The Neurotransmitter Newsletter of the Western North Carolina Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience September, 2009 – Issue #3 Together We Can by Brian McCool, Ph.D., WNCSfN President Inside this issue WNCSfN President’s Note ..... 1 SfN Chapter Awards............... 1 Meet our New Officers............ 2 SfN 2009 ................................ 3 Breaking News ....................... 3 Funding Opportunities ............ 4 Nobel Laureate Meeting ......... 4 Brain Awareness Council ....... 5 WNCSfN Hotlist ...................... 6 Better Know a Lab .................. 6 Animal Research Advocacy ... 7 Historical Perspective ............. 8 Neuroscience around NC ....... 9 Worth Visiting ......................... 9 You Won’t Want to Miss ......... 9 The dawning of a new school year brings great promise for the future of our chapter. This promise reflects the dedication of our past president, Dr. Dwayne Godwin, and the chapter’s previous executive committee. If you haven’t already, please make an effort to thank them personally. The impressive list of chapter activities over the past two years is also due to the hard work of our faculty and trainees. These accomplishments are a credit to the remarkably rich and diverse Neuroscience community here at Wake Forest and Western North Carolina. I now want to take the opportunity to encourage all our members and supporters to volunteer your time, talent, and/or treasure to the chapter over the next year. There are so many volunteer opportunities that you are bound to find one to fit your schedule. The easiest of course is to JOIN THE CHAPTER. September kicks off our official membership drive. Your dues provide monetary support for ALL chapter activities throughout the coming year. These include the winter Student/Post- Doc poster session with its pizza lunch and Mary A. Bell Award for outstanding student and post-doc posters, various Neuroscience seminars that the Chapter helps sponsor through the school year, the Spring WNCSfN Symposia, and Brain Awareness activities throughout the Spring. If you have a particular talent and the time to share it, the Executive Committee has also formed three ‘standing committees’ – Professional Develop- ment, Education/Outreach, and Communication/ Membership – that can help direct your efforts. Contact us ([email protected]) and we’ll get you connected with the appropriate chair-person. Our chapter will only progress if we all GET INVOLVED. I’d like to encourage everyone to STAY CONNECTED. Thanks to the efforts of Mike Todd (Phys/Pharm & Academic Computing), we now have excellent access to the Chapter’s website (http://www1.wfubmc.edu/SfN/ ) and you’ll find updated news (including present and past issues of ‘The Neurotransmitter’), membership forms, and upcoming events. For those of you on Facebook, John Graef has helped us set up a WNCSfN fan-page (search Western North Carolina Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience) that we’ll use along with email to update members on recent happenings. My challenge to you all over the next two years is this – If you see something that needs to be fixed, fix it. If you have an idea, make it so. If you need help, ask us for it. Together, we can…. WNCSFN Officers: President: Brian McCool, Ph.D. Secretary/Treasurer: Christos Constantinidis, Ph.D. Councilors: Allyson Bennett, Ph.D. Michelle Nicolle, Ph.D. Wayne Silver, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Councilor: Colleen Hanlon, Ph.D. Student Councilor: John Graef Administrative Assistant: Jody Dedo Become a member of the WNCSfN! See page six for details. SfN 2009 Chapters Travel Awards: WNCSfN Winners by Katie Martucci, Neurobiology & Anatomy Graduate Student Congratulations to Carson Dobrin and Colleen Hanlon, Ph.D., this year’s winners of the SfN travel awards for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. They were each awarded $750.00 and complimentary registration to attend SfN 2009. Carson is a fourth year Neuroscience graduate student in Dr. David Roberts’ lab in the Physiology and Pharmacology Department. She is also an active member of the Brain Awareness Council. Carson’s abstract is entitled “Binge-abstinence cycles increase the motivation to self-administer cocaine”. The study involves self-administration of cocaine by rats, and from her results Carson is able to conclude that ‘Every day 24hr access seems to produce tolerance to the effects of cocaine, whereas binge/abstinence cycles appear to increase the motivation to self-administer cocaine and model an important transition point in the addiction process.’ Colleen is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Linda Porrino’s lab in the Physiology and Pharmacology Department. She is also currently serving as the current postdoctoral representative for WNCSfN. Her study entitled “Frontal-striatal connectivity in cocaine users and its association with behavior: an fMRI and DTI study” uses functional MRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging to determine whether differences in frontal-striatal connectivity in continued on page six Page | 1 The Neurotransmitter
Transcript
The Neurotransmitter
Newsletter of the Western North Carolina Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience September, 2009 – Issue #3
Together We Can by Brian McCool, Ph.D., WNCSfN President
Inside this issue WNCSfN President’s Note ..... 1 SfN Chapter Awards............... 1 Meet our New Officers ............ 2 SfN 2009 ................................ 3 Breaking News ....................... 3 Funding Opportunities ............ 4 Nobel Laureate Meeting ......... 4 Brain Awareness Council ....... 5 WNCSfN Hotlist ...................... 6 Better Know a Lab .................. 6 Animal Research Advocacy ... 7 Historical Perspective ............. 8 Neuroscience around NC ....... 9 Worth Visiting ......................... 9 You Won’t Want to Miss ......... 9
The dawning of a new school year brings greatpromise for the future of our chapter. This promisereflects the dedication of our past president, Dr.Dwayne Godwin, and the chapter’s previousexecutive committee. If you haven’t already, pleasemake an effort to thank them personally. Theimpressive list of chapter activities over the past twoyears is also due to the hard work of our faculty andtrainees. These accomplishments are a credit to theremarkably rich and diverse Neurosciencecommunity here at Wake Forest and Western NorthCarolina.
