Neurogenesis in dentate gyrus and cortical memory transfer

A very interesting finding by Inokuchi et al. in Japan–apparently the well-described phenomenon of hippocampal neurogenesis is required for efficiently moving memories out of the short-term hippocampal “buffer” and into long-term neocortical “consolidation”.

Blogging break: now over

I spent my last week at the MBL taking a break from blogging–and taking in as much science as I could. We took the scenic route back to Washington, heading across Connecticut on old US-6 and then on to Scranton and Harrisburg and finally into Washington. I think we avoided the worst of the traffic and certainly all of the famed tolls on the coastal route along I-95.

Now back in Arlington, I’m getting ready to commence the new academic year. Tomorrow we’ll go look at the new Nikon A1-R confocal microscope up at their place in Baltimore and then Tuesday I’ll be back at the Institute to catch up with the faculty, postdocs and students.

I’m looking very much forward to teaching this next year–two courses: one on neuroscience survival skills and the other, in the Spring, on the functional role of the mammalian hippocampus.

In the meantime, thanks to my loyal readers and I promise to blog regularly through the Fall.

Jim

Oprah’s Soul Series on XM -Radio

I’m getting a lot of requests for more information about the experience of being interviewed by Oprah yesterday evening for her Soul Series on XM-Radio. We did it out of the studios of WGMU in the Johnson Center here at Mason, but with the ISDN line it really felt as if the two of us were just having a friendly conversation in the same studio.

The first thing I need to say is that Oprah is an extremely personable interviewer. She put me pretty much instantly at ease with her combination of humor and warmness, and then we pretty much jumped into a discussion of just what modern neuroscience can offer us as to insight into the human mind, using Joel Achenbach’s article in the Washington Post as a starting point.

We talked about the difference between human intelligence and animal intelligence (we both came to the consensus that our dogs don’t spend a lot of time reflecting on either their soul or their place in the universe). I spent some time talking about what non-invasive brain imaging has gotten us….and what it hasn’t (i.e. we can’t read off the neural code).

Talking about meditation, I think she was surprised to learn that the Dalai Lama had been the star plenary guest at a recent Society for Neuroscience meeting held in Washington. Neuroscience certainly is interested in altered mental states.

The interview then turned to the “Decade of the Mind” project itself. My strong sense is that she understood why we belief that this proposed investment is necessary and supported it.

We also talked about my favorite brain structure, the hippocampus–how it is not only beautiful from a structural standpoint, but also what the clues from patients who have lesions to their hippocampi say about the laying down of episodic memories.

She asked me if it’s just a neuroscientist “thing” to find the hippocampus beautiful or would any person agree. Of course you can guess how I answered.

Finally I got to spend some time talking about the role of intuition in the life of an experimental science–how intuition at the laboratory bench can lead to that “Ah Ha” moment of discovery.

Jim