Rebroadcast: How the Bat Brain Knows Its Place

Have you ever spaced out while traveling somewhere but still made it to your destination effortlessly? Our brain is amazing at calculating exactly where we are relative to things around us, but this is a skill we often take for granted. In this episode, Producer Sama Ahmed talks with Dr. Michael Yartsev about how we know where we are in the world, how we make memories, and how we make decisions. Dr. Yartsev is uncovering all of this utilizing a rather unconventional and totally awesome animal: the bat! This episode is a re-release of an episode from 2013.

Exploring the Zombie Brain: Brad Voytek

No, zombies are not real (at least not yet), but that does not mean we can’t enjoy analyzing their mental capacities. This is the work of Brad Voytek, scientist at UCSF and our guest this month on Carry the One Radio. When Brad isn’t busy with his scientific research mapping the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that makes us human, he “studies” the effects of zombification on the brain. He uses this work as a fun way to teach neuroscience. Listen as Brad describes the zombie brain and how it can help us teach how the human brain might work.

More on the Voytek Lab's research

Hosted by Sama Ahmed.

How the bat brain knows its place: Michael Yartsev

The ability of animals to navigate through the world is essential for survival and has been studied by scientists for over 40 years. Scientists have identified neurons called “place cells” that reside in a part of the brain called the hippocampus. Individual place cells are active only when the animal is in a particular location in space, and populations of place cells work together to create an internal representation of the environment.

Up until now, experiments involving the hippocampus and place cells have been conducted in two-dimensional settings, often with rats running through a flat maze. Our guest this month, Dr. Michael Yartsev, a fellow at The Princeton Neuroscience Institute and previously the Weizmann Institute, is interested in how the 3D world is perceived in the brain. He hopes to figure this out by recording activity from place cells in the brains of flying bats. Listen as Dr. Yartsev describes this unique system to study an old question.

Hosted by Osama Ahmed, Karuna Meda

How does the brain motivate us to move?: Anatol Kreitzer

Our guest this month is Anatol Kreitzer, assistant professor of physiology and neurology at UCSF and a scientist at the UCSF-affiliated Gladstone Institutes. Dr. Kreitzer has made pioneering discoveries in the study of the neural circuits that control movement. His lab is interested in the function of the basal ganglia, a structure deep in the brain that controls movement, motivation, and action selection. Dysfunction of the basal ganglia can lead to movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease where patients have difficulty either initiating or controlling movements.

To understand how the basal ganglia works, the Kreitzer lab records electrical activity from neurons within the basal ganglia and determines how it relates to movement in behaving mice. They can also control this activity using an emerging technique known as optogenetics. By delivering genes coding for light-sensitive proteins into specific neurons, scientists in the lab can manipulate the electrical activity of certain neurons to see how movement is affected. This technique is being used to study the cells in the basal ganglia that guide our actions based on previous experience. Dr. Kreitzer’s work has provided significant insights into how the basal ganglia works and may eventually lead to potential cures for movement disorders.

More on the Kreitzer Lab's research

Hosted by Osama Ahmed

Makings of a memory: Loren Frank

The brain’s capacity to remember experiences to guide future decisions is an essential and fascinating ability. Our guest this month Loren Frank, an associate professor in the Keck Center for Integrative Neuroscience at UCSF, is working to understand this process.

Dr. Frank studies how the hippocampus, a brain structure required for the formation of memories, mediates spatial learning in rats. Within the hippocampus exist place cells: neurons that are activated whenever an animal is in a specific location in its environment. His lab records the neuronal activity of place cells during formation and “replay” of memories while rats explore their environment. Disrupting the “replay” prevents the long term formation of memory. Later in our interview, Dr. Frank discusses his initial interest in astrophysics and how he became interested in a career in neuroscience.

More on the Frank Lab's research

How your brain tells time: Michael Shadlen

Our guest this week is Michael Shadlen, a professor at Washington University, HHMI investigator, and avid jazz guitarist.

Some neurons in our brain help us sense our environment while others help us move our body parts. Dr. Shadlen is interested in the neurons that link sensory information with behavior—the neurons that help us think and decide. He is also interested in how our brain can keep track of time. Learn how Michael and his lab record from the brains of monkeys to study these processes.

More on the Shadlen Lab's research

Producer: Sama Ahmed