I now want to take the opportunity to encourageall our members and supporters to volunteer yourtime, talent, and/or treasure to the chapter over thenext year. There are so many volunteeropportunities that you are bound to find one to fityour schedule. The easiest of course is to JOIN THECHAPTER. September kicks off our officialmembership drive. Your dues provide monetarysupport for ALL chapter activities throughout thecoming year. These include the winter Student/Post-Doc poster session with its pizza lunch and Mary A.Bell Award for outstanding student and post-docposters, various Neuroscience seminars that theChapter helps sponsor through the school year, theSpring WNCSfN Symposia, and Brain Awareness
activities throughout the Spring. If you have a particular talent and the time to share it, the Executive Committee has also formed three ‘standing committees’ – Professional Develop-ment, Education/Outreach, and Communication/Membership – that can help direct your efforts. Contact us ([email protected]) and we’ll get you connected with the appropriate chair-person. Our chapter will only progress if we all GET INVOLVED.
I’d like to encourage everyone to STAY CONNECTED. Thanks to the efforts of Mike Todd(Phys/Pharm & Academic Computing), we now have excellent access to the Chapter’s website (http://www1.wfubmc.edu/SfN/) and you’ll find updated news (including present and past issues of ‘The Neurotransmitter’), membership forms, and upcoming events. For those of you on Facebook, John Graef has helped us set up a WNCSfN fan-page (search Western NorthCarolina Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience) that we’ll use along with email to update members on recent happenings.
My challenge to you all over the next two years is this – If you see something that needs tobe fixed, fix it. If you have an idea, make it so. If you need help, ask us for it. Together, we can….
WNCSFN Officers: President:
Brian McCool, Ph.D. Secretary/Treasurer: Christos Constantinidis,
Congratulations to Carson Dobrin and ColleenHanlon, Ph.D., this year’s winners of the SfN travelawards for graduate students and post-doctoralfellows. They were each awarded $750.00 andcomplimentary registration to attend SfN 2009.
Carson is a fourth year Neuroscience graduatestudent in Dr. David Roberts’ lab in the Physiologyand Pharmacology Department. She is also anactive member of the Brain Awareness Council.Carson’s abstract is entitled “Binge-abstinencecycles increase the motivation to self-administercocaine”. The study involves self-administration ofcocaine by rats, and from her results Carson is ableto conclude that ‘Every day 24hr access seems to
produce tolerance to the effects of cocaine, whereas binge/abstinence cycles appear to increase the motivation to self-administer cocaine and model an important transition point in the addiction process.’
Colleen is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Linda Porrino’s lab in the Physiology and Pharmacology Department. She is also currently serving as the current postdoctoral representative for WNCSfN. Her study entitled “Frontal-striatal connectivity in cocaine users and its association with behavior: an fMRI and DTI study” uses functional MRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging to determine whether differences in frontal-striatal connectivity in
continued on page sixPage | 1 The Neurotransmitter
Meet our New WNCSfN Officers!by John Graef, Neuroscience Graduate Student
President: Dr. Brian McCool Dr. n associate professor in the department of Physiology and Pharmacology. His research
interests include investigating the neurobiology of alcohol abuse and anxiety. As president over the next two years, hisgoals are to encourage and foster the involvement of postdoctoral fellows within the chapter, and to continue thechapter’s role in education and outreach activities by actively engage members across all WNCSN campuses. He planson doing this through the use of computer-based activities like an interactive website for membership/expertisesearches and SharePoint websites that allow for facilitation of cross-campus message boards, document sharing, andstrategic planning.
McCool is a
Secretary/Treasurer: Dr. Christos Constantinidis Dr. Constantinidis is an associate professor in the department of Neurobiology and Anatomy. His research is
focused on understanding how neuronal activity in the primate cerebral cortex gives rise to higher cognitive functions.His goals for the office will be to foster an environment of excellence, increase the visibility of the WNCSN Chapter,and promote outreach particularly dealing with the increasing activity of groups opposed to animal use in research.
Councilor: Dr. Allyson Bennett Dr. Bennett is an associate professor in the department of Physiology and Pharmacology. Her research
centers on genetic and environmental factors that contribute to individual differences in health across the lifespan. Sheis a strong advocate and participant in outreach and education activities and hopes to continue to build and bridgeprograms that actively engage a diverse audience in learning about neuroscience research, careers in the biomedicalsciences, and, particularly, both the value and the ethical issues surrounding animal research. She plans on doing thisby assisting in scientific, fundraising, and membership recruitment activities that will enhance opportunities forinteraction with the local community.
Councilor: Dr. Michelle Nicolle Dr. Nicolle has a joint appointment as an assistant professor of Internal Medicine/Section on Gerontology and
Geriatric Medicine and the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology. The major aim of her research is tounderstand the neurobiological basis of age-related cognitive decline. Her vision for the chapter is to cultivateinterdisciplinary neuroscience research by facilitating productive working relationships between basic and clinicalscience faculty in order to develop and apply new scientific knowledge to understand and improve brain function. Shehopes to achieve this by giving all neuroscience trainees, whether graduate students, postdoctoral or medical fellows,the opportunity to have the broadest educational opportunities feasible for them to develop an understanding of thetranslational process.
Councilor: Dr. Wayner Silver Dr. Silver is a professor in the Department of Biology on the Reynolda Campus and the coordinator of the
undergraduate Neuroscience minor. His research is focused on the neurophysiology of the chemical senses. He seeshis main role as councilor as bringing information about the Chapter’s activities to undergraduate neurosciencestudents. Wake Forest will be hosting SYNAPSE (Symposium for Young Neuroscientists And Professors of theSouthEast) in March of 2010 and he’d like to see the WNCSFN play a role in running it.
