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Experience-dependent genetic and synaptic regulation of stability and plasticity in cortical circuits

Date:
28
Thursday
September
2023
Lecture / Seminar
Time: 11:00-12:15
Location: The David Lopatie Hall of Graduate Studies
Lecturer: Dahlia Kushinsky-Student Seminar PhD Thesis Defense
Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
Details:
Abstract: Neural circuits in the brain must be plastic enough to allow an animal to adapt ... Read more Neural circuits in the brain must be plastic enough to allow an animal to adapt to and learn from new experiences yet they must also remain functionally stable such that previously learned skills and information are retained. Thus, fundamental questions in neuroscience concern the molecular, cellular, and circuit mechanisms that balance the plasticity and stability of neural circuits. During my studies, I investigated these mechanisms in three studies that focused on sensory- and behavioral state-dependent changes in transcription and GABAergic inhibition in the visual cortex of adult mice. In my Ph.D. defense, I will elaborate on the novel molecular-cellular mechanisms that I discovered in these studies and discuss their role in conveying both plasticity and stability to visual processing and perception.
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The Southern Lights — Rhodopsin Complexes Discovered in an Algae Near Antarctica Can Help Unravel the Secrets of the Brain

Date:
16
Monday
October
2023
Colloquium
Time: 11:00-12:15
Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
Lecturer: Dr. Moran Shalev-Benami
Organizer: Department of Chemical and Structural Biology
Contact: sarah.amzallag@weizmann.ac.il
Abstract: Rhodopsins are a ubiquitous family of light sensing/signaling proteins. In recen ... Read more Rhodopsins are a ubiquitous family of light sensing/signaling proteins. In recent work, our group discovered an intriguing family of rhodopsins in algae: the bestrhodopsins. Through cryo-EM and comprehensive biochemical and electrophysiological studies, we showed that bestrhodopsins are fusions of rhodopsins and ion channels which assemble as mega-complexes to enable light-controlled passage of ions across membranes. Regulation of a classical ion channel by an attached photoreceptor has never been found before in nature, and previous attempts to engineer light-regulated fused channels have yielded limited success. The discovery and characterization of bestrhodopsins thus provide a new template for designing proteins with light-sensing and ion-conducting activities, as well as represent a platform for regulating cellular signaling in living organisms using light. These findings are therefore not only important as a basic scientific discovery but also for the field of optogenetics where neural activity is controlled by light. In the present talk, I will present the discovery of the bestrhodopsins, and explain how we use our cryo-EM work for structure-based design of dramatically improved tools to manipulate signaling cascades in cells by light control, paving the way for the next generation of optogenetics tools to study brain function in vivo.
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The Southern Lights — Rhodopsin Complexes Discovered in an Algae Near Antarctica Can Help Unravel the Secrets of the Brain Colloquium website

Neural Basis of Natural Behaviors

Date:
26
Sunday
May
2024
-
28
Tuesday
May
2024
Conference
Time: 08:00
Location: The David Lopatie Conference Centre
Contact: nachum.ulanovsky@weizmann.ac.il
Neural Basis of Natural Behaviors Conference website

    Past

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    Effects of cocaine use on organization and dimensionality of neural representations in rat orbitofrontal cortex

    Date:
    18
    Monday
    September
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00-15:00
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Brain Research
    Lecturer: Prof. Geoffrey Schoenbaum MD/PhD
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Room 113 Host:rony.paz@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues: naomi.mose ... Read more Room 113 Host:rony.paz@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: Substance use disorder can be partly understood as a failure to properly learn a ... Read more Substance use disorder can be partly understood as a failure to properly learn about or use information about consequences, particularly when they are rare, delayed, or even anecdotal. Such behaviors require access to cognitive models to allow estimation of likely outcomes, capabilities which depend critically on prefrontal and particularly orbitofrontal areas in rats, monkeys, and humans. We have previously shown that prior cocaine use disrupts performance in a variety of experimental settings that isolate orbitofrontal-dependent, inference-based behavior. In the current experiment, I will describe the effect of prior cocaine use on the organization of information by neural ensembles in rat orbitofrontal and prelimbic cortices during performance of a multi-dimensional choice task.
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    Understanding spontaneous neuronal activity with neurophotonics

    Date:
    30
    Wednesday
    August
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Anna Devor
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Prof. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues: ... Read more Host: Prof. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: The last decade has seen a rapid advance of neurophotonic technologies, in large ... Read more The last decade has seen a rapid advance of neurophotonic technologies, in large part thanks to the BRAIN Initiative as well as other large-scale neuroscience projects in the US and around the world. We now have a large array of diverse experimental and computational tools to study the brain across species, scales, levels of description, in animals and humans. Notably, the lion’s share of these technologies falls under the general umbrella of neurophotonics. This lecture will focus on several microscopic neurophotonic technologies in the context of understanding spontaneous neuronal and neurovascular activity in the mouse cerebral cