One of the leading hypothesized functions for adult hippocampal neurogenesis in memory is pattern separation. Loosely defined, pattern separation is the process of making similar patterns of neural activity more distinct. This is clearly relevant for learning and memory since we have many experiences that are similar to each other…
About a year ago I went through a phase of rabid excitement regarding my lab’s website. Then I had to do some experiments, write grants, move across the country. And then today I became rabidly excited again. Things in the Snyder lab are at a critical moment. My first 2…
I’ve thought of writing about RSS feeds for scientists for a couple of years now so it’s kind of funny that I’ve only gotten around to it 3 days before Google shuts down Reader. And it must be important to me because this is my first post in 6 months…
I’ve previously written about the functional differences between the septal (aka dorsal aka rostral¹ aka posterior²) and temporal (ventral/caudal/anterior) hippocampus and how studies are increasingly not treating the hippocampus as a single homogeneous structure. Myself and others have extended this perspective to studies of adult neurogenesis and now I’m happy…
Originally posted at Hubbian There’s one week remaining before the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting begins. That means you have about 6 days before you really really have to start tallying a list of presentations. Of course, WITH HUBBIAN*, you actually could put it off that long and still gather a…
My UBC Psychology page and Neuroscience links are up. Grad school application deadlines are approaching. I think it’s time to formally advertise that… I WANT YOU IN MY LAB! The lab’s goal is to identify the role of adult neurogenesis in memory and stress-related behaviours. We inhibit neurogenesis with transgenic…
THIS IS EXCITING. READERS THAT ARE PREGNANT / HAVE HEART PROBLEMS STOP NOW CLICK HERE. Over 30,000 people attend the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting and for this reason alone people either love it or hate it. On one hand, you can learn about any type of neuroscience research imaginable.…
About a year ago we published a paper linking adult neurogenesis to depression. A causal sort of ‘linking’, right? I mean, we found that, when adult neurogenesis was eliminated, mice had elevated glucocorticoids in response to stress and showed depressive-like behaviours1. So doesn’t this mean that impaired adult neurogenesis could…
Now that I have something to show for it, let this be a formal announcement that I’ve returned to Toronto to join Paul Frankland’s lab (and therefore the larger Josselyn-Frankland group). I’ve always liked their work and one of the techniques I’m excited to learn is the use of viruses to…
Memory manipulation has become one of the most hotly pursued topics in neuroscience. After all, much or of who are is based on what we’ve learned, including memories that we can consciously recall as well as acquired desires and habits that can lead to problems like addiction. In rodents, we’ve known…