Postdoctoral Councilor: Dr. Colleen Hanlon Dr. Hanlon is a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Linda Porrino’s lab in the Department of Physiology and
Pharmacology. Her research interests include investigation of functional changes in neural systems involved in theprogression of and recovery from neurobiological disease. As postdoctoral councilor she will seek to facilitatecommunication not only between the Executive Council and the postdoctoral members, but also focus on increasingparticipation from our members and the neuroscience community as a whole – especially as it applies to grants,awards, and leadership positions at a national level with the Society for Neuroscience.
Student Councilor: John Graef John is a fifth year Neuroscience graduate student in Dr. Dwayne Godwin’s lab in the department of
Neurobiology and Anatomy. His research involves investigating changes in neuronal excitability that give rise toseizures. As the student representative, he plans on continuing the previous officer’s outstanding work by maintainingthe local WNCSN website, continuing the monthly newsletter, and working with the Brain Awareness Council to facilitatepublic education and community outreach programs.
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September, 2009 – Issue #3
Breaking News in Neuroscience! by Bethany Brookshire, Physiology & Pharmacology Graduate Student
Behavioral tagging is a general mechanism of long-
term memory formation Ballarini F, Moncada D, Martinez
MC, Alen N, Viola H. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Aug
25;106(34):14599-604.
There are many known differencesbetween long-term memory (LTM)and short-term memory (STM), notthe least of which is that LTM isthought to involve sustainedsynaptic changes requiring proteinsynthesis, while STM is thought toconsist of short-term changes in cell-firing rates. However, Bellarini et al.,out of Argentina, have recentlyfound that a training task for STMcan be made to induce LTM simplyby placing the animals in a novelenvironment shortly before or afterthe STM learning task. This noveltywas thought to be a “behavioral tag”,inducing protein synthesis andincreasing the possibility of synapticalterations and the formation ofLTM. In the current study, the groupused several hippocampus-dependant tasks for STM, performedwith novelty to induce LTM. Theythen showed that by blockingtranslation during the noveltyexposure, they also blocked theformation of LTM, demonstratingthat the novel exposure prior to theSTM task serves as a behavioral“tag” promoting the synthesis ofproteins for the beginnings of LTMformation. This study provides aninteresting view on the link betweenSTM and LTM, and how LTM couldbe induced or facilitated by novelexposures surrounding STMlearning.
Share the latest and greatestbreaking news in Neuroscience withThe Neurotransmitter! We will coverone paper per edition. Help keepyour colleagues up to date on thelatest news in your field and others.Submit to [email protected].
The 39th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience will be held in Chicago, IL, October 17-21, 2009. This exciting meeting is less than one month away! Neuroscience 2009 will offerattendees access to unequalled international science and valuable networking venues. Chicagowas ranked by Travel + Leisure Magazine as the third "best city in America." Be sure to checkout the numerous unique cuisines and attractions this city has to offer!
• Don’t miss the opportunity to take advantage of early registration savings! Save up to $40 byregistering by September 24.
• Student members receive discount opportunities on registration fees, air fare, lodging, andmore. Visit the student attendees web page for information.
• The Final Program for Neuroscience 2009 is now available online. Check out the followinguseful features that will help you plan your trip:
Travel Information Featured Lectures; Special Lectures Hotel Map and List Symposia; Minisymposia Shuttle Schedule and Route Workshops, Meetings & Events Professional Development SfN-Sponsored Socials
Resources Satellite Events and Non-SfN Socials Attendee Resources List of Sessions by Theme & Day Exhibitor List Awards in Neuroscience
• Need a roommate? Find someone and save money using SfN’s online Roommate Matching Forum.
• Be sure to utilize the Neuroscience Meeting Planner to plan your meeting. This resource allows you to search posters, presentations, and sessions by author name, keyword, date, etc, and then save and print your itenerary.
• The next issue of The Neurotransmitter will be released just prior to Neuroscience2009 in early October. This special issue will be devoted entirely to the meeting! Don’thave time to plan ahead? We will highlight lectures, symposia, workshops, socials,and other SfN 2009 events, including those in which your colleagues in the WNCSfNwill be participating. Do you want to post or communicate something (roommate ortravel needs, socials, etc.) to your WNCSfN colleagues in the October SfN 2009 issueof The Neurotransmitter? Send your postings to [email protected] by October 5.
Travel Award Winner! International Society for Developmental Psychobiology Conference
Congratulations to Jonathan Morgan, winner of the NIH/Sackler Insitute travel award forthe 2009 International Society for Developmental Psychobiology (ISDP) Conference. The ISDPConference, a satellite meeting for SfN, will take place October 14-17, 2009 in Chicago, IL. Thetravel award provides Jonathan with $525 toward travel expenditures. Jonathan is a third yearNeuroscience graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. April Ronca in the Department ofObstetrics and Gynecology. Jonathan’s abstract is entitled “Acute postnatal behavioralobservations following perinatal asphyxia in the rat.” This study assesses hypoxia-induceddecreases in species-typic behaviors of prenatal rats immediately after birth, and how thesedecreases affect the onset of suckling.
Every year, around 500 graduate students gather on the idyllic island of Lindau insouthern Germany for the opportunity to interact with Nobel Prize winners. This year was noexception, as I happened to be among the fortunate few from the U.S. who were selected toattend. The 2009 Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting that took place this past July was dedicatedto chemistry, and as a neuroscientist, I felt very lucky to have been chosen to go. Twenty-threeNobel Laureates, mostly comprised of past winners in the field of chemistry, spent a weekinteracting with young researchers from around the world through special lectures, lively paneldiscussions and active group sessions. Topics ranged from the very specific to the very broadand included surface chemistry, climate change, the importance of basic research, the future ofdrug discovery, alternative energy sources, and yes, there was even a lecture on synaptictransmission. The lone neuroscience talk was given by Erwin Neher, who received the Nobel Prize inPhysiology or Medicine in 1991 along with Bert Sakmann. These two pioneering scientistsdeveloped the patch-clamp technique as a way to prove the single ion channel concept.Basically, at that time it was thought that single ion channels functioned in the cell membrane,but no one had been able to record their individual currents because there was just too muchbackground noise. So Neher and Sakmann started using these really small glass pipette tips topatch on to a part of the membrane and form an extremely tight seal. This reduced the noiseenough to let them see current being passed through single ion channels. Now naturally, since I am a neuroscientist, and since I spent the first year in the labbeating my head against the wall trying to perfect this technique that he helped develop, I wasparticularly excited to meet Dr. Neher. I got this chance early in the week when I sat next to himat the opening reception dinner. He was extremely polite and personable as he told me storiesof his early days in the lab as a graduate student, and the types of obstacles I might find on theroad to establishing my own research career. When I asked him about the Nobel Prize, heseemed rather nonchalant about the actual experience of winning it, but instead emphasizedthat the best part was getting opportunities to come to events like the Lindau meeting andinteracting with young scientists. At first I thought that he was just trying to make me feel good(and it worked), but the more we talked, I realized that he genuinely meant it. We also talkedabout my research and the struggles of recording from neurons on days when the patch-clampgods seem to be angry. Overall, this was truly an amazing experience. Not every young researcher gets achance to meet a Nobel Laureate, and there I was in the presence of over twenty. It washumbling at first to meet such revered scientists, but the more I got to interact with them, themore human they became, and the more I realized that they are a lot like me - except of coursethat they are a lot smarter, richer and more famous than me (minor details). The main thing thatwe all seemed to have in common, however, was a true passion for science, and this was justthe type of meeting that reignites both your enthusiasm for research and your curiosity about
Funding Opportunities by Erik Oleson, Neuroscience Graduate Student Postdoctoral Fellowship Program inParis at the Institut Pasteur This postdoctoral fellowship program isdesigned specifically for United Statescitizens to work at any laboratory at theInstitut Pasteur in Paris France for athree year period. Successful applicantswill receive $70,000 dollars annually($55,000 salary; $15,000 lab supplies).Five major Neuroscience Units exist atthe Institut Pasteur, including: Geneticsand Physiology of Hearing, HumanGenetics and Cognitive Functions,Integrative Neurobiology of CholinergicSystems, Perception and Memory andRetrovirus and Genetic Transfer.
Application deadline: February 12, 2010.
The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow-shipsfor New Americans (Graduate StudentFunding) Two years of funding is available to “newAmerican graduate students,” meaningresident aliens (i.e., holds a GreenCard), naturalized citizens or children ofnaturalized citizens. A fellow at WakeForest University would receive a$36,000 award each year ($20,000 tofellow; $16,000 toward tuition).Applicants must not be over 30 years ofage as of November 1, 2009.
Application deadline: November 1, 2009.
Ewing Marion Kauffman FoundationOutstanding Postdoctoral Entrepreneur(OPE) Award Nominate, or self-nominate, any scientistwho successfully developed andcommercialized their intellectualproperty as a postdoctoral fellowworking in the United States. The awardwinner will receive a $10,000honorarium at the National PostdoctoralAssociation's 8th Annual Meeting onMarch 12-14, 2010, in Philadelphia.
No application deadline.
the natural world. Even though the meeting was heldover two months ago, I still fell that extra excitement Icarried home with me on the flight back from Germany –which is substantially longer than the few days ofincreased motivation experienced after the annual SFNmeetings. The Laureates reminded me that we becomescientists because it’s our nature to be inquisitive, andthat when it comes down to it, science simply is aboutenjoying the pursuit of knowledge. Now, I’ll just have tokeep that in mind the next time the patch-clamp godsdecide to mess with me. For more information aboutthe meeting, go to www.lindau-nobel.de.
September, 2009 – Issue #3
A Week with Nobel Laureates: How I Spent My Summer Vacation by John Graef, Neuroscience Graduate Student
BBAACC WWiisshh LLiisstt Don’t have the time to volunteer? Wecan accept goods and services, andhave a tax ID number so yourdonations are tax deductible! Interestedin purchasing/donating these items?Contact Katie Martucci, BAC MaterialsManagement Chair:
Slides for light microscopes (ie. brain tissue, neurons, disease)
Things to print our logo on (ie. brain shaped stress balls, t-shirts, pencils, stickers, backpacks)
Latex/Non-latex Gloves (small size only)
Prize donations for brain art contest, K - 5th grade:
gift certificates (bookstore, ice cream)
brain games like Cranium, Scattegories
stickers, puzzles, etc. Any additional suggestions
welcome!
A big thanks to Jody Dedo fordonating funds to the BAC for a DeluxeBrain Model that shows pathologies onone half of the brain that can becompared to the opposite normal halfbrain – it is VERY cool and will be agreat addition to our stations.
We’ve also now received two muchneeded laptops!! Our local WNCSfNchapter donated funds so we couldpurchase a laptop to be used at BACvisits. AND Jody Dedo graciouslydonated a laptop and padded case tohelp with our stations!! The laptops willbe mainly used to show a drugPowerpoint presentation at school visitsand also to display images from ournew USB microscope! (These will be aGREAT help so now volunteers will notneed to bring their own laptops toschool visits!) Thanks so much to bothof you!!
WFU Brain Awareness Council What is the WFU Brain Awareness Council (BAC)? We are a group of graduatestudent and faculty volunteers from different science-related disciplines with a love forneuroscience and education. We visit local schools and other venues to teach K-12 studentsabout their brains. During a typical visit, students are divided into groups and rotate through avariety of age-appropriate stations where they have the opportunity to participate in exciting,hands-on activities to learn about neuroscience. Volunteering is fun and easy! Our mostpopular stations include: Human Brains, Comparative Brains, Drugs of Abuse, Build aNeuron, Hearing, Visual Adaptation, Visual Illusions, Careers in Science, Memory,Multisensory Integration. Check out our website for more information:http://graduate.wfu.edu/bac.
