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and treatment of mental illnesses.

 Archived Content

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The NIMH Director’s Innovation Speaker Series - Making, Breaking, and Linking Memories

Date and Time

March 14, 2019

Sponsor(s): NIMH Division of Extramural Activities

Innovation Speaker Series event featuring Sheena Josselyn, PhD
 On March 14, 2019, Sheena Josselyn, PhD, will present “Making, Breaking, and Linking Memories” as part of the NIMH Director’s Innovation Speaker Series. In her talk, Dr. Josselyn will provide an overview of recent research focusing on how a memory is physically or functionally represented in the brain through a memory trace or “engram.” Dr. Josselyn will also describe studies from her lab that are investigating how engrams supporting both fearful and rewarding memories are formed, stored, and changed with time or further experience.

Memory impairments are a hallmark of aging, major mental illnesses (such as schizophrenia and depression), and neurological disorders (such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases). Understanding how the brain encodes and stores information is highly relevant to both mental health and mental illness.

Dr. Sheena Josselyn is a Senior Scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children, and a professor in the departments of psychology and physiology at the University of Toronto. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Memory Function and Dysfunction and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Josselyn’s research focuses on understanding how information is encoded, stored, and used in the brain, using a variety of different tools to examine memory in mice.

Registration and Parking

This event is open without prior registration to all NIH staff and the public. Parking is available at a nominal fee. A government-issued photo identification card (such as an NIH ID or driver's license) is required to enter the building. The audio of this event will be available over WebEx.

Background

The NIMH Director’s Innovation Speaker Series was started to encourage broad, interdisciplinary thinking in the development of scientific initiatives and programs, and to press for theoretical leaps in science over the continuation of incremental thinking. Innovation speakers are encouraged to describe their work from the perspective of breaking through existing boundaries and developing successful new ideas, as well as working outside their initial area of expertise in ways that have pushed their fields forward. We encourage discussions of the meaning of innovation, creativity, breakthroughs, and paradigm-shifting.

More Information:

WEB EX link: https://nih.webex.com/nih/j.php?MTID=md4ef1e6c945d523ed04dc748e63fa0b9 
Meeting number: 629 642 460
Meeting password: INNOVJOSSELYN
1-650-479-3208 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)