Past events | The department of Brain Sciences

All events, All years

Incubation of cocaine craving: behavioral and neuronal mechanisms

Lecture

Date:

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Hour: 12:15

Location:

Jacob Ziskind Building

Dr. Yavin Shaham

|

National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH

Abstract: Using a rat model of drug relapse and craving, we previously found time-dependent increases in cocaine seeking induced by exposure to drug cues after withdrawal from the drug, suggesting that cocaine craving incubates over time. In this lecture, I will first summarize our earlier behavioral and neurophysiological studies on incubation of cocaine craving. I will then discuss in more detail results from more recent studies implicating neuronal activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and glutamate synaptic plasticity in the nucleus accumbens in the incubation of cocaine craving. I will also briefly address the relevance of our rat findings to the understanding of relapse to drug use in humans. Selected references related to incubation of cocaine craving Grimm JW, Hope B, Wise RA, Shaham Y (2001) Incubation of cocaine craving after withdrawal. Nature 412:141-142 Grimm JW, Lu L, Hayashi T, Su TP, Hope BT, Shaham Y (2003) Time dependent increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein levels within the mesolimbic dopamine system following withdrawal from cocaine: implications for incubation of cocaine craving. The Journal of Neuroscience 23:742-747 Lu L, Dempsey J, Liu S, Bossert J, Shaham Y (2004) A single infusion of BDNF into the ventral tegmental area induces long-lasting potentiation of cocaine-seeking after withdrawal. The Journal of Neuroscience 24:1604-1611 Lu L, Grimm JW, Hope BT, Shaham Y (2004) Incubation of cocaine craving after withdrawal: a review of preclinical data. Neuropharmacology 47(S1): 214-227 (invited review for a special issue commemorating 30 years of NIDA research) Lu L, Hope BT, Dempsey J, Liu S, Bossert JM, Shaham Y (2005) Central amygdala ERK signaling pathway is critical to incubation of cocaine craving. Nature Neuroscience 8:212-219 Shaham Y, Hope BT (2005) The role of neuroadaptations in relapse to drug seeking. Nature Neuroscience 8:1437-1439 (special issue on Neurobiology of Addiction) Lu L, Uejima JL, Gray SM, Bossert JM, Shaham Y (2007) Systemic and central amygdala injections of the mGluR2/3 agonist LY379268 attenuate the expression of incubation of cocaine craving. Biological Psychiatry 61:591-598 Koya E, Uejima J, Wihbey K, Bossert JM, Hope BT, Shaham Y (2008) Role of ventral medial prefrontal cortex in incubation of cocaine craving. Neuropharmacology (in press, for a special issue commemorating 35 years of NIDA research)) Conrad KL, Tseng K, Uejima J, Reimers J, Heng L, Shaham Y, Marinelli M, Wolf ME (2008) Formation of accumbens GluR2-lacking AMPA receptors mediates incubation of cocaine craving. Nature (in press)

Single- and Double-Opponent Neurons in Primary Visual Cortex, and Their Different Roles in Color Perception

Lecture

Date:

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Hour: 13:30

Location:

Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research

Prof. Robert Shapley

|

Center for Neural Science, New York University

Surrounding colors have a great influence on color perception. The reason is that the neural mechanisms of color perception need to make computations that take into account the spatial layout of the scene as well as the spectral reflectances of the target surface, in order to make color perception stable when illumination changes. It is not known how the visual system integrates form and color but it is now widely believed that the primary visual cortex, V1, plays an important role. Therefore, it is important to understand the spatial properties of V1 color-responsive neurons. Our investigations (in collaboration with Drs. Elizabeth Johnson and Michael Hawken) of color-responsive neurons in macaque monkey V1 revealed that there are two distinct groups of color-responsive cells in V1—single- and double-opponent cells—that have different functions in color perception. For example, V1 double-opponent cells are orientation-selective for pure color stimuli while single-opponent color cells are not. Double-opponent cells are selective for the spatial frequency of pure color stimuli while single-opponent color cells are very broadly tuned. The different types of color-responsive V1 cells probably both contribute to linking form and color, but in different ways.