Minds, Movies, and More: Brain Awareness and You!by Scott Dobrin, Neuroscience Graduate Student
As the summer heat begins to dwindle andstudents return to classes, the BAC is gearing up foranother great year. We were excited to kick things offwith a new feature event, a brain-themed movie nightfollowed by a panel discussion. This Brain AwarenessWeek favorite is becoming a recurring event through theyear in an effort to reach an adult audience moreregularly. On Monday September 14th we viewed“Awakenings” starring Robert Dinero and RobinWilliams. The film follows catatonic patients as theyundergo a novel drug treatment which awakens themfor the first time in decades. After the movie, Drs.Ihtsham Haq, Terry Stanford, Francis Walker, and
turno
answered questions posed by the audience regardingthe current basic science research and modern clinicaltreatments of Parkinson’s disease. We had a great
ut and are looking forward to another movie nighttentatively planned for this November.
Our first school visit of the year will be to a group of3rd graders at Brunson Elementary School on Friday,September 25th. This will be the youngest students wevisit until next year’s Brain Awareness Week. It is agreat opportunity for first timers – trust me, you knowmore about the brain than a 3rd grader! We areexpecting nearly 100 students and the school is lessth fi i t f th M di l C t A ffi i l
Ashok Hegde answered questions posed by the audience regarding the current basic scienceresearch and modern clinical treatments of Parkinson’s disease. We had a great turnout and arelooking forward to another movie night tentatively planned for this November.
Our first school visit of the year will be to a group of 3rd graders at Brunson Elementary Schoolon Friday, September 25th. This will be the youngest students we visit until next year’s BrainAwareness Week. It is a great opportunity for first timers – trust me, you know more about thebrain than a 3rd grader! We are expecting nearly 100 students and the school is less than fiveminutes from the Medical Center. An official signup notification has been sent via our listserve, soif you are not already on the email list contact [email protected] to be added. Help make the firstschool visit of the year a great success by volunteering (and bring a friend along too).
Finally, as you all know, the annual Society for Neuroscience annual meeting will be inOctober 17 – 21 in Chicago. This year, SfN President Tom Carew is challenging neuroscientistsaround the world to promote science education. On Saturday, October 17th at 3 pm he will host the
the Brain Awareness Week postersession and reception, in which ourchapter will be represented. Dr.Carew requested that both BrainAwareness veterans and novicesattend the meeting to discuss how tobest serve our local communities. Itwill be a great place to meet otherscientists interested in outreach, inaddition to sampling some of thegreat, and free, food. I hope to seeyou there!
Research and clinical panelists answered questions from the audience about the movie “Awakenings” on September 14, 2009.
BAC council members Scott Dobrin (right) and Bethany Brookshire (middle) presented a poster during the Brain Awareness session at SfN.
of the Society for Neuroscience (WNCSfN), a division of SfN, is dedicated to promoting education in the Neurosciences, and encouraging interaction among Neuro-science professionals within our research community. The WNCSfN sponsors numerous events including a fall poster session, an annual research symposium, and multiple Brain Awareness activities in the community. Student and postdoctoral members are eligible for the Mary A. Bell Awards for outstanding posters presented in the fall forum. You can view all our current and past activities on the web at http://www1.wfubmc.edu/SfN/.
We are currently inviting all faculty, staff, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and residents with interest in the Neurosciences to join the Chapter. If you would like to become a member or renew your membership, please send us your name, title, department, and email address, along with your dues (cash or check made payable to WNCSfN) to Jody Dedo, Neuroscience Program Office, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27157.
Membership Dues: One Year Three Years Regular $30 Regular $75 Postdoc $20 Postdoc $50 Student $15 Student $35
The WNCSfN Hotlist Share the latest and greatest pub‐lications from your lab! This is a greatopportunity for feedback, discussion,and future collaboration.
Temporal Filtering of Nociceptive Information by Dynamic Activation of Endogenous Pain Modulatory Systems
Marc D Yelle, Yoshitetsu Oshiro, Robert A Kraft, and Robert C Coghill, The Journal of Neuroscience, 2009
Work by former Neurobiology & Anatomygraduate student, Marc Yelle, Ph.D. wasrecently published in the Journal ofNeuroscience. Yelle’s research focused onthe phenomenon of offset analgesia -disproportionately large decreases in painratings evoked by small decreases instimulus intensity. His previous pub-lications proposed that offset analgesia is atemporal contrast mechanism thatfunctions to sharpen the perception of theend of a painful stimulus. In order to betterunderstand endogenous pain controlmechanisms which may support offsetanalgesia, Yelle examined supraspinalactivity in human volunteers using fMRI.Yelle et al. showed that several regions ofthe midbrain and brainstem aredifferentially activated during offsetanalgesia, compared to periods of painalone and periods of rest (no pain).Regions of activation during offsetanalgesia notably correspond to thelocation of the periaqueductal gray (PAG)which is a region that has a substantial rolein descending inhibition of pain (Figure2A). The paper provides convincingevidence of the involvement of supraspinalregions in mechanisms that support offsetanalgesia. Thus, supraspinal endogenouspain modulatory mechanisms appear tosubserve and dynamically shape thetemporal processing of painful stimuli thatideally function in real-world situations ofescape behaviors from painful stimuli.
Figure 2A. Brainstem PAG activationcorrelated to offset analgesia (Yelle et al.,2009).
