This seminar will begin at 4:00 pm at the Jerome L. Greene Science Center on Columbia University’s Manhattanville campus (L7-119). Light refreshments will be available starting at 3:30 pm.

This month's speakers:

Ewoud Schmidt (Polleux lab): "Humanization of the Mouse Brain by SRGAP2C Expression Increases Cortico-Cortical Connectivity"

The role played by human-specific genes in regulating brain development and function is poorly understood. We study SRGAP2C, a human-specific modifier involved in regulating synaptic density and maturation. We show that expression of SRGAP2C increases cortico-cortical connectivity and investigate how these changes in neuronal circuit architecture affect circuit performance. By studying SRGAP2C our work aims to better understand the relationship between neuronal circuit structure and function, and how human-specific genetic modifiers regulate this in the human brain.

Marcela Carmona (Costa lab): "Molecular Signatures of Motor Cortical Cell Type Diversity During Learning"

I am interested in two molecular aspects of motor learning in primary cortex – cell types and transcriptional states. By focusing on cells active during different stages of learning, I hope to identify the cell types engaged throughout this process as well as changes in transcriptional states as learning progresses.

This seminar is part of the Zuckerman Institute Postdoctoral Seminar series. For questions about this or future seminars, please contact series organizers Chris Rodgers, PhD, or Amy Norovich, PhD.