Lectures and seminars Nobel Laureate Revisiting Lecture

The brain's work is done by millions of parallel, intertwined, and overlapping neural circuits. These circuits are constructed by synaptic connections that not only transfer information from one neuron to the next, but computationally process this information as it is being transferred. The specificity of synaptic connections between neurons and of the diverse properties of these synaptic connections controls the functional architecture of neural circuits, but how this specificity is achieved is only now beginning to emerge. My lecture will discuss how signaling via trans-neuronal adhesion molecules sets up synaptic connections in brain and enables the continuous restructuring of these synapses throughout life. I will describe a limited set of diverse adhesion molecules, such as neurexins and teneurins, that organize the exquisite design of neural circuits that underlies all information processing by the brain.     

The host for the seminar is Professor Thomas Perlmann.