September, 2009 – Issue #3
Better Know a Lab: Dr. David Riddle, WFUSM by Jonathan Morgan, Neuroscience Graduate Student
Become a member of WNCSfN! by Christos Constantinidis, WNCSfN Secretary/Treasurer
continued on page nine
Considering the potential impact onevery living person, a fuller mechanisticunderstanding of cognitive decline is crucialto the development of therapies for highquality-of-life maintenance. Dr. David Riddle,Associate Professor in the Department ofNeurobiology and Anatomy, is doing his partto study the neurobiological basis ofcognitive decline via two avenues:investigating brain changes following normalcognitive aging and brain irradiation. Thesechanges are assessed using quantitativeanatomical techniques (from which bettermeans to quantitate neuron, macroglia, andmicroglia turnover in adult brain have beenpioneered), as well as by analysis of mRNAand protein changes in the brain.
Dr. Riddle’s most recent work addressesradiation injury in the aging brain.Therapeutic irradiation is often used intreatment of brain tumors and metastases.Although radiation is very effective at killingtumor cells, many patients will, consequently,show a marked cognitive decline profoundlyaffecting their daily living. With an eyetowards development of treatments to staveoff these effects, an attempt is underway tounderstand the radiation-induced brainchanges coincident with the observedcognitive decline. Though a lot of reseachhas been conducted, the vast majority ofanimal observations are of neonates andyoung adults. Yet, most patients undergoingtherapeutic irradiation are middle aged orolder—meaning we are irradiating most apopulation we understand the effects onleast. Provided that the brain’s responseswere similar across the adult life span, thiswould be a non-issue. Dr. Riddle and hiscolleagues, however, expect there to be verydifferent age-related responses, and haverecently demonstrated an important example.Studies in younger animals show radiation-induced decreases in adult hippocampalneurogenesis, which some propose underlythe observed cognitive decline. The Riddlelab has shown no such effect in agedanimals, while observing greater neuro-inflammation, suggesting disparate, age-
SfN 2009 Chapter Travel Award Winners (continued from page one)
cocaine users during a basic motor taskare associated with impaired motorperformance, and whether functionalcoupling on this task was correlated withcognitive dysfunction. Colleen concludesin her abstract that there are significantdecreases in typical frontal-striatal couplingin chronic cocaine users which maycontribute to poor performance on cognitiveand motor tasks.
RAISING VOICES:Animal Research Advocacy & Community Engagement
by Allyson Bennett, Ph.D., WNCSfN Councilor
Book Reviewby Bethany Brookshire, Physiology &Pharmacology Graduate Student “Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future” By Chris Mooney and Sheril
Kirshenbaum
Despite all the advances we scientistsseem to see around us every day in thescientific world, the public at large seemswell…a little scientifically illiterate. Ofcourse, explaining to your grandmother howyour thesis is going to change the world isalways going to be a challenge, but itseems that, more and more, the public ingeneral is largely unfamiliar with thebenefits and challenges of current scientificprogress. Climate change denialists andanti-vaccinationists abound, not to mentionthe direct threats to research posed bythose who violently disagree with animalresearch without knowledge of its benefits.
But what can anyone do about it?These issues are what authors ChrisMooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum focus onin their book “Unscientific America”. Theydevote time to several major institutions andissues which they feel have caused sciencemany of the problems it now faces today:the media, politics, Hollywood, and thescience vs religion debate. They then putforward the idea that scientists need to workwith some of these institutions, particularlypolitics and the media, in order to get theirpoint across and show the benefits of theirwork, and that requires communication andwork on the part of scientists, as well as onthe part of journalists and politicians, tomeet halfway.
The book has been contentious at best,with many scientists in the blogospherereacting strongly to the science vs religiondebate in particular. Many scientists andscience communicators have also takenissue with the idea that scientists must workeven harder than they already do, simply toget the public to receive them well. Readthe book and figure out where you stand.Something must be done about thescientific illiteracy in America, but whoshould be made responsible?
WFUPC has created a program of outreach and education that provides K-12 childrenand teachers the opportunity to learn about biomedical research by visiting the WFUPC. TheWFUPC tours educate the visitors about nonhuman primates and the important role that theyplay in translational research, as well as inform children about careers in science. Visitors alsolearn about the wide range of human health disorders studied at the WFUPC. For moreinformation, contact Dr. Allyson Bennett, Assistant Director for Community Outreach andEducation, at (336) 716-1529 or [email protected].
Animal rights activists (ARA) groups and extremists have raised a very loud chorusagainst animal research. Well-funded, media-savvy campaigns and over-the-top publicitystunts ensure that the public receives a biased and negative message about the role andvalue of animal studies. As a result of decades of investment in extensive campaigning, thesegroups have contributed to decreasing public understanding of, and support for, animalresearch. At the same time, escalating harassment and violence against scientists byextremists has led many scientists to shy away from being public, visible, and vocal inspeaking about their own work, advocating for animal research, and countering ARAcampaigns.
The voices of scientists engaged in animal research are essential to challenge the loudchorus of misinformation rising from ARA and dominating the discussion. The success ofmany ARA campaigns depend heavily upon poor public understanding of animal research,uncountered misrepresentations of scientists and their work, and exploitation of themisconceptions and negative perceptions that many people have of the use of animals in thebiomedical and behavioral sciences. Unfortunately, for the most part, ARAs have also beenable to count on launching misinformation campaigns with very little threat of organized, publicresponse from the scientific community.
