NEXT TALK: Next talk 31st of October, 7pm - Sesonal mood disorders
Cittie Of Yorke, 22 High Holborn, WC1V 6BN
Brain Awareness Week
Tuesday, 15th of March 2016
This event with two speakers is a collaboration between Cosy Science and the Department of Developmental Neurobiology of King's College London. There will be free drinks for the audience!
Podcasts of these talks are available on KEWO
Beatriz Rico: http://www.kewo-science.com/brain-development-what-happens-when-it-fails/
Martin Meyer: http://www.kewo-science.com/how-do-we-see/
Talk by Martin Meyer - How do we see?
Every aspect of visual perception stems from the activity of neurons within the retina of the eye but what exactly are these neurons telling the brain? This is a question that continues to fascinate neuroscientists and we are still far from having a complete answer. However, we know that the eye does not simply capture images of the visual scene which are then continuously and faithfully transmitted to the brain. Instead the eye has evolved as a filter, ensuring that only the most important and behaviourally relevant information reaches brain. Thus, the brain receives only fragmentary information from which it must construct the most plausible internal model of the visual scene. In this talk I will explain why the visual system has evolved in such a way and show some visual illusions which reveal how we really see.
Talk by Beatriz Rico - Brain development: what happens when it fails?
The brain constitutes one of the most complex biological systems. As such, unravelling the mechanisms that control its development represents one of the most challenging questions in science. Understanding this process is also an imperative need in biomedicine, because abnormal brain development is thought to cause severe disorders, like mental disability, autism and schizophrenia, among others. How does the brain develop? Neurons are born, and migrate - long distances sometimes - to occupy their final position. Then, they mature and extend their connections to other neurons, establishing and shaping their contacts, named synapses. I will explain how neural connectivity underlying the function of the mammalian brain emerges and what are the consequences of failures in this process.
Beatriz Rico is Professor of Developmental Neurobiology at the Department for Developmental Neurobiology, King’s College London. The general aim of the Rico lab is to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms controlling the development and maturation of neural networks, at two different levels: axons and synapses. Dr Rico graduated in Biology from Universidad Complutense, Madrid and received a PhD in Neuroscience from Universidad Autónoma, Madrid. She then joined the University of California in San Francisco as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Louis F. Reichardt. In 2005 she obtained a Ramón y Cajal fellowship and joined the Instituto de Neurociencias, Alicante, where she became an Assistant Professor. Prof Rico joined King´s College London in July 2014.
Martin Meyer is Senior Lecturer at the Department for Developmental Neurobiology, King’s College London. His research group is using transgenic zebrafish and whole brain cutting-edge imaging techniques to understand how is information about the visual scene represented in the brain and how is this information used to drive behaviour. Dr Meyer graduated in Biology from University College London where he also obtained his PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology. He then moved to Stanford University as a Wellcome Trust-funded postdoctoral fellow to work in the laboratory of Stephen Smith. In 2007 he obtained a Career Development Award from the Medical Research Council to set up his own group in the Department for Developmental Neurobiology at King’s College London.
