[BIC-announce] FW: Killam Lecture - Tomorrow - Unraveling Neuron-Glial Communication and Dynamics at Hippocampal Synapses

[Jennifer Chew, Ms.]

Pls. discard if this is a duplicate.  Thank you.  Jennifer 

 

 

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KILLAM LECTURE - TOMORROW

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

 

Speaker:  Dr. Keith Murai, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, McGill University

 

Title:  Unraveling Neuron-Glial Communication and Dynamics at
Hippocampal Synapses

 

Time:  4:00 pm

 

Place:  de Grandpre Communication Centre


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Dear Colleagues,

It is a great pleasure to have Dr. Keith Murai, an assistant professor
at the McGill Center for Research in Neuroscience (Montreal General
hospital) presenting this week's Killam seminar.

Dr. Murai is interested in the regulation of synaptic morphology and
function.  He is particularly interested in understanding how neural and
glial proteins and their signaling complexes regulate synaptic
morphology and function.  In certain brain regions such as the
hippocampus (an area important for learning and memory), neurons have
the potential to undergo morphological changes into adulthood. In
particular, the dendritic spines, the small protrusions on dendrites
that receive the vast majority of excitatory input in the brain, show
extensive geometrical remodeling. They can change their morphology on
the order of minutes, suggesting that alterations in neural activity can
quickly alter spine parameters. These modifications may enable rapid
adjustments to ionic balance (i.e. Ca2+), biochemical, and protein
signaling events that impact postsynaptic physiology. Proper spine
structure, motility, and organization is likely critical for synaptic
efficacy while abnormalities may be related to mental retardation
associated with conditions such as Down, Williams, and fragile-X
syndromes, and cognitive impairments linked to schizophrenia. Thus,
identifying the mechanisms that regulate the structural features of
spines is important for understanding elements of synaptic plasticity,
cognitive function, and mental disease.

Projects in his lab include the study of the role Eph receptors and
their ephrin ligands in defining synaptic morphology and understanding
how the relationship between neurons and glia influences brain
plasticity.   Dr. Murai's lab employs a combination of molecular,
biochemical, and cell imaging approaches to study the synaptic function
of proteins and signaling complexes. 

 

Alyson Fournier, PhD
Assistant Professor - Neurology and Neurosurgery
Montreal Neurological Institute
3801 Rue University, BT-109
Montreal, QC
H3A 2B4
TEL: 514-398-3154
FAX: 514-398-6547
alyson.fournier at mcgill.ca 

 

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