BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:New approaches to old problems in behavioral neuroscience: The rol
 e of locus coeruleus in anxiety and cognitive control - Andrea Bari\, PhD 
 - Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences &amp\; The Picower Institute 
 for Learning and Memory - Massachusetts Institute of Technology\, Cambridg
 e\, MA 
DTSTART:20181005T120000Z
DTEND:20181005T130000Z
UID:TALK110416@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lorraine Coulson
DESCRIPTION:The noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC) has long been known to 
 participate in a variety of autonomic and cognitive functions. However\, p
 ast research has not been able to reach unanimous consensus around the spe
 cific effects of LC neurons manipulation on behavior\, also due to technic
 al difficulties. Modern neuroscientific techniques allow the perturbation 
 and recording of genetically-defined neural ensembles with great spatial a
 nd temporal specificity\, thus overcoming several limitations of the past.
  By combining optogenetic tools with both classic and novel behavioral ess
 ays\, I have investigated the effects of LC neurons manipulation on anxiet
 y\, attention and impulsivity in order to shed some light on long-standing
  debates in the field of neuromodulation. I will show that\, as expected\,
  LC activation improves attention and impulsivity\, but contrary to a wide
 ly popular belief\, stimulation of the LC decreases anxiety-like behavior 
 in a norepinephrine transporter (NET)-cre mouse. Finally I will illustrate
  ongoing viral tracing experiments aimed at the neuroanatomical dissection
  of prefrontal cortical top-down control over LC neurons activity.
LOCATION:Kenneth Craik Room\, Craik Marshall Building\, Downing Site\, Cam
 bridge
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR