
Please join the UCI Center for Neural Circuit Mapping in a seminar featuring Dr. Joshua Trachtenberg of UCLA.
For more information, please visit: https://cncm.som.uci.edu/seminars/

What Matters to Me & Why: Leslie M. Thompson, PhD
2022-01-25 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual Event
2021-22 UCI Health Series
Leslie M. Thompson, PhD, is a Donald Bren and Chancellor’s Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of California, Irvine.
For more information on Dr. Thompson and the What Matters to Me & Why program, please visit:
https://chancellor.uci.edu/campus-climate/wmmw/index.php

CNLM Colloquium with Barry Setlow, Ph.D.
2022-02-01 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | CNLM Herklotz Conference Center, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States
Sex, drugs, and getting old; influences on decision making and executive functions
The CNLM will host Dr. Barry Setlow, professor of psychiatry at the University of Florida College of Medicine, in a colloquium where he will present his latest research.

19th Annual EpiCenter Symposium
2022-02-08 09:00 - 12:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual Event
19th Annual EpiCenter Symposium Brain Development & Epilepsy
The 19th Annual EpCenter Symposium includes keynote speaker Bina Santoro, PhD, assistant research scientist at the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University.

Carlos Portera Cailliau, MD
2022-02-08 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CNLM Herklotz Conference Center and Virtually via Zoom
Cortical interneuron hypofunction in Fragile X Syndrome
The Department of Neurobiology and Behavior will host Carlos Portera Cailliau, from the Department of Neurology & Neurobiology of the University of California, Los Angeles, for a James L. McGaugh Distinguished Lecture.

Abstract

Cortical circuit dysfunction is a primary pathophysiology in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Considering how symptoms in NDDs/autism become apparent in toddlers, circuit changes must emerge very early in cortical development. Over the last decade, developmental differences in cortical synaptic dynamics, neuronal adaptation, and network synchrony have been reported in the Fmr1 knockout (KO) mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), a prototypical NDD. In addition, the density, maturity and activity of parvalbumin (PV) cortical interneurons are all reduced in Fmr1 KO mice and in other autism mouse models. We find that the density of PV neurons in S1 is reduced in both juvenile and adult Fmr1 KO mice, as well as in post-mortem tissue from human FXS cases. Furthermore, the density and the firing of Nkx2.1-expressing interneuron precursors are also reduced in early Fmr1 KO mice. Increasing MGE-derived interneuron activity using excitatory DREADDs significantly increases the density of PV cells at P15. Moreover, increasing PV cell firing in Fmr1 KO mice with a novel allosteric modulator of Kv3.1 channels improves deficits in the tuning and the adaptation of excitatory neurons in S1 to repetitive whisker stimulation.

Bruce Herring, Ph.D.
2022-02-10 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual Event
Cell-specific expression of SAP97 links augmented glutamatergic synapse function to Schizophrenia
Join the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology for a virtual seminar featuring Bruce Herring, PhD, assistant professor of neurobiology at the University of Southern California.

13th Annual Emerging Scientists Symposium
2022-02-15 12:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | UCI Student Event Center, 311 W Peltason Dr # A, Irvine, CA 92697, Doheny Beach Meeting Room, 311 W Peltason Dr # A, Irvine, CA 92697, Irvine, 92697, United States
Join REMIND and UCI MIND for the 13th Annual Emerging Scientists Symposium featuring keynote speaker, Cynthia Lemere, PhD, associate professor at the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School.

William A. Carlezon Jr. Ph.D.
2022-02-15 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual Event
Enduring effects of early developmental immune activation
The Conte Center@UCI Seminar Series will feature guest speaker William A. Carlezon Jr. Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

UCI MSTP Distinguished Lecture Series Talk | Speaker: Garret Stuber , Ph.D. on Tuesday, February 22nd 2022
2022-02-22 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual/Hybrid Event (Telecast via Zoom, and in-person in Tamkin F110), Tamkin F110 Academy Wy, Irvine, CA, 92617, United States
Wednesday, February 22, 2022
Neurocircuits for Motivation and Reward featuring Guest Speaker, Garret Stuber, PhD
Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington
4 – 5 p.m. PT
Free to attend. RSVP encouraged.
Virtual/Hybrid Event
Telecast via Zoom, and in-person in Tamkin F110

Organized by: MSTP students Dhruba Banerjee, and Heechul Jun
Event Contacts: Heechul Jun | heechulj@hs.uci.edu

