Ask a Neuroscientist: Does the brain have an energy budget?

Ask a Neuroscientist: Does the brain have an energy budget?

What is the brain's energy budget? Ada Yee discusses three possible ways of assessing how the brain distributes its resources: first, by direct measurement of oxygen flow and glucose uptake; second, by examining what processes the brain sacrifices when energy gets low; and third, by calculation from known simple properties of neurons.

Photo Credit: N. Seery, Wellcome Images

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The Anesthesiology and the Ecstasy

This week on Brains and Bourbon, we chat with Boris Heifets about anesthesia and the brain, treating Parkinson's disease with electrical stimulation, and why taking ecstasy might be a good idea if you suffer from depression*. Dr. Heifets is an anesthesiologist at Stanford Hospital, as well as a postdoctoral researcher in Rob Malenka's lab. *And you do it in your doctor's office.

This week on Brains and Bourbon,  we chat with Boris Heifets about anesthesia and the brain, treating Parkinson's disease with electrical stimulation, and why taking ecstasy might be a good idea if you suffer from depression*. 

Dr. Heifets is an anesthesiologist at Stanford Hospital, as well as a postdoctoral researcher in Rob Malenka's lab.


*And you do it in your doctor's office. 

"What are the questions that compel you?"

This week on Neurotalk, we chat with Kelsey Martin about the road from literature to neuroscience, tagging synapses, and what to do with all these PhDs. Dr. Martin is the Chair and professor of Biological Chemistry and professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at University of California Los Angeles.

This week on Neurotalk, we chat with Kelsey Martin about the road from literature to neuroscience, tagging synapses, and what to do with all these PhDs.

Dr. Martin is the Chair and professor of Biological Chemistry and professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at University of California Los Angeles.

The Cytoskeleton: A Gift to Cell Biology from Neuroscience

The Cytoskeleton: A Gift to Cell Biology from Neuroscience

Lately, I’ve been on the hunt for connections between cell biology, which is what I am studying for my PhD, and neuroscience, which has been the focus of this blog (see my last post, The Cell Cycle for the Neuroscientist: 3 Useful Concepts). This past weekend at a small local conference sponsored by the American Society for Cell Biology I stumbled across a doozy of a connection: the cytoskeleton. Cell biologists are obsessed with the cytoskeleton because it has a role in almost everything a cell does, from how a cell eats to how it moves, to how it holds shape and divides. But cell biologists did not discover the cytoskeleton. Neuroscientists did.

Photo credit: Matthew Daniels. Source: Wellcome Images

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Narcolepsy, and Allergies, and AIDS! Oh my!

This week on Brains and Bourbon, we talk immunology with Mary Cavanagh, who explains how specialized cells recognizes self v. non-self to keep the body safe, and how loss of that recognition can lead to a whole host of problems. Dr. Cavanagh is a postdoc in Jorg Goronzy’s lab here at Stanford. "Brains and Bourbon" is a show about cocktails and neuroscience. Each week, we invite a neuroscientist to discuss the process and motivation behind their science, and to share their favorite cocktail with us. You have a brain and you like to drink, so come sit down and have a drink with us.

This week on Brains and Bourbon, we talk immunology with Mary Cavanagh, who explains how specialized cells recognize self v. non-self to keep the body safe, and how loss of that recognition can lead to a whole host of problems. 

Dr. Cavanagh is a postdoc in Jorg Goronzy’s lab here at Stanford, as well as a frequent contributor to the Neuroblog. 

Brains & Bourbon airs every Wednesday at 1pm on 90.1FM KZSU, which can be streamed here: http://kzsulive.stanford.edu/

"Take risks" Neurotalk S2E23 Karel Svoboda

This week on Neurotalk, we chat with Karel Svoboda about how studying the brain inspires invention, the development of two-photon microscopy, visualizing synaptic turnover, and more! Dr. Svoboda is a group leader at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Janelia Farms.

This week on Neurotalk, we chat with Karel Svoboda about how studying the brain inspires invention, the development of two-photon microscopy, visualizing synaptic turnover, and more!

Dr. Svoboda is a group leader at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Janelia Farms. 


Building on prior knowledge: How does the student brain learn?

Building on prior knowledge: How does the student brain learn?

This piece is about the latest published paper of Dr. Marlieke van Kesteren, postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University. This research paper is now published in early access format on the website of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. The experiment has been executed at the Donders Institute of the Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands in the group of professor Guillén Fernández.

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"Blind luck is your best friend" Neurotalk S2E22 Loren Looger

This week on Neurotalk, we chat with Loren Looger about the first calcium indicators, designer proteins, and how the self-described "worst talk in the history of the world" landed him his own lab. Dr. Looger is a group leader at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Janelia Farms.

This week on Neurotalk, we chat with Loren Looger about the first calcium indicators, designer proteins, and how the self-described "worst talk in the history of the world" landed him his own lab. 

Dr. Looger is a group leader at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Janelia Farms.