Pain Selective Anesthesia

Lecture

Date:

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Hour: 12:15

Location:

Jacob Ziskind Building

Dr. Alex Binshtok

|

Harvard Medical School, MA

Although pain is a complex entity, understanding the mechanisms of pain will reveal clues for better control. Perception of nociceptive, inflammatory and neuropathic pain - although initiated by distinctive mechanisms - all depend to some degree on generation and transmission of noxious signals by specific sets of primary sensory afferent neurons, nociceptors. Local anesthetics, by blocking voltage-gated sodium channels, prevent the transmission of nociceptive information and therefore block pain. However, since all local anesthetics act non-selectively on all types of axons, they also cause a loss of innocuous sensation, motor paralysis and autonomic block. Thus, approaches that produce only a selective blockade of pain fibers are of great potential clinical importance. In my talk, I will present a novel method to selectively block pain sensation. Using capsaicin to activate the TRPV1 channel, the noxious thermo-sensitive transducer localized specifically to high-threshold nociceptors, we were able to introduce QX-314, a membrane impermeable and therefore clinically ineffective lidocaine derivative, into nociceptors, and thereby blocked their electrical activity. Neurons that did not express TRPV1 were not blocked by the combination of QX-314 and capsaicin. Injection of QX-314 and capsaicin in vivo together but not alone abolished the response to noxious mechanical and thermal stimuli, without any motor or tactile deficit. This approach could be used clinically to produce long lasting regional analgesia while preserving motor and autonomic function. In addition to applications for dental procedures, surgery and childbirth, this technique could also be used to diminish postoperative and cancer pain, as well as inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Moreover, using TRP channels as a “natural” drug delivery system will enable specific cationic drugs to be targeted only to those cells that express the TRP channel. This technique offers a new strategy for treating pain.

Signal processing in neuronal networks: new vistas for calcium and noise

Lecture

Date:

Monday, June 2, 2008

Hour: 14:00

Location:

Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Brain Research

Dr. Vladislav Volman

|

The Salk Institute

How neurons and neuronal networks perform signal processing tasks is one of the most important questions in neuroscience. Earlier research had focused on the integrative properties of individual neurons, and the role of activity-dependent inter-neuronal coupling remained obscure. We study the contribution of synaptic short-term plasticity to the detection, amplification, and storage of weak sensory stimuli in local neuronal circuits. Networks with fast plastic coupling show behavior consistent with stochastic resonance. Addition of slow asynchronous coupling mode leads to the qualitatively different properties of signal detection. Networks with asynchronous coupling also are able to hold information about the stimulus seconds after its cessation, thus representing a testable model of working memory, that is supported by experiments. Our results suggest a new, constructive, role in information processing for calcium-sustained synaptic “noise”.

Generation of dopamine neurons from embryonic stem cells for transplantation in Parkinson's disease

Lecture

Date:

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Hour: 12:00

Location:

Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Brain Research

Prof Anders Bjorklund

|

Lund University, Sweden

Fetal mesencephalic tissue has been used as a source of dopaminergic neurons for transplantation in clinical trials with Parkinson’s disease patients and in animal models of Parkinson’s disease. Due to the poor availability of human fetal tissue, and the ethical concerns associated with the use tissue from aborted fetuses, further development of the cell replacement therapy will critically depend on the access to alternative sources of cells for transplantation, based on the use of stem cells as a source of dopaminergic neurons. The recent discovery of Lmx1a and Msx1 as key determinant genes of mesencephalic dopaminergic neuron fate during development (Andersson et al. 2006) has opened new possibilities to drive undifferentiated stem cells towards fully functional mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons. Overexpression of these genes in stable embryonic stem (ES) cell lines is sufficient to generate neurons with almost 100% efficiency into a fully differentiated mesencephalic dopaminergic phenotype. The in vivo data obtained so far indicate that mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons can be generated in large numbers using this approach, and that they survive very well after transplantation to the striatum of 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rats. In vivo, the Lmx1a- and Msx1-expressing cells develop into fully mature mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons, of both the A9 and A10 subtypes, and grow efficiently to form an extensive TH-positive axonal terminal network throughout the entire host striatum. Using this approach transplantable neurons with what appear to be a complete mesencephalic dopaminergic phenotype can be generated in large numbers from ES cell cultures.

