WEBINAR—The Brain as a Whole: Executive Neurons and Sustaining Homeostatic Glia

September 29, 2020
11 a.m.–12 p.m. EDT

During this exclusive live webinar, Carl Petersen, PhD and Alexei Verkhratsky, MD, PhD, DSc, discuss astrocyte-mediated homeostatic control of the central nervous system, and how optical and 2-photon microscopy can be used for functional neuroimaging.

Imaging Neuronal Function
Carl Petersen, PhD, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Lausanne, Switzerland

Highly dynamic and spatially distributed neuronal circuits in the brain control mammalian behavior. Through technological advances, optical measurements of neuronal function can now be carried out in behaving mice at multiple scales. Wide-field imaging allows the dynamic interactions between different brain areas to be studied as sensory information is processed and transformed into behavioral output. Within a brain region, two-photon microscopy can be used for functional neuroimaging l network activity with cellular resolution allowing different types of projection neurons to be distinguished. Together optical methods provide versatile tools for causal mechanistic understanding of neuronal network function in mice.

Astrocytes: Indispensable Neuronal Supporters in Sickness and in Health
Alexei Verkhratsky, MD, PhD, DSc, University of Manchester, England

The nervous system is composed of two arms: the executive neurons and the homeostatic neuroglia. The neurons require energy, support, and protection, all of which is provided by the neuroglia. Astrocytes, the principal homeostatic cells of the brain and spinal cord, are tightly integrated into the neural networks and act within the context of the neural tissue. As astrocytes control the homeostasis of the central nervous system at all levels of organization, from the molecular to the whole organ level, we can begin to define and understand brain vulnerabilities to aging and diseases.