Speaking of Research (www.speakingofresearch.com) provides a venue for scientists tospeak out in favor of lifesaving research developed with animals. Speaking of Research (SR)was founded by Tom Holder and inspired by the successful British student movement “Pro-test” (www.pro-test.org.uk). In the UK, Pro-Test’s experiences have shown that an informedpublic will rally together against animal rights extremism and come out to support scientists intheir use of animals in lifesaving biomedical research. SR aims to challenge animal rightsdominance of the issue by participating in talks and debates on campuses across the countryand by utilizing web-based communications tools to organize a network that can provideencouragement, information and support to all who care about medical progress. SR alsochallenges ARA campaigns directly. SR is run by a committee of people who believe thatanimal research remains crucial to the future of medicine. Among SR’s successes is the firstmass pro-research demonstration in the US in April of 2009 at UCLA, site of a spate ofattacks against researchers. Following a car fire attack by animal rights extremists, ProfessorDavid Jentsch, founded UCLA Pro-Test and held a rally that drew 700 supporters anddemonstrated the strength of active and visible animal research advocacy.
There are many ways to serve as an advocate for animal research. Some are as easy assigning an online petition (Americans for Medical Progress, together with SR, UCLA Pro-Test:www.raisingvoices.net). Coordinated efforts and vocal, concerted support is important to all ofus and to the future of biomedical research that is essential to improvements in human health.As a member of the SR Committee, I have recently founded the North Carolina Chapter ofSpeaking of Research (NC SR). NC SR seeks to support scientists in active and visibleoutreach efforts. NC SR also serves as a local exchange for news about issues related toadvocacy and about local animal rights extremism. Please join our facebook group or [email protected] for more information. Contact: [email protected].
Wake Forest University Primate Center (WFUPC) Outreach:
The Notorious Brain of Edward H. Rulloffby Dwayne W. Godwin, Ph.D.
Enter Mark Twain (Figure 3), who
wrote an editorial in the New York Tribunein May of 1871 arguing that Rulloff shouldbe spared the death penalty because,"...half the mystery of his strange powers isyet a secret". As with most things Twainthis was a satirical piece, and he goes on topromise, "...that I will instantly bring forth aman, who in the interest of learning andscience, will take Rulloff's crime uponhimself and submit to be hanged in Rulloff'splace." (In an accompanying note to theeditor he states that the real objective of thearticle was to get people to talk about thedeath penalty). Now, a celebrity like MarkTwain weighing in on a murder case wouldhave gotten the same sort of attention backthen that Kate Goslin would if she weighedin today. Except, there was a good reasonthat Mark Twain was a celebrity. Still, thingsdidn't go well for Rulloff, and his notorietybegan to work against him - it seems themore people found out about him, the lessthey liked. (Did I mention he was aβα$†@πδ?)
Rulloff was not a contrite death rowinmate. Toward the end he was given tostreams of profanity, all the while lamentingthat if only he had more time, he wouldfinish his great intellectual work forhumanity (turning the phrase, “publish orperish” on its head!). On May 18th, 1871,Rulloff's time ran out when he was hangedfor his crimes. Though his life ended, hisstory continued. The newspaper account ofthe "autopsy" of Edward Rulloff reads a bitlike a cut scene from Young Frankenstein. Itseems Rulloff was not only big-headed, buthe was also exceedingly thick-skulled. Theplay by play of the gruesome toil of sawingthrough the skull was provided by BurtGreen Wilder, a physician who had retainedthe head but buried the body. Graverobbers had exhumed the headless bodytwice - they must have been a bit unsettledat finding the headless corpse. (What graverobbers might have wanted with Rulloff'sbrain is uncertain - maybe they weremedical students).
Rulloff's brain now sits in a display
Figure 3. Mark Twain, normal sized brain, big hair (source: Wikimedia.org).
languages and who even supposedlyauthored a scholarly work on the subjectcalled the Method in the Formation ofLanguage. Scholars came from far and wideto be in his presence. Richard Henry Mather,professor of Greek and German at AmherstCollege, noted after visiting Rulloff that inaddition to a prodigious memory of ancientliterary works in the original language, his"...subtlety of analysis and reasoning werethe marked characteristic of his mind". Atone point, without any formal training he sethimself up as a physician, and another timeas a lawyer, because apparently back thenone could get away with doing that.
If there's one thing I've learned as aneuroscientist it's that size does not matter(Okay, sometimes it matters - but not here).As a neurophysiologist, I've come to appreciatethat much of our mind lives in our synapses.I've read too much about recovery from braininjury, and recovery from surgical interventionsthat remove enormous portions of the brain togive too much weight to observations aboutbrain size. For example, the sperm whale hasthe largest mammalian brain (Figure 1), but it'sno Einstein, who has a much smaller brain thatwas not generally remarkable for its size at thetime of autopsy (Figure 1 inset - but see this).
In the brain collection in the Department ofPsychology at Cornell University, there lies indeathly repose one brain among 70 otherswhose story speaks not only to the issue ofintelligence, but also to the mysteriousrelationship between intelligence and morality.The brain belongs to a man named Edward H.Rulloff. If you believe the newspapers of thetime, Rulloff had a very big brain. In fact, at 59ounces, or nearly one half gallon (1740 cc), itwas one of the largest human brains evermeasured. Compared with the average brainsize of 1400cc, the difference (about 340cc), isroughly the volume of a can of soda. That maynot seem like very much - until you considerstuffing a soda can into your cranium.
Edward Rulloff fulfilled some of thestereotypical expectations that were in voguein the mid 1800's about big headed people.Rulloff's huge melon was impressive in theheyday of phrenology, when great significancewas assigned to various brain areas simply onthe basis of bumps and grooves on the skull(Figure 2 - currently, we only get this excitedabout neuroimaging signals - but I digress).Rulloff was reported to be a genius with noformal education. He was a self taught linguistwho is reported to have mastered several
Figure 2. Advanced Neuroimaging, circa 1848. Apparently back then, you could literally see what someone was thinking. What happened to this technology? (source: Wikimedia.org).
