Martha L. Streng '12, Ph.D. (she/her)
Assistant Professor
University of Minnesota

Title of talk: "Shedding big light on the little brain: interrogating cerebellar network dynamics in health and disease with wide-field calcium imaging"

The cerebellum, often perceived as a motor control region, houses over half of all neurons in the central nervous system and is involved in various cognitive functions and neurological disorders. Though we have cultivated a wealth of knowledge about cerebellar dynamics at the neuronal level, a full understanding of how the cerebellum contributes to healthy behavior and disease will require elucidating how the activity of individual cerebellar neurons relates to the beautifully conserved, stereotypic cytoarchitecture of the cerebellar cortex and its outputs. My research utilizes wide-field Calcium imaging in awake mice, revealing functional networks of cerebellar output neurons that adjust their synchrony during behavior. These cerebellar networks dynamically adjust their synchrony in response to behavior, and insights into their disruptions can offer critical understanding of conditions like epilepsy. My ongoing and future research aims include decoding how these networks impact behavior and exploring therapeutic interventions for disorders like epilepsy.