Events Calendar

Fred S. Grodins Keynote Lecture

Speaker: Na Ji, PhD, Associate Professor Departments of Physics and Molecular Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley

Talk Title: Probing neural circuits with shaped light

Series: Annual Grodins Keynote Lecture

Abstract: To understand computation in the brain, one needs to understand the input-output relationships for neural circuits and the anatomical and functional relationships between individual neurons therein. Optical microscopy has emerged as an ideal tool in this quest, as it is capable of recording the activity of neurons distributed over millimeter dimensions with sub-micron spatial resolution. I will describe how we use concepts in astronomy and optics to develop next-generation microscopy methods for imaging neural circuits at higher resolution, greater depth, and faster speed. By shaping the wavefront of the light, we have achieved synapse-level spatial resolution through the entire depth of primary visual cortex, optimized microendoscopes for imaging deeply buried nuclei, and developed a video-rate (30 Hz) volumetric imaging method. We apply these methods to understanding neural circuits, using the mouse primary visual cortex as our model system.

Biography: Na Ji studied chemistry and physics as an undergraduate in the University of Science and Technology of China, then pursued her graduate degree at the University of California Berkeley. In 2006, she moved to Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, where she worked with Eric Betzig on improving the speed and resolution of in vivo brain imaging. She started her own group in Janelia in 2011, where, in addition to imaging technology development, her lab applies the resulting techniques to outstanding problems in neurobiology. Na Ji, PhD, is currently at Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Department of Molecular Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Host: Department of Biomedical Engineering; Reception will be held at the Andrus Gerontology Courtyard from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm.

More Information: Grodins Template_FINAL_BGedits.pdf

Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 132

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Mischalgrace Diasanta