QBI Seminar: Genes and synapses - dissecting the basis of cognition and mental diseases
Event Details
- Date:
- Wednesday, 05 August 2015 - Wednesday, 05 August 2015
- Time:
- 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
- Room:
- QBI Level 7 Auditorium
- UQ Location:
- Queensland Brain Institute (St Lucia)
- URL:
- http://www.qbi.uq.edu.au/neuroscience-seminars
- Event category(s):
Event Contact
- Name:
- Ms Deirdre Wilson
- Phone:
- 66300
- Email:
- d.wilson5@uq.edu.au
- Org. Unit:
- Queensland Brain Institute
Event Description
- Full Description:
- Dr Jess Nithianantharajah
Head, Synapse Biology and Cognition Laboratory, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne
Title: Genes and synapses: dissecting the basis of cognition and mental diseases
Abstract:
Sensory information from the environment is ultimately processed at the level of synapses, the connection between neurons that form the most fundamental information-processing units in the nervous system. In recent years, human genetic studies have increasingly highlighted that many of the mutations implicated in cognitive disorders converge upon genes associated with the synapse. However, very little is known about the genetic basis of distinct aspects of higher cognitive functions such as complex forms of learning and memory, attention and executive functions that are commonly impaired in disorders. Moreover, modelling these complex cognitive processes that are routinely assessed in the clinical setting has been challenging in animal models. Bridging the gap between mouse and human cognitive testing, the recently developed touchscreen methodology provides an innovative tool for assessing higher cognitive functions in rodents. Employing this technology, I will present some of our recent studies dissecting the functional role of synaptic scaffold genes in higher cognitive processes. Our approach aims to aid our understanding of the genetic basis of these different aspects of cognition, and pave a path towards being able to draw links to the genetic basis of cognitive diseases.
Directions to UQ
- Google Map:
-
- Directions:
- St Lucia Campus | Gatton campus.
Event Tools
Share This Event
Print
Email
Share