CNCM Seminar: Dr. Edward Zagha
2022-03-01 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual Event
Neural mechanisms of target stimulus selection and distractor stimulus suppression
Join the UCI Center for Neural Circuit Mapping in a Hybrid (Virtual and In-Person) Seminar featuring Edward Zagha, MD, PhD from UC Riverside.
Those who wish to attend in person will receive details upon registration.
Abstract:
Goal-directed behavior requires the ability to respond to task-relevant target stimuli (selection) while inhibiting responses to extraneous distractor stimuli (suppression). To better understand the neural mechanisms underlying these processes, we trained mice in an operant whisker detection task in which they learned to respond to brief stimuli in one whisker field (target) and ignore identical stimuli in the opposite whisker field (distractor). We subsequently performed a range of neuronal recording and perturbation experiments in expert mice while they were performing this selective detection task. In this talk, I will present data from three studies related to the differential neural processing of target and distractor signals. First, I will demonstrate the robust attenuation of distractor-evoked responses downstream of primary somatosensory cortex (Aruljothi et al., 2020). Second, I will show that frontal cortex and dorsolateral striatum have highly similar task-related neuronal representations, and yet make drastically different functional contributions to target selection and distractor suppression. Third, I will provide evidence for a novel mechanism by which top-down signals from frontal cortex to sensory cortex contribute to target-distractor selectivity. Overall, these studies reveal cortical and subcortical mechanisms by which sensory signals are appropriately routed according to goal direction (Zagha 2020).

UCI Stem Cell Seminar Lecture Series - Helen Bateup, Ph.D.
2022-03-04 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual Event
Click here to join:
https://ucihealth.zoom.us/j/5279515874?pwd=[REDACTED]

2022 Irvine Brain Bee
2022-03-05 09:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Qureshey Research Laboratory, 506 C Student Center, Irvine, CA 92697, Qureshey Research Laboratory, 506 C Student Center, Irvine, CA 92697-3800, Irvine, CA, 92697-3800, United States
Join us for a day of neuroscience fun at UC Irvine! Laboratory tours, hands-on brain activities, keynote lecture and an opportunity to meet neuroscientists. The competition is a small portion of the day and we invite all high schoolers to participate regardless of how much you know about the brain!

Anatomy & Neurobiology Seminar with Jill K Leutgeb, PhD
2022-03-10 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual Event
Hippocampal Network Computations for Memories and Decisions
Join the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology for a virtual seminar featuring Jill K Leutgeb, PhD, Walter F. Heiligenberg Professor of Neuroethology and Professor of Neurobiology in the Division of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego.

2022 Brain Awareness Week
2022-03-14 08:00 - 2022-03-20 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 320 Qureshey Research Lab, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States
Join the CNLM in celebrating Brain Awareness Week, taking place from March 14 – 20, 2022. Be sure to check: https://cnlm.uci.edu/baw/ to keep up with various events happening all week along!

Brain Awareness Week is the global campaign to foster public enthusiasm and support for brain science. Every March, partners host imaginative activities in their communities that share the wonders of the brain and the impact brain science has on our everyday lives.

Brain Awareness Week was founded by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives (DABI) and the European Dana Alliance for the Brain (EDAB), and is coordinated by the Dana Foundation.

'Brain, copy and paste' featuring Guest Speaker: Professor Donhee Ham Ph.D.
2022-03-17 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building (ISEB) 1200, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States
Brain, copy, and paste
Prof. Donhee Ham, Gordon McKay Professor
Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering
Harvard University
Thursday, March 17th, 2022; 11:00am-noon; Location: ISEB 1200

Abstract
Reverse engineering the brain by mimicking the structure and function of biological neuronal networks on a silicon chip was the original goal of neuromorphic engineering, but remains a distant dream. The focus of neuromorphic engineering has thus been eased from the rigorous brain mimicry to brain-inspired design. In this talk, I would like to share a technology that may return neuromorphic electronics to its original goal of reverse engineering the brain. The essence of this technology is to ‘copy’ the functional synaptic connectivity map of a mammalian neuronal network using our breakthrough CMOS nanoelectrode array that can intracellularly interface with biological neuronal networks. This technology could potentially create what better approximates the unique computing traits of the brain. This talk is a build from our recent work published in:
Nature 601, 211 (2022)
Nature Electronics 4, 635 (2021)
Nature Biomedical Engineering 4, 232 (2020)
Nature Nanotechnology 12, 460 (2017)

Biography
Donhee Ham is Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics and EE at Harvard and Fellow
at Samsung Electronics. He received a BS degree in physics from Seoul National University,
and an MS degree in physics and a PhD degree in EE from Caltech. Research web:
https://donheehamlab.org

Jun Nagai, PhD
2022-03-22 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
EpiCenter 2021-2022 Seminar Series
Join the UCI Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology in their EpiCenter Seminar Series featuring Jun Nagai, PhD, Team Leader of the Glia-Neuron Circuit Dynamics Lab at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science.

