How Neurons Learn: A Live Lab Session
Whether in the wild or in the urban jungle, memory of the spaces we inhabit and encounter are important for survival. In order to form these memories, neurons in the brain adapt by selectively responding to patterns of input.
To find out how neurons achieve this function, Upinder S. Bhalla’s lab uses genetically modified animals with neurons that can respond to light. After activating these neurons in specific patterns, researchers record the electrical activity from connected neurons. This allows them to understand how the connected neurons learn to selectively respond to different patterns of input. In this event, we saw how Anzal and his labmates are capturing neuronal activity from brain slices kept alive on a dish!
About the Researcher
Anzal K.S. is a graduate student in Upinder S. Bhalla’s lab, National Centre for Biological Sciences. There, he explores how sequential information is important in different aspects of memory formation. The scholars undertake a wide breadth of research—from studying the molecular interaction within a neuron to studying a network of neurons in the brain.
