Flavio Donato, Biozentrum Basel, Switzerland: “Divergent Recruitment of Developmentally-Defined Neuronal Ensembles Supports Memory Dynamics”

 Abstract :

Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter for movement, motivation, procedural learning and other essential functions. It triggers intracellular signaling cascades that depend on the type of receptor it activates. These receptors are differentially expressed in various dopamine target cells and provide a rich array of responses, including changes in gene expression, which are important for long-lasting adaptations. I will discuss information provided by the study of translating mRNA and epigenetic DNA modifications in specific neuronal populations of the striatum. This led us to suspect a role of prostaglandin E2 in modulating D2 neurons and to demonstrate cell type-specific mRNA alterations induced in the nucleus accumbens by operant training for highly palatable food.

Also available through Zoom:
https://unil.zoom.us/j/2636884125