Specialized mechanisms for face processing in the human brain

Lecture

Date:

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Hour: 12:15

Location:

Jacob Ziskind Building

Dr. Galit Yovel

|

Tel Aviv University

It is well established that faces are processed by specialized mechanisms. I will first review evidence for the existence of face-specific processing mechanisms from cognitive studies, functional MRI and electrophysiology (Event-related potentials). These methods provide complementary information about the way information is processed in the brain. It is therefore important to determine whether they all reflect the same mechanism. Our data show that face-selective fMRI markers are strongly associated with cognitive markers of face-selective mechanisms. Furthermore, a simultaneous fMRI-ERP study reveals strong associations between face-selective fMRI regions and event-related potentials. Based on these findings, I will propose an integrated theory on how, where and when faces are represented at early stages of visual processing.

Does urocotin 1 matter?

Lecture

Date:

Monday, May 26, 2008

Hour: 12:00

Location:

Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Brain Research

Prof. Tamas Kozicz

|

Dept of Cellular Animal Physiology Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Interactions within the neurovascular unit underlying diseases of the cerebral cortex: evidence from human and animal studies

Lecture

Date:

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Hour: 12:15

Location:

Jacob Ziskind Building

Prof. Alon Friedman

|

Ben Gurion University of the Negev

The Embryonic Neural Crest, from Specification to the Generation of Cellular Movement

Lecture

Date:

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Hour: 12:15

Location:

Jacob Ziskind Building

Prof. Chaya Kalcheim

|

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The neural crest (NC) is a transient group of progenitors present in vertebrate embryos. Its component cells yield an extensive variety of derivatives such as melanocytes, neurons of many kinds, glial , ectomesenchymal and endocrine cells. Initially, presumptive NC cells are an integral part of the neuroepithelium. Subsequently, a time and axial level-specific conversion from an epithelial to a mesenchymal (EMT) state causes the cells to become motile and engage in migration. Mesenchymal NC cells then advance through stereotyped pathways, reach their homing sites and then differentiate. The molecular network underlying NC delamination and the generation of cell movement remained incompletely understood. We found that a balance between BMP and its inhibitor noggin underlies the emigration of NC independently of earlier cell specification. BMP induces delamination by triggering Wnt1 transcription. Canonical Wnt signaling promotes G1/S transition which is a necessary step for delamination of trunk NC. Successful delamination also requires the activity of effector genes that act on re-organisation of the actin cytoskeleton and alterations in adhesive properties. In this context, we found that both N-cadherin and RhoGTPase signaling play a negative modulatory role on the process. During the course of our work, we observed that in the trunk, NC cells continuously delaminate from the NT for over two days, raising the fundamental question of the source and mechanisms accounting for the production of successive waves of NC progenitors. We found that the first NC to delaminate reside in the dorsal midline of the NT and generate sympathetic ganglia, and successive waves translocate ventrodorsally in the NT to replenish the dorsal midline and then delaminate. Hence, the dorsal midline is a dynamic region traversed sequentially by progenitors that colonize NC derivatives in a ventral to dorsal order (chromaffin cells, sympathetic ganglia, then Schwann cells, DRG and finally melanocytes). Based on our data invoking a dynamic behavior of premigratory NC cells, we hypothesize the existence of a spatiotemporal fate map of derivatives present already within the NT and defined by a specific molecular code.

Plasticity in the circadian clock and social organization in bees

Lecture

Date:

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Hour: 12:15

Location:

Jacob Ziskind Building

Prof. Guy Bloch

|

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

In honeybees (Apis mellifera) natural plasticity in circadian rhythms is associated with the division of labor that organizes their colonies. "Nurse" bees (typically < 2 weeks old) care for brood around-the-clock whereas bees older than 3 weeks of age typically forage for flowers with strong circadian rhythms. We found that nurses care for brood around-the-clock even under a light/dark illumination regime. Brain oscillations in the abundance of the putative clock genes Period and Cryptochrom-m were attenuated or totally suppressed in nurses as compared to foragers, irrespective of the illumination regime. However, nurses showed circadian rhythms in locomotor activity and molecular oscillations in brain clock gene expression shortly after transfer from the hive to constant laboratory conditions. The onset of their activity occurred at the subjective morning, suggesting that some clock components were entrained even while in the hive and active around-the-clock. These results suggest that the hive environment induces reorganization of the molecular clockwork. To test this hypothesis, we studied activity and brain clock gene expression in young bees that were confined to a broodless area on the honeycomb in a light/ dark illuminated observation hive. These bees experienced the hive environment and could interact with other bees, but not with the brood. By contrast to same-age nurses from these colonies, the confined bees showed molecular oscillations in clock gene expression and were more active during the day. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that interactions with the brood modulate plasticity in the molecular clockwork of the honeybee. These findings together with our previous research, suggest the evolution of sociality shaped the bee clock in a way that facilitate integration of individuals into a complex society.

