Event Details:
Cryptic (hidden) changes that result from perturbations and climate change shape future dynamics of degenerate neurons and circuits
A fundamental problem in neuroscience is understanding how the properties of individual neurons and synapses contribute to neuronal circuit dynamics and behavior. In recent years we have done both computational and experimental studies that demonstrate that the same physiological output can arise from multiple, degenerate solutions, and that individual animals with similar behavior can nonetheless have quite different sets of underlying circuit parameters. Most recently, we have been studying the resilience of individual animals to perturbations such as temperature and high potassium concentrations. This has revealed that extreme environmental experiences can produce long-term changes in circuit performance that can be hidden, or “cryptic” unless the animals are again challenged or perturbed. Our present work is designed to understand differential resilience in natural, wild-caught animals in response to climate change, and shows long-lasting influences of the animals’ temperature history.
Eve Marder
Brandeis University
Eve Marder is the Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield University Professor at Brandeis University. B.A, Brandeis University,1969. Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 1974. Postdoctoral research, University of Oregon and the Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France. She assumed her faculty position in 1978. Marder was President of the Society for Neuroscience (2008), and on the NINDS Council, National Academy of Sciences Council, numerous Study Sections, and Advisory Boards for institutions in the USA and abroad. Marder is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Fellow of the Biophysical Society, the American Physiological Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has received Honorary Doctorates from Bowdoin College, Tel Aviv University, Princeton University, and the Universite de Liege. She received the Miriam Salpeter Award for Women in Neuroscience, the W.F. Gerard Prize from the Society for Neuroscience, the George A. Miller Award from the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, the Karl Spencer Lashley Prize from the American Philosophical Society, the Gruber Award in Neuroscience, the Education Award from the Society for Neuroscience, the Kavli Award in Neuroscience, the National Academy of Sciences Award in Neuroscience, the Landis Mentoring Award from NNDS, The Greengard Award for Women in Science, and most recently, the 2023 President’s National Medal for Science. Marder served on the first NIH working group for the Obama BRAIN Initiative, and on numerous US and international advisory boards. She was Editor-in Chief of Journal of Neurophysiology, and was Senior and Deputy Editor at eLife for 6 years.
Marder studies the dynamics of small neuronal networks, and her work was instrumental in demonstrating that neuronal circuits are not “hard-wired” but can be reconfigured by neuromodulatory neurons and substances to produce a variety of outputs. She combines experimental work with insights from modeling and theoretical studies. With Larry Abbott, her lab developed the programmable dynamic clamp. Her lab pioneered studies of homeostatic regulation of intrinsic membrane properties, and stimulated work on the mechanisms by which brains remain stable while allowing for change during development and learning. 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 and climate change. In addition to her original research papers, Marder has published numerous extremely influential review articles which are heavily cited. She has also published more than 29 short essays relevant to the lives of scientists, senior and junior. She has long been an advocate for women, diversity and international representation. Her work and career trajectory were highlighted in a recent book by Charlotte Nassim, MIT Press, 2018 Lessons from the Lobster, Eve Marder’s Work in Neuroscience.
About the Wu Tsai Neuro MBCT Seminar Series
The Stanford Center for Mind, Brain, Computation and Technology Seminars (MBCT) explores ways in which computational and technical approaches are being used to advance the frontiers of neuroscience. It features speakers from other institutions, Stanford faculty and senior training program trainees.
The MBCT Seminar Series is only offered in person.