Dual Lecture
Abstracts:
Gina Turrigiano: Neocortical networks must generate and maintain stable activity patterns despite perturbations induced by learning and experience- dependent plasticity. Here I will discuss how network stability is maintained through the expression of homeostatic plasticity mechanisms that adjust synaptic and neuronal properties, and how this plasticity enables networks to operate within an optimal computational range. I’ll discuss recent work on the role of sleep and wake states in gating homeostatic plasticity, and present evidence that learning can re-set homeostatic setpoints.
Sacha Nelson: Homeostatic plasticity is normally bidirectional and reversible, returning firing rates to stable set points. But because homeostatic plasticity is much stronger early in development, when synaptic input is changing rapidly, it can overshoot, making cortical activity unstable. We recently discovered a set of transcription factors that redundantly regulate the gain of homeostatic plasticity during development. These factors, previously studied in the context of circadian rhythms, constrain homeostatic responses to activity deprivation and prevent developmental seizures. Further studies reveal a deep connection between the genes that comprise the vertebrate circadian clock and the regulation of neocortical activity.
Also available via zoom:
https://unil.zoom.us/j/7978206947