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All events, All years

"A hierarchy of temporal receptive windows

Lecture

Date:

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Hour: 12:00

Location:

Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research

Dr. Uri Hasson

|

New York University

Real-world events unfold at different time scales, and therefore cognitive and neuronal processes must likewise occur at different time scales. In the talk I will present a novel procedure that identifies brain regions responsive to the preceding sequence of events (past time) over different time scales. The fMRI activity was measured while observers viewed silent films presented forward, backward, or piecewise-scrambled in time. The results demonstrate that responses in different brain areas are affected by information that has been accumulated over different time scales, with a hierarchy of temporal receptive windows spanning from short (~4 s) to intermediate (~12 s) and long (~ 36 s). Thus, although we adopted an open-ended experimental protocol (free viewing of complex stimuli), we found that parametric manipulation of the temporal structure of a complex movie sequence produced lawful changes in cortical activity across different brain regions. In addition to the reliable cortical response patterns, I will also show that films exerted considerable control over the subjects' behavior (i.e., eye movements or galvanic skin responses). Finally, I will present few applications of this method for studying the neuronal correlates of complex human behaviors under more natural settings.

Astroglial metabolic networks sustain hippocampal synaptic transmission"

Lecture

Date:

Monday, December 31, 2007

Hour: 12:30

Location:

Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research

Dr. Nathalie Rouach

|

Collège de France, Paris

Glucose is the major source of energy utilized by the brain and is transported by the blood. However, it has been proposed that neurons obtain most of their energy from extracellular lactate, a glucose metabolite produced by astrocytes. Interestingly, astrocytes provide a physical link to the vasculature by their perivascular endfoot processes and are organized in network thanks to extensive intercellular communication through gap junctions. The aim of this work was to determine whether the connectivity of local astrocyte networks contributes to their metabolic supportive function to neurons. The expression of connexins 43 and 30 (Cx43, Cx30), the two main gap junction proteins in astrocytes, was particularly enriched in perivascular endfeet of astrocytes and delineated blood vessel walls in mouse hippocampal slices. Glucose trafficking dynamics was examined at the single-cell level using the fluorescent glucose derivative 2-NBDG (2- ([N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino]-2 deoxyglucose). When injected for 20 minutes by whole cell recordings in single astrocytes lining blood vessels, 2-NBDG diffused through the astrocyte gap junction-mediated network, with a preferential pathway along interconnected astrocyte endfeet around blood vessels. This traffic was activity dependent, being reduced in the presence of TTX and increased during repetitive synaptic stimulation or epileptic conditions, and involved the activation of glutamatergic AMPA receptors. Interestingly, the permeability of Cx43, but not Cx30, was selectively regulated by glutamatergic neuronal activity. In contrast 2-NBDG, dialysed in CA1 pyramidal cells or interneurons, did not diffuse to other cells. Exogenous glucose deprivation induces a slow depression of synaptic transmission in hippocampal slices, suggesting that intrinsic energy reserves sustain neurotransmission. To test whether glucose from astrocytic networks can sustain synaptic activity, fEPSPs were recorded during exogenous glucose deprivation, while dialysing intracellularly glucose in a single astrocyte via a patch pipette. Depression of fEPSP during exogenous glucose deprivation was inhibited when glucose was administered to the astrocytic network. This effect was not caused by leakage of glucose in the extracellular space, as it was not observed in the double knockout mice for Cx30 and Cx43, devoid of gap-junction coupling. Altogether these results indicate that gap junctions play a role in the metabolic supportive function of astrocytes by providing an activity-dependent intercellular route for glucose delivery from blood vessels to distal neurons.

