Wiersma Visiting Professor Lecture: Dr. Kathleen Rockland

Please join us on Tuesday, May 21 at 4:00PM for the Wiersma Visiting Professor Lecture* in Chen 100.

The talk will be followed by a Chen Social in the breezeway of the Chen Neuroscience Research Building.

Speaker: Dr. Kathleen Rockland

Title: Axons and Brain Architecture

Abstract: Long-distance axons, although a basic component of interneuronal communication, are still relatively under-investigated, especially in the primate brain. Single axon analysis, however, provides novel data on quantitative parameters such as number, size, shape, and spacing of terminal arbors, as well as a novel perspective on spatial anatomical relationships. Both have relevance for ideas of network organization and relationships. Analysis of cortical connections in the macaque (between primary visual cortex and extrastriate area MT/V5, among others) suggest 1) pronounced heterogeneity of extrinsically projecting axons, according to the terminal arborization, intrinsic collaterals, and extrinsic collaterals (cf. visualization by fMOST or other high resolution technologies), 2) heterogeneity of multiple arbors within a single axon, and 3) consistent asymmetries, including of "reciprocal" connections. The results raise interesting questions at the supra- and subcellular levels, but how to further investigate these anatomical features and their functional significance is less clear.

Suggested reading

Rockland, K.S. (2020) What we can learn from the complex architecture of single axons. Brain Structure Function 225: 1327–1347. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-019-02023-3

*The lecture and visiting professorship are named for Cornelius Wiersma who came to the Biology Department at Caltech in 1934, representing the field of neurophysiology, a precursor to the field of neurobiology. His scientific career focused first on the neuromuscular system, then on the central nervous system, and finally on the visual system.