Conte Center@UCI 9th Annual Symposium, featuring Keynote Speaker, Dr. Diego Pizzagalli
2022-03-23 09:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences & Engineering, 100 Academy Wy, Irvine, CA, 92617, United States
Join the UCI Conte Center at its 9th Annual Symposium titled, Origins of Mental Health and Disease: Research and Reality, happening on March 23, 2022. The event features keynote speaker, Diego Pizzagalli, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the Center Director for a Silvio O. Conte Center for Basic Translational Mental Health Research focused on the neurobiology of and novel treatment targets for depression and anxiety disorders.
View the event flyer here.

Cannabinoid regulation of stress responsive neural circuits, featuring Matthew Hill, Ph.D.
2022-03-25 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Hybrid Event (This event will be held virtually via Zoom and In-Person in the Herkltoz Conference Room), 300 Qureshey Research Lab Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States

Chantal Stern, D.Phil.
2022-03-29 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CNLM Herklotz Conference Center, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States
Hippocampal-prefrontal interactions for context-dependent learning and memory
The CNLM will be hosting Dr. Chantal Stern, Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Boston University, in a colloquium where she will present her latest research.
This year, the series will be held in a virtual format with some speakers presenting in-person as well. We will keep registered participants updated on the possibility of an in-person event as the situation with COVID-19 evolves.

UCI CNCM Seminar: Jianhua Cang, PhD
2022-04-05 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building (ISEB) 1200, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States
Visual Processing in the Mouse Superior Colliculus
Join the UCI Center for Neural Circuit Mapping in a hybrid seminar featuring Dr. Jianhua Cang of the University of Virginia.
Abstract:

The superior colliculus (SC), or optic tectum, is an evolutionarily conserved structure that receives direct retinal input in all vertebrates. It was the most sophisticated visual center until the neocortex evolved in mammals. In mice, a mammalian species that has become a useful model in vision research, 85–90% of retinal ganglion cells project to the SC, making it the most prominent visual structure in this species. In the past several years, we have performed a series of functional studies of the mouse SC, especially the aspect of motion processing. In these studies, we have (1) revealed diverse visual response properties in the mouse SC (Wang, Sarnaik et al., J. Neuroscience, 2010; Zhao, Liu and Cang, Neuron, 2014; Savier et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2021); (2) discovered a highly specialized lamina in the most superficial SC for movement direction (Inayat, Barchini et al., J. Neuroscience, 2015); (3) demonstrated a retinal origin ofSC direction selectivity (Shi, Barchini et al., Nature Neuroscience, 2017); and (4) studied how SC neurons encode motion contrast (Barchini et al., 2018). In this presentation, I will briefly review these published findings and describe our recent efforts in linking visual response properties to genetically identified cell types in the SC.
For those registering for in-person there is a 22 max capacity.
In-Person Location:
Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building (ISEB)
S. Circle View Dr, Irvine
Conference Room 5020

CNLM Colloquium with Tirin Moore, Ph.D.
2022-04-05 11:00 - 12:00 UTC | CNLM Herklotz Conference Center, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States
Shared Neural Circuitry of Visuomotor Integration and Visual Cognition
The CNLM will be hosting Dr. Tirin Moore, Professor of Neurobiology at Stanford University, in a colloquium where he will present his latest research.
This year, the series will be held in a virtual format with some speakers presenting in-person as well. We will keep registered participants updated on the possibility of an in-person event as the situation with COVID-19 evolves.

Sleep and Pain: Opportunities for Integrative Medicine
2022-04-05 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Zoom, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States
Sleep and Pain:
Opportunities for Integrative Medicine
Tuesday, April 5th
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
This lecture will be held via Zoom – Register Here

Abstract: This lecture will provide general background on sleep and chronic pain and discuss human experiments related to effects of sleep disruption on pain inhibition and morphine analgesia and measures of central sensitization. The treatment implications of this work will be discussed, highlighting an opportunity for novel integrative medicine approaches.