Silence of the Genes-The two faces of RNA interference: involvement of miRNAs in brain development but also a tool to study brain disorders

Lecture

Date:

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Hour: 11:00

Location:

Wolfson Building for Biological Research

Dr. Oded Singer

|

The Salk Institute

"Exploring the molecular mechanisms of axon pruning"

Lecture

Date:

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Hour: 10:00

Location:

Jacob Ziskind Building

Dr. Oren Schuldiner

|

Stanford University

Pruning of exuberant neuronal connections is a widespread mechanism utilized to refine neural circuits during the development of both vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems. Despite recent studies, our knowledge about the molecular mechanisms of this pruning process remains limited. I will describe two forward genetic screens that I have conducted to identify new molecules involved in axon pruning of the gamma neurons in the Drosophila mushroom body, which I study as a model for developmental axon pruning. In the first screen, I used conventional chemical mutagenesis to generate mutants which I then screened using a mosaic technique invented in the lab called MARCM (Mosaic Analysis with a Repressible Cell Marker), which enables positive labeling of a single mutant clone. I will show that a mutation in a gene encoding an uncharacterized trans-membrane protein belonging to the Ig superfamily causes inhibition of pruning. The tedious mapping of this chemical mutagenesis mutant drove my motivation to create a new methodology of screening. I will present the generation of an insertion mutagenesis library based on the piggyBac transposon that results in mutants that are easily mapped and are ready for mosaic analysis. While screening the collection of over 3000 mutants that I have generated, I identified several genes that are involved in axon pruning. I will describe in depth the characterization of a novel, postmitotic role for the cohesin complex, in regulating various aspects of neuronal mutagenesis incuding axon pruning. Lastly, I will show preliminary data implicating a few other genes such as a kinsesin and JNK, in axon pruning.

Cortical attractors: intermittent insight into multiple

Lecture

Date:

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Hour: 12:00

Location:

Jacob Ziskind Building

Prof. Alessandro Treves

|

SISSA, Trieste, Italy & University for Science and Technology, Trondheim,Norway

I will discuss different models that implement distinct limit cases of the Braitenberg view of the cortex as a two-level associative network, with A (long-range) and B (local) systems of connections. In one limit case, local networks are assumed structureless, and they can be collapsed onto single Potts variables in order to analyse global cortical dynamics, and the effect of macroscopic correlations. In another limit case, local nets have internal metric connectivity, which can be exploited to code continuous parameters topographically, a "where" representation. This models allow to analyse a local version of the what/where dilemma, a conflict to which evolution has proposed multiple solutions, all, frankly, unsatisfactory...I will discuss different models that implement distinct limit cases of the Braitenberg view of the cortex as a two-level associative network, with A (long-range) and B (local) systems of connections. In one limit case, local networks are assumed structureless, and they can be collapsed onto single Potts variables in order to analyse global cortical dynamics, and the effect of macroscopic correlations. In another limit case, local nets have internal metric connectivity, which can be exploited to code continuous parameters topographically, a "where" representation. This models allow to analyse a local version of the what/where dilemma, a conflict to which evolution has proposed multiple solutions, all, frankly, unsatisfactory...

Internally generated cell assembly sequences in the

Lecture

Date:

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Hour: 12:00

Location:

Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research

Prof. Gyorgy Buzsaki

|

Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA

The dominant theoretical form of mental structure of the last century was implicitly a neuropsychological model. At the center of this model, necessary for episodic free recall, planning or logical reasoning, is Hebb’s phase sequences of neuronal assemblies, i.e., hypothetical self-propagating loops of neuronal coalitions connected by modifiable synapses. These phase sequences can be activated by exogenous or endogenous (internal) sources of stimulation, independent from environmental determinants of behavior. The neurophysiological implication of this conjecture for episodic recall is that hippocampal networks are endowed by an internal mechanism that can generate a perpetually changing neuronal activity even in the absence of environmental inputs. Recall of similar episodes would generate similar cell assembly sequences, and uniquely different sequence patterns would reflect different episodes. Using large-scale recording of neuronal ensembles in the behaving rat, I will show experimental support of self-perpetuating activity neuronal assemblies. The physiological characteristics of these assemblies are virtually identical to the feature of hippocampal place cells controlled by environmental and/or idiothetic stimuli. I hypothesize that neuronal substrates introduced for navigation in “simpler” animals are identical to those needed for memory formation and recall.

