The rockefeller university

Event Details

Type

Friday Lecture Series

Speaker(s)

Gaby Maimon, Ph.D., assistant professor and head, Laboratory of Integrative Brain Function, The Rockefeller University

Speaker bio(s)

Mammalian brains store and update quantitative internal variables. Primates and rodents, for example, have an internal sense of whether they are one or 10 meters away from a landmark and whether a ripe fruit is twice or four times as appetizing as a less ripe counterpart. Such quantitative internal signals are the basis of cognitive function; however, our understanding of how the brain stores and updates these variables remains fragmentary. In his talk, Dr. Maimon will discuss electrophysiological and imaging experiments in tethered, flying, and walking Drosophila. The goal of these experiments is to determine how internal variables are calculated by the tiny fly brain and how these variables influence ongoing behavior. Because of their smaller nervous system and advanced genetic tools, Drosophila should help us develop a fine-grained understanding of the mechanisms underlying quantitative neural operations in behaving animals.

 

Dr. Maimon received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1997 and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2005, where he was a member of Dr. John Assad’s laboratory. He did postdoctoral research with Dr. Michael Dickinson at the California Institute of Technology before joining Rockefeller’s faculty in 2011. Dr. Maimon is the recipient of several honors, including the New York Stem Cell Foundation’s Robertson Neuroscience Investigator Award in 2011; the Sloan Research Fellowship, the Searle Scholar Award, the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, all in 2012; and the McKnight Scholar Award in 2015. He was named one of Popular Science’s “Brilliant 10” in 2011.

Open to

Public

Host

Shai Shaham, Ph.D.

Reception

Refreshments, 3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m., Abby Lounge

Contact

Linda Hanssler

Phone

(212) 327-7714

Sponsor

Linda Hanssler
(212) 327-7714
lhanssler@rockefeller.edu

Readings

http://librarynews.rockefeller.edu/?p=4127