Conte Center Seminar Series with Katie McLaughlin, PhD
2022-04-05 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual Event
Katie McLaughlin, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Harvard University
Seminar Topic: “Neurodevelopmental Mechanisms Linking Childhood Adversity with Psychopathology Across the Life-Course”
Host: Tallie Z. Baram

Neurobiology and Behavior Seminar: Dr. Eitan Schechtman
2022-04-11 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CNLM Herklotz Conference Center and Virtually via Zoom
Biasing memory processing during sleep to enhance cognition and improve wellbeing
Join the UCI Department of Neurobiology and Behavior in a hybrid seminar featuring Dr. Eitan Schechtman of the Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at Northwestern University.
Hybrid Event
The seminar will be live-streamed via zoom and in person.
Please RSVP to receive zoom link.
In-Person Meeting: Dale Melbourne Herklotz Conference Room,
the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 300 Qureshey Research Lab

Abstract: Sleep is critical for the stabilization of memories. This process is thought to be supported by the reactivation of memories, thereby strengthening the neural infrastructure supporting them. Theoretical accounts of this consolidation process focus on the process through which memories are independently strengthened, but in natural settings, individual memories never exist in a vacuum. In this talk, I will present a series of studies exploring the extent of memory reactivation during sleep in humans, how interactions between memories impact the consolidation process and the role of encoding context in memory processing during sleep. The main technique used to explore memory reactivation in these studies is targeted memory reactivation, a behavioral manipulation that can selectively bias consolidation during sleep. The results demonstrate that multiple semantically related memories can be simultaneously consolidated during sleep. Additionally, they show that memory reactivation during sleep may involve contextual reinstatement, thereby impacting multiple contextually linked memories. These data suggest that reactivation during sleep is not limited to single memory items, and can occur at the network or brain-state level. Relatedly, we show that reactivating a suppression state during sleep can be used to selectively weaken memories. Taken together, these results inform our current understanding regarding memory consolidation processes and open new avenues for translatable research to alleviate memory-related symptoms in patients suffering from psychiatric disorders.

Wolfgang Löscher, PhD
2022-04-12 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
EpiCenter 2021-2022 Seminar Series
Join the UCI Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology in their EpiCenter Seminar Series featuring Wolfgang Löscher, PhD, Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacy, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover.

Anatomy & Neurobiology Seminar with Christina Gremel, Ph.D.
2022-04-14 10:00 - 11:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | Virtual Event
Join the Anatomy & Neurobiology department for a seminar with Christina Gremel, PhD on the topic of “Dependence-induced dysfunction to decision-making circuits.”

Culinary Medicine Webinar: Foods That Boost Your Memory
2022-04-15 00:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CA
This webinar will feature a cooking demo that will include cream of broccoli soup with cauliflower parmesan crisp and dark chocolate blueberry bark. Events will be limited to the first 100 registered participants.

For more information about UCI Campus Recreation, click here.

Lara Rangel, Ph.D.
2022-04-19 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CNLM Herklotz Conference Center, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States
The CNLM will be hosting Dr. Lara Rangel, Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of California, San Diego, in a colloquium where she will present her latest research.
The flexible coordination of hippocampal spiking activity in rhythms
During successful computation, brain regions must have an efficient method for filtering information from multiple sources and coordinating communication with other regions. A great system for examining this is the hippocampus, a brain structure critical for learning and memory that must integrate and associate various streams of information. Research conducted by Dr. Lara Maria Rangel suggests that successful processing of information in the hippocampus during an associative memory task is dependent on coordinated oscillatory activity, and more specifically the flexible engagement of hippocampal cells in distinct rhythmic circuits.
About Dr. Lara Rangel
Dr. Rangel is a systems neuroscientist, whose work characterizes the temporal dynamics of cross-regional oscillatory interactions and the flexible participation of neurons in local rhythmic networks during behavior.

This year, the series will be held in a virtual format with some speakers presenting in-person as well. We will keep registered participants updated on the possibility of an in-person event as the situation with COVID-19 evolves.

"How neurons encode memory: Mechanisms of memory formation and persistence"
2022-04-21 11:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 4201 Natural Sciences II, Irvine, CA 92697, Irvine, CA, 92697, United States
Abstract:
Learning and memory are essential for day-to-day living. Equally important, their alterations are thoughtto underlie neurological and neurodegenerative disorders. Prior work in the field has found many key features of learning and memory—including long-term potentiation and memory engram neurons. However, many gaps in knowledge remain, particularly mechanisms at the molecular level. Here, I will discuss how postsynaptic proteins mediate memory formation and persistence and how they can be modified to improve memory ability.

If you are unable to join the seminar in person feel free to connect to our live stream via zoom.

Meeting ID: 935 0482 6445
Password: [REDACTED]

Functional organization of cortical circuits underlying perception and behavior, Guest Speaker: Michael Higley, MD, PhD
2022-04-26 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | CNLM Herklotz Conference Center and Virtually via Zoom
James L. McGaugh Distinguished Lecture

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Functional organization of cortical circuits underlying perception and behavior

Michael Higley, MD, PhD
Yale School of Medicine

Hybrid Event
Note: this event will be held virtually via Zoom and In-Person in the Herkltoz Conference Room
