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Ever wondered how you can see and smell the coming spring flowers? It's all thanks to some amazing detective work! Join us to dissect (not literally!) the incredible development journey of the cells inside your eyes, nose, and brain. Discover how they work together to create the amazing movie of your reality – the sights and smells you experience every day! Image by MarionF from Pixabay.
The eye versus the brain: How to make sense of what we see
Prof. Robert Hindges
(Professor of Developmental Neurobiology at the Center for Developmental Neurobiology (KCL))
Our eyes capture the information from the world around us. But instead of transmitting this sensory input directly to the brain, substantial data pre-processing is happening already in our retina. This is achieved through specific neurons in the eye and their connections with each other. I am going to present some of our findings in identifying such neurons and the mechanisms that enable us to see distinct visual features. In addition, I will discuss the importance of visual experience during brain development for shaping the retinal processing and the consequences for the animal’s behaviour.
Unlocking the secrets of smell: the developmental journey of mitral cells
Dr. Ana Dorrego-Rivas
(Wellcome Trust Early-Career Research Fellow at the Center for Developmental Neurobiology (KCL))
Smell has the reputation of being the neglected sense. However, more and more studies are showing that smell is crucial for a wide range of biological processes. The olfactory system in the brain needs to assemble correctly during development to be fully functional. In this talk, I will show you the amazing journey that mitral cells, the neurons that send odour information to different parts of the brain, undergo during development.
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