University at Buffalo
Vice President for Research
 Distinguished Lecture Series

Terrence J. Sejnowski, Ph.D.
Howard Hughes Professor and Head of the Computational Neurobiology
Laboratory
Salk Institute for Biological Studies

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Secret Lives of Synapses
A pioneer in the field of computational neuroscience, Dr. Sejnowski is
interested in the hippocampus, believed to play a major role in learning
and memory; and the cerebral cortex, which holds our knowledge of the
world and how to interact with it. In his lab, Sejnowski team uses
sophisticated electrical and chemical monitoring techniques to measure
changes that occur in the connections among nerve cells in the
hippocampus during a simple form of learning. They use the results of
these studies to instruct large-scale computers to mimic how these nerve
cells work. By studying how the resulting computer simulations can
perform operations that resemble the activities of the hippocampus,
Sejnowski hopes to gain new knowledge of how the human brain is capable
of learning and storing memories. This knowledge ultimately may provide
medical specialists with critical clues to combating Alzheimer's disease
and other disorders that rob people of the critical ability to remember
faces, names, places and events. Synapses, defined as structural
specializations for neurotransmission occur frequently in neural
circuits. Their recruitment to physiological effectiveness may be an
important component of circuit modification. In several nervous systems,
recent evidence from electrophysiological and optophysiological
measurements have established strong cases for the emergence as active
synapses with appropriate stimulation. During normal development and
aging, synapses of individual neurons also change in number, and many of
these may have different functionalities at certain stages of their
developmental trajectory.
Monday
September 11, 2006
5:00 - 6:00 pm
Butler Auditorium
Farber Hall
South Campus