Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology
Brenneckestraße 6
39118 Magdeburg
Outline
Dr. Brandon‘s research uses population recordings and freely-behaving mice to reveal the fundamental circuit and network mechanisms that support navigation and memory. He will present new findings that suggest that the head direction network must be inhibited to reorient itself in space. These findings suggest a general mechanism for how brain networks efficiently transition between states. Additional info about his lab: https://douglas.research.mcgill.ca/mark-brandon/
About the speaker
Dr. Brandon obtained his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Boston University in 2011, where he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Hasselmo. Here, he studied the neural system for spatial memory and navigation in the entorhinal-hippocampal circuit. Notably, Dr. Brandon made the exciting discovery that grid cells in entorhinal cortex require input from the medial septum, a basal forebrain structure that supports the theta rhythm and undergoes degeneration in Alzheimer ’s disease and temporal lobe epilepsy. Dr. Brandon then studied as a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Stefan Leutgeb’s laboratory at the University of California, San Diego. He received an NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellowship to study the circuit mechanisms in the medial septum that contribute to temporal and spatial coding in the entorhinal-hippocampal circuit. Dr. Brandon pioneered the combination of hippocampal recordings during medial septal optogenetic stimulation in freely behaving transgenic mice. In 2015, Dr. Brandon was recruited to the Douglas Hospital Research Centre and McGill University as Assistant Professor to establish a new laboratory to continue his research on temporal and spatial memory coding in the entorhinal-hippocampal circuit in health and disease.
The presentation will be hosted by Hannah Klimmt on behalf of the Department Cellular Neuroscience.
Don’t miss your chance to talk with Prof. Brandon during the day on May 4th and reserve your time slot via email to the host (hannah.klimmt@lin-magdeburg.de)!
Additionally, for Ph.D. candidates there is the special opportunity to join the speaker lunch at LIN on May 4th at 12.15 pm. Interested researchers are very welcome to shoot the host an email (hannah.klimmt@lin-magdeburg.de) sign up for it.