Brain and Behaviour Seminar
2024

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March 5th

10:30 AM, Hybrid,

In-person: Medical Science Building 2170, St. George

Dr. Priya Rajasethupathy

Rockefeller University 

Co-sponsor: Collaborative Program in Neuroscience

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“Memory across time scales”

How are transient stimuli converted into lasting internal representations? And are there unique strategies to achieve memory on different time scales. Our lab addresses these questions by bridging functional genomics with systems neuroscience to provide cross-disciplinary insights. On one hand, we perform genetic mapping in outbred mice for unbiased discovery of genes, cell types, and circuits relevant for memory across different time scales. In parallel, we develop and apply methodologies to record and manipulate neural activity from relevant circuits in the behaving animal. In today’s talk, I will discuss how these approaches have led to insights into the genetic contributions and long-range circuit dynamics that facilitate both short- and long-term memory.  

March 14th

10 AM, Hybrid, In-person: Davis Building 3130, UTM

Dr. Mark Cembrowski

University of British Columbia

Host: Iva Zovkic 

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"Atypical neurons of the hippocampus represent novelty and control novelty seeking across multiple timescales"

The hippocampus is often conceptualized as a cognitive map, wherein pyramidal cell activity can represent specific physical and mental properties. Recent results have illustrated that a region of the hippocampus termed the subiculum has a variety of distinct excitatory cell types, suggesting potential specialized cellular roles within this broad cognitive map framework. Here, we reveal and analyze a sparse non-pyramidal excitatory cell type in the subiculum, and discover that this cell type deviates substantially from classical structural and functional properties of pyramidal cells. Strikingly, this cell type selectively exhibits novelty-associated activity across multiple behavioural timescales (from seconds to months), and can control novelty-associated behavioural phenotypes. Our work suggests that distinct subtypes of excitatory neurons in the subiculum are specialized for fundamentally different types of cognitive maps.

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April 8th

4 PM, Hybrid, In-person: Psychology Lounge, St. George

Dr. Adam Stinchcombe

University of Toronto

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The link to virtual seminars will be sent one week before the seminar date. Please sign up below to receive the seminar link.

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