Edward Rulloff had another side -
murderer. He was a serial criminal who haddone hard time at Sing-Sing and variousother prisons and jails for crimes both majorand minor. Among his more vile offenseswas his alleged murder of his own wife andsmall child. He was eventually convicted ofthe murder of Frederick A. Mirick, ashopkeeper who Rulloff shot during thecommission of a robbery that he hadmasterminded. Rulloff was arrested andcharged, and his trial became a mediaevent. In fact, Rulloff achieved the sort ofnotoriety and evoked a sense of wastedtalent among the public that is reminiscent ofthe O.J. Simpson case (well, the first case),in part because of newspaper coverage andcertain readers who began to follow thestory.
Figure 1. Can you spot the genius? (shown roughly to scale: sperm whale image provided by Camilla Butti; inset from Falk D, Front Evol Neurosci. 1:3, 2009). continued on page ninePage | 8 The Neurotransmitter
"Organization and Disorganization of Molecular Domains in Myelinated Axons"
• November 5: Tom Kash, Ph.D. Pharmacology, UNC
"Modulation of Synaptic Transmission in the Extended Amygdala: Implications for Anxiety and Alcoholism"
• November 12: Ed Boyden, Ph.D. MIT Media Lab
"Enabling Systematic Neuroscience with Novel Optical Neural Control Strategies"
Duke Institute for Brain Science Click here for complete online listing with time andlocation.
• September 24: Brenda Milner, Sc.D., Ph.D. McGill University
"Memory and Memories: A Tribute to HM" • October 6: Kenton Swartz, Ph.D.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
"Structural Basis of Voltage Sensor Function and Pharmacology in Ion Channels"
• October 8: Alvaro Pascual-Leone, M.D., Ph.D. Harvard Medical School and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
"Assessing Cortical Plasticity in Human Neuropsychiatric Disorders"
North Carolina State University Click here for complete online listing with time andlocation.
• October 19: Avshalom Caspi, Ph.D. Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, Duke University
“Gene X Environment Interactions in Psychiatry”
• November 9: Joseph S. Takahashi, Ph.D. Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center "Genetic Analysis of Circadian Clocks in
Mammals"
dependent mechanisms of injury. Recently, the National Cancer
Institute awarded Dr. Riddle a five yeargrant to investigate mechanisms of andtherapies for radiation-induced cognitivedysfunction in animal models of theprimary clinical populations. Current labmembers include lab manager LizForbes, postdoc Kun Hua, and technicianMonica Paitsel. With two former memberscompleting thesis work in the past 18months, the new grant provides supportfor an additional graduate student.
” on
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Edward Rulloff(continued from page eight)
case in the Wilder brain collection in theDepartment of Psychology at CornellUniversity in Ithaca, New York. Arestaurant in Ithaca bears his name. Icould not find a copy of Rulloff's bookanywhere (you know, the one that hetouted as proof of his genius), or even areference to it ever having beenpublished. My search was more thancasual - I contacted the Library ofCongress, the editor of the Transactionsof the American Philology Society, andRichard W. Bailey, who researched andwrote a book on Rulloff. There appearsto be no remaining artifact of Rulloff'sreported genius. In fact, Edward Crapsey,a reporter for the New York Times at thetime, thought Rulloff to be a bit of a fraudand a pretender. It appears that hisnotoriety may be his only enduringcontribution. In an email communicationto me, Richard Bailey summed it up verysuccinctly, "Rulloff was a crackpotphilologist and a bad man." (If I had justemailed him earlier, this article wouldhave been much shorter…).
Mather mused after his visit withRulloff, "...we must educate the heart asfast as we educate the head, or ourknowledge may only increase our sin." Ofcourse, this advice would not have helpedEdward Rulloff, who if nothing else in theend was a self-made man.
You Won’t Want to Miss!
PENS‐SfN School
The Federation of European Neuro-science Societies (FENS), the Inter-national Brain Research Organization(IBRO), the Programme of EuropeanNeuroscience Schools (PENS), andSfN will hold the first joint PENS-SfNSchool in Naples, Italy. Applicationdeadline: September 30, 2009.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 “All you wanted to know about stem
cells but never dared ask.” Dr. Colin Bishop, Ph.D.
Institute for Regenerative Medicine, WFUBMC
Brain Evolution and its Consequences for Brain Pathology
Don’t miss the next issue of The Neurotransmitter! • Special issue devoted entirely
to SfN 2009! • Find out what your colleagues
are participating in at the meeting.
• Check out what Chicago has in store for you!
Symposium: Drug Abuse and WinstonSalem Mark your calendars for a symposium about drug use, treatment and rehabilitation inWinston-Salem. Learn about drug abuse from the Winston-Salem Police Department,doctors from Wake Forest’s Emergency Department, and Partnership for a Drug FreeNC. The symposium will take place Wednesday, September 30th, 2009, from1:00pm-4:30pm, in the Hanes Building (Room E 24) at WFUBMC. Sponsors for thesymposium include the Center for the Neurobiological Investigation of Drug Abuse,the WFU Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, and the Translational Centerfor the Neurobehavioral Study of Alcohol. For more information contact MichaelWesley ([email protected]) or Katy Lack ([email protected]).
Itinerary: 1:00—2:00 Winston Salem Police Department
“Drug Use and Abuse in Winston Salem” 2:00—3:15 WFUBMC Emergency Department
Mary Claire O’Brien, M.D. Mary J. Wittler, M.D “Drug Use and the ED”
3:15—3:30 Break 3:30—4:30 Partnership for a Drug Free NC
“Drug Abuse and Addiction Treatment”
Do you have something you would like to share with your fellow WNCSfNchapter members? Cool new research, projects, awards, fundingopportunities, etc? Are you hiring? Advertise openings for rotating students,post‐docs, or other job positions here. Please contact [email protected] toshare with your community through The Neurotransmitter.
