There will be plenty of Kavli Institute scientists at this year's Society for Neuroscience meeting. Don’t miss their many special lectures, symposia, events and posters.
Here’s a summary:
Featured Lectures
Neuronal Migration and Brain Map Formation During Evolution, Development, and Disease
Pasko Rakic, MD, PhD, Yale School of Medicine
Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2:30–3:40 p.m. | Room: Hall D
Neuronal position is fundamental to a neuron’s identity, synaptic connections, and ultimately, function. For example, cortical neurons are not generated locally and acquire their areal, laminar, and columnar positions by migration from multiple distant sites of origin. Over the years, new experimental approaches have enabled
identification of cellular mechanisms, genes, and molecular pathways that control neuronal production, fate, and migration to the proper position. These findings provide insight into brain evolution and development and the pathogenesis of its congenital disorders.
Symposia
Session 262 - Impact of Zika Virus Infection in the Nervous System and Its Underlying Mechanisms
Chair: Guo-li Ming, MD, PhD
Co-Chair: Nenad Sestan, MD, PhD
Monday, Nov. 13, 8:30–11 a.m. | Room: Ballroom A
The World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern on Feb. 1, 2016, due to a potential link between Zika virus and microcephaly and/or other neurological diseases. This symposium will discuss recent advances in our understanding of how Zika virus affects nervous system development and the underlying mechanisms that have been revealed using different model systems, including human fetal tissue, human pluripotent stem cell–derived organoids and neurospheres, and animal models.
Speakers include:
262.05 - Mechanisms underlying Zika virus-related neurodevelopmental defects
Nenad Sestan; Neuroscience, of Comparative Medicine, of Genetics and of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
10:20 - 10:55 AM
Session 440 - Exciting New Tools and Technologies Emerging From the BRAIN Initiative
November 14, 2017, 8:30 - 11:00 AM | Room: Ballroom C
Chair: Joshua Gordon
The BRAIN Initiative seeks to reveal how brain cells and circuits dynamically interact in time and space to shape our perceptions and behavior. BRAIN investigators are accelerating the development and application of new tools and neurotechnologies to tackle these challenges. This symposium highlights advances that will enable exploration of how the brain records, stores, and processes vast amounts of information, shedding light on the complex links between brain function and behavior.
Speakers include:
440.03 - Multi-scale, multi-modal imaging of spontaneous activity in mice
Michael Crair; Department of Neuroscience, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
9:10 - 9:45 AM
Mini Symposia
Session 539 - Sensation in Action
Chair: Aman Saleem
November 14, 2017, 1:30 - 4:00 PM | Room: 151B
Under natural conditions, humans constantly engage the sensory system during a myriad of everyday actions: finding food, detecting threats, or exploring. How do sensory systems work during active behaviors? This minisymposium will share novel perspectives of sensory processing during active, multidimensional behavior in different systems (fly vision, rodent vision, audition, somatosensation) and at different processing levels (fly lobula plate, mammalian thalamus and cortex).
Speakers include:
539.04 - State-dependent neural dynamics in visual cortex during active behavior
Jessica Cardin; Department of Neurobiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
2:15 - 2:35 PM
Session 6: Emerging Roles of Somatostatin Inhibitory Neurons in Sensory Cortex Processing and PlasticityChair: Hirofumi Morishita
November 11, 2017, 1:30 - 4:00 PM | Room: 145B
Somatostatin-expressing (SOM) neurons are one of the principal classes of GABAergic inhibitory neurons. This minisymposium brings together researchers applying advanced in vivo techniques to monitoring and manipulating selective neural circuitries in the sensory cortex to discuss novel findings on how behavioral states and sensory inputs uniquely modulate the activity and rhythm of SOM neurons, and how SOM neurons in turn determine sensory processing and plasticity through specific molecular mechanisms.
Speakers include:
6.06 - Activation of NMDARs selectively regulates the strength of inhibition mediated by somatostatin interneurons
Michael Higley; Neurobiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
2:55 - 3:15 PM
Meetings and Events
Session ME17 - A Celebration of Women in Neuroscience Luncheon
Noon–2 p.m.
Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel: Grand Ballroom North and Central
The annual luncheon honors female leaders in neuroscience. Marina Picciotto, PhD, will moderate a panel discussion focused on the role of advocacy in overcoming past, present, and future challenges of female neuroscientists. The panel will consist of three distinguished leaders in neuroscience: Tracy Bale, PhD, Joanne Berger-Sweeney, PhD, and Indira Raman, PhD. For more information, visit sfn.org/cwinrsvp