Neuromodulation and Environmental Effects on Rhythmic Motor Systems

Dorothy J. Killam Lecture: Neuromodulation, Acclimation and the Effects of the Environment on Rhythmic Motor Systems

Abstract: A fundamental problem in neuroscience is understanding how the properties of individual neurons and synapses contribute to neuronal circuit dynamics and behavior. Computational and experimental studies demonstrate that the same physiological output can arise from multiple, degenerate solutions, and individual animals with similar behavior can have different sets of underlying circuit parameters. We study the resilience of individual animals to perturbations such as temperature and high potassium concentrations. Our present work is designed to understand differential resilience in natural, wild - caught animals in response to environmental challenges, and shows long - lasting influences of the animals’ temperature history.

Bio: Eve Marder, Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield University Professor at Brandeis University. B.A Brandeis University 1969, Ph.D. UCSD 1974. Pos tdoc, U. Oregon, Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France. Faculty, 1978-present. President of SfN, 2008. Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, American Philosophical Society. Gruber Prize, Kavli Prize, NAS Neuroscience Prize, Gerard Prize. Honorary doctorates, Bowdoin College, Princeton University, Tel Aviv University, Universite de Liege. Highlighted in Nassim, MIT Press, 2018 Lessons from the Lobster, Eve Marder’s Work in Neuroscience. Marder was instrumental in demonstrating that neuronal circuits are not “hard-wired” but can be reconfigured by neuromodulatory neurons and substances, and in developing the dynamic clamp and models of intrinsic homeostasis. Marder now studies how similar network performance can arise from different sets of underlying network parameters, with its relevance for differential resilience in the population to challenges such as environmental temperature.

The Neuro's Dorothy J. Killam Lecture was established in 2004 to recognize women of influence in business, science, politics or the humanities. Eve Marder, Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Biology at Brandeis University, will deliver the 2026 Dorothy J. Killam lecture. A cocktail reception will follow for in-person registered attendees.

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