Marco Prado (The University of Western Ontario) – May 22nd, 2015

Neuroscience Seminar Series:

Marco Prado – Professor , Roberts Research Institute, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Western Ontario

‘Genetic analysis of cholinergic regulation of cognitive function’

Video sur Média2Descartes.

In this talk I will summarize efforts to understand long-term regulation of brain functions by distinct groups of cholinergic neurons. By using conditional knockout mice coupled to next generation sequencing as well as neurochemical and molecular tools, I will discuss how cholinergic neurons can fine-tune circuitries in the brain by a myriad of different mechanisms. By combining genetics, including chemogenetic tools, and behavioral assessment using touchscreen technology it is now feasible to dissect how specific cholinergic circuits regulate executive functions, such as attention and cognitive flexibility, as well as hippocampal-dependent learning and memory.