Persistence and Phase Synchronization Properties of Fixational Eye Movements

Lecture

Date:

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Hour: 14:00

Location:

Wolfson Building for Biological Research

Dr. Shay Moshel

|

Minerva Center & Department of Physics Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan

The biological visual system is extremely complex; the coordination between the neurological system, the ocular muscles, and the photoreceptors of the retina make it possible for the visual system to produce a continues 3D representation of the real world which provides the ability to distinguish between objects in space, track them, and estimate their relative distances and velocities. For such complex abilities, the retinal image should be persistent enough for the brain to evaluate it, but ephemeral enough to permit a high sampling rate and in order to overcome physical limitations on constant exposure of the photoreceptors. In order to provide accurate depth information it is also required that there is a synchronization between the movement of both eyes. These requirementS are addressed by a complex neuromuscular system that produces multitimescale and synchronization behaviors that are not yet fully understood. We investigated the roles of these different time scale behaviors, especially how they are expressed in the different spatial directions (vertical versus horizontal). In addition, in primates with frontally placed eyes, the synchronization properties of fixational eye movements is related to binocular coordination in order to provide stereopsis, and thus this was also investigated. Results show different scaling behavior between horizontal and vertical movements. When the small ballistic movements, i.e., microsaccades, are removed, the scaling behavior in both axis become similar. Our findings suggest that microsaccades enhance the persistence at short time scales mostly in the horizontal component and much less in the vertical component. We here applied also the phase synchronization decay method to study the synchronization between six combinations of binocular fixational eye movement components. We found that only the right and left horizontal are synchronized with each other and the right and left vertical. Furthermore, the vertical components are significantly more synchronized than the horizontal components. These differences may be due to the need for continuously moving the eyes in the horizontal plane, in order to match the stereoscopic image for different viewing distances.

Can economics learn something from measuring time response?

Lecture

Date:

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Hour: 12:15

Location:

Jacob Ziskind Building

Prof. Ariel Rubinstein

|

School of Economics, Tel Aviv University & Dept of Economics, New York University

The lecture will use the results about time response (see Rubinstein (2007), http://arielrubinstein.tau.ac.il/papers/78.pdf ) to discuss the potential meaning of the neuroeconomics approach to economics. Before the lecture please respond to the 15min questionnaire posted at: http://gametheory.tau.ac.il/student/poll.asp?group=1391

Trying to make sense of the cerebellum: models and experiments

Lecture

Date:

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Hour: 12:15

Location:

Jacob Ziskind Building

Dr. Opher Donchin

|

Department of Biomedical Engineering Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva

In this talk I will describe a recent controversy that has arisen regarding the intrinsic properties of Purkinje cells and explain the importance of this controversy to our understanding of Cerebellar function. In brief, it has been shown that Purkinje cell membrane potential is bistable, but there remains significant disagreement about whether this bistability has a functional role. In our lab, we addressed the controversy by recording from Purkinje cells in an awake animal and testing to see whether bistability that had been observed in vitro and in anaesthetized animals could also be seen in a behaving animal. Our findings will not settle the controversy, nor settle the question of the Cerebellum's functional role, but they will significantly shift the terms of the debate. We found that all of the predictions we tested confirmed the potential for a functional role for Purkinje cell bistability. This will force a serious re-evaluation of our understanding of Cerebellar circuitry.

The accessory olfactory (vomeronasal) system: a sensory adapted for social interactions

Lecture

Date:

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Hour: 12:15

Location:

Jacob Ziskind Building

Dr. Shlomo Wagner

|

Dept of Biology and Dept of Neurobiology and Ethology, Haifa University

Many mammals rely on pheromones to mediate social interactions. Traditionally pheromones were thought to be detected by the accessory olfactory (vomeronasal) system, but recent studies indicated a central role for the main olfactory system in this function. Thus, unraveling the functional difference between these two chemosensory systems is essential for understanding pheromone-mediated social interactions. In this study we show that mitral cells of the accessory olfactory bulb respond to sensory input in a bimodal manner: a transient response is elicited by low level stimulation, whereas strong stimuli evoke sustained firing that lasts for 10-30 s. This is in sharp contrast to the unimodal response of main olfactory bulb mitral cells. We further show that this difference is dictated by distinct membrane properties of the two neuronal populations. We hypothesize that, via its sustained activity, the accessory olfactory system induces a new sensory state in the animal, reflecting its social context.