Charise White Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Hi everyone, I would like to get to know people exploring this community. Will you share the brain region you study? I study the hippocampus. Cheers, cw14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karina Alvina Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Hi there! i am a fan of the hippocampus too but for my phd thesis i worked in the cerebellum so i’m pretty fond of both. Karina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabbo_fry Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Hello guy, I work with basal ganglia mainly caudo-putamen nucleus in non human primates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ams448 Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 For me it’s olfactory bulb, piriform cortex and cerebellum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaadeja Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 I did my PhD many years ago on the locus coeruleus and all the raphe nuclei. After that I worked on the substantial nigra and striatum and cholinergic regions. For many years I depended on cholinergic cell cultures as a means to study antibodies in the serum of dementia patients. I also worked on the gerbil hippocampus to investigate the effects of ischemia and to test the potential of a novel neuroprotective drug. I have lots of experience with the developing rat brain as well as microglia and astrocytes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kanwalj Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 For me its the amygdala, the engine of the brain, and all of cortex. Almost any brain region can be interesting because they are all interconnected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhass Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 Hello everyone! I work in the retina, on ganglion cells and glial cells. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen_Lankford Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 I study the spinal cord. Karen L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Short Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Hi! I used to study the reunions nuclei in thalamus (spatial memory) but now I am looking in V1 and LGN (attention). As much as V1 and LGN have been fun, I plan to return to thalamus if I am able to open my own laboratory because I find it more fascinating. Good thread, thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anna.katsarou Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 Hello everyone, I am working with interneurons in the cerebral cortex of rodents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charise White Posted March 1, 2017 Author Share Posted March 1, 2017 Great, it is good to know that among us we study quite a few different regions. Anyone else care to respond? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizbicki Posted April 4, 2017 Share Posted April 4, 2017 For now, I am focused on the primary motor cortex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prithviraj.rajebhosale Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 I’m hanging out in the Basal Forebrain for now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charise White Posted May 5, 2017 Author Share Posted May 5, 2017 It is really great to learn what region you all are studying. Does anyone study or have an interest in learning about the evolution of the mammalian brain? How did the regions converge or diverge, then ultimately integrate into an amazing organ; and where is it going in the future? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deborah Zelinsky Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 I study the relationship of visual and auditory systems, and how posture affects them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charise White Posted September 23, 2017 Author Share Posted September 23, 2017 I have never thought of how posture affects the visual and auditory systems. Mindeyconnection, will you elaborate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charise White Posted September 23, 2017 Author Share Posted September 23, 2017 I would think that the retina is among the oldest neuronal regions, and I am curious about the evolution of the brain, one aspect being primary neurotransmitters. What are the primary neurotransmitters in the retina? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhass Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 By volume alone, glutamate, as it is for much of the brain. However, retinal amacrine cells (of which there are many subtypes) have been known to secrete dopamine, acetylcholine, glycine, GABA, serotonin, and adenosine (plus neuropeptides). You can find more info on the retina through webvision, which is a well-written and detailed source of information on various aspects of the retina. I’ve added in the URL below for their article on retinal neurotransmitters. http://webvision.med.utah.edu/book/part-iv-neurotransmitters-in-the-retina-2/part-iv-neurotransmitters-in-the-retina/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deborah Zelinsky Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 Processing of visual and auditory systems use spatial and temporal information. When head posture is rotated or the chin is tipped up or down, the eyes reflexively move and shift the “chunk” of surrounding space from which sensory information is processed. In other words, if you are looking down, you have fewer visual cues and less visual space to deal with than if you point your eyes upward and outward. Looking at a teacher requires the filtering out of peripheral information. Looking at a book requires less filtering out. As an optometrist whose work emphasizes neuro-development, glasses can be used to reflexively shift head posture. Light can be angled from above or below or from the side. That induces a head posture change and varies auditory and visual localization abilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deborah Zelinsky Posted September 23, 2017 Share Posted September 23, 2017 Hi Dr Hass! Most people think of how eyeglasses affect the eyesight in the environment. They forget that the glasses have a direct effect on endocrine functions and other subcortical reactions. The retina is part of the CNS, and some signals from the optic nerve travel directly to the hypothalamus and the amygdala. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charise White Posted September 26, 2017 Author Share Posted September 26, 2017 Dhass, I will take a look at the link you provided. These amacrine cells sound pretty unique. Are they excitatory, inhibitory, or both? Does a single amacrine cell make multiple neurotransmitters or is it a population effect? I primarily study the hippocampus, where at maturity, excitatory neurons make glutamate and inhibitory neurons make GABA, so the concept of a neuron or brain region expressing so many neurotransmitters is a bit mind-blowing. Could these be the primordial neurons that seeded the other brain regions’ evolution? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charise White Posted September 26, 2017 Author Share Posted September 26, 2017 Mindeyeconnection, thank you for the interesting information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhass Posted September 26, 2017 Share Posted September 26, 2017 For the most part, I think that amacrine cells are inhibitory, though there are some subtypes which break the mold. One type (starbust amacrine cell), uses both acetylcholine (excitatory) and GABA (inhibitory), though I am sure that the array of neurotransmitters I mentioned earlier are segregated in different populations, and may possibly act over different developmental stages. Yeah-The retina is certainly a special place with several different kinds of unique biology for sure, but I know there are other areas with an array of neurotransmitters. There are some people who work down the hall from me that study circuitry in the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus and the nucleus of the solitary tract. I’m pretty sure that the connections in that circuit include glutamate, GABA, glycine, norepinephrine, and serotonin at least. If anything, I’m now curious how the hippocampus can serve it’s central function with only two small-molecule neurotransmitters! Of course we are leaving out neuroactive peptides… As for the evolution stuff, I am sure that I don’t know a thing about it! Something seems instinctively wrong about things starting in the retina and branching out to the brain, but I’m not sure why. The retina is probably older than (in terms of evolution) many other regions of the brain, but I can’t really think of any animal that has a retina but no brainstem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charise White Posted September 26, 2017 Author Share Posted September 26, 2017 Thank you for the reminder of the brainstem. I need to remind myselft of the older parts of the brain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charise White Posted September 26, 2017 Author Share Posted September 26, 2017 I’m hanging out in the Basal Forebrain for now! [/quote] What does the basal forebrain do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deborah Zelinsky Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 Dr. Hass, if you are studying neuroprotective mechanisms for glaucoma, then you are very familiar with the ipRGC cells. When eyeglasses are prescribed, the lenses affect the ipRGCs. The lenses alter brain chemistry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhass Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 Hi Deborah, I’m not a Dr. yet, so you can call me Dan/Mr. if you want (I prefer Dan). For me, saving ipRGCs is no more or less important than any other RGC, given that I’d like to save them all. Interesting point though–how do eyeglasses specifically affect ipRGCs? I was always taught that they sent more of a yes/no signal which told the brain if there is or isn’t light around. As for affecting brain chemistry, I would argue that the very act of vision alters brain chemistry, and that lenses probably alter brain chemistry in a more helpful way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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