Knowing Neurons
Knowing Neurons
NEURO.tv and Knowing Neurons
Did You Know?Learning and Memory

NEURO.tv – Discussion Among Neuroscientists and Philosophers

Kate Fehlhaber , , , , , , , ,

Attention all brain enthusiasts!  (Yes, zombies, I’m also talking to you.)  Announcing a brand new campaign for neuroscience education: NEURO.tv!  This non-profit initiative features prominent scientists and philosophers, who partake in fascinating discussions of the brain and mind.  In order to remove the barrier between academia and the general public, the creators of NEURO.tv decided to discuss the most recent discoveries in neuroscience and psychology with people who work every day to advance our neuroscientific knowledge.

Grid Cells via Knowing Neurons
Black line: the running trajectory of the rat. Red dots: every red dot correspond to one spike recorded from a single grid cell.

Here’s their latest episode “Grid Cells and Navigation,” which features Professors May-Britt and Edvard Moser, who are leaders in our understanding of how spatial location and spatial memory are computed in the brain.  A grid cell is a type of neuron that is active when an animal is present in different locations of a space.  Interestingly, the spatial location of the firing of these grid cells is regularly spaced throughout an arena.  Grid cells are different from place cells, which are active only when an animal is in a specific place within an arena.  Watch the video to hear different theories about how grid cells might be involved in the representation of an animal’s environment and how they might allow animals to accurately navigate their environment.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAdB-x7hS7E&w=750]

Similar to our goals at Knowing Neurons, NEURO.tv works to share the ideas and discoveries of neuroscience with the general public.  If you want to support their efforts for public education, go to their Kickstarter campaign.

Best of luck with this worthwhile project!

~

References:

NEURO.tv, Jean-Francois Gariepy, Ph.D. and Diana L. Xe

Images via NEURO.tv and Wikimedia Commons. 

Author

  • Kate Fehlhaber

    Kate graduated from Scripps College in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Neuroscience, completing the cellular and molecular track with honors. As an undergraduate, she studied long-term plasticity in models of Parkinson’s disease in a neurobiology lab at University of California, Los Angeles. She continued this research as lab manager before entering the University of Southern California Neuroscience graduate program in 2011 and then transferring to UCLA in 2013. She completed her PhD in 2017, where her research focused on understanding the communication between neurons in the eye. Kate founded Knowing Neurons in 2011, and her passion for creative science communication has continued to grow.

Kate Fehlhaber

Kate graduated from Scripps College in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Neuroscience, completing the cellular and molecular track with honors. As an undergraduate, she studied long-term plasticity in models of Parkinson’s disease in a neurobiology lab at University of California, Los Angeles. She continued this research as lab manager before entering the University of Southern California Neuroscience graduate program in 2011 and then transferring to UCLA in 2013. She completed her PhD in 2017, where her research focused on understanding the communication between neurons in the eye. Kate founded Knowing Neurons in 2011, and her passion for creative science communication has continued to grow.