Three neuroscientists discussed how birds learn to sing, an RNA editing approach to potentially cure the autism spectrum disorder Rett Syndrome, and the latest progress in functional imaging of human brains at the third annual Cornell Neurotech Mong Family Foundation Symposium, Sept. 27 in the Biotechnology Building.
In his talk, 鈥淢usic in the Brain: How Neural Circuits in the Songbird Learn to Sing,鈥 Michale Fee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said his lab works to understand how the brain generates complex sequential behaviors. 鈥淢any of the behaviors that we humans think of as uniquely human are examples of complex learned behaviors, like speech and language, musical performance and athletic performance,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hese are all behaviors in which the brain has to generate a precise sequence of motor gestures.鈥
Gail Mandel of Oregon Health and Science University focused on Rett Syndrome, a devastating neurological disease with a known cause but mysterious underpinnings. Her research seeks to repair mutations in the affected genewithout worrying about the fundamental nature of what it does. 鈥淯nlike some other neurological diseases, it's not neurodegenerative ... the neurons don鈥檛 die,鈥 she said.
In the final talk, 鈥淚maging Function and Connectivity in the Human Brain with High Magnetic Fields: Spanning Scales from Cortical Columns to the Whole Brain,鈥 Kamil Ugurbil, University of Minnesota, reviewed the history of magnetic resonance imaging of the human brain and addressed what is needed to study the brain and asked 鈥淒o we have to record the activity of all neurons to understand how the brain works?鈥
Each of the speakers has 鈥渕ade seminal contributions to neuroscience by developing or leveraging a diverse range of technologies, such as molecular genetic tools, optical and electrical recording, magnetic resonance imaging, and big-data analysis,鈥 said Chris Xu, professor of applied and engineering physics and co-director of Cornell Neurotech. 鈥淭he symposium exemplifies the crucial role of neurotechnology in the advancement of brain research.鈥
鈥淭he speakers were terrific, with an amazing breadth of topics in brain science and the latest progress in functional imaging of human brains,鈥 said , co-director of Cornell Neurotech and professor of neurobiology and behavior in the 麻豆视频 and 麻豆视频.
Cornell Neurotech launched in 2015 as a joint initiative between the 麻豆视频 and 麻豆视频 and , funded by a grant from the Mong family foundation through Cornell alum Stephen Mong 鈥92, M.Eng. 鈥93, MBA 鈥02.
鈥淐ornell Neurotech is front and center in the effort of developing new technologies and tools needed to reveal the inner workings of the brain with a particular focus on how individual brain cells and complex neural networks interact at the speed of thought,鈥 said Andrew Bass, professor of neurobiology and behavior and senior associate dean of CAS. 鈥淸It] started and remains very much a grassroots faculty effort lead by a group from the life sciences community, physical sciences and engineering.鈥
Jenna Powers is Research Support Coordinator for the Cornell NeuroNex Technology Hub.
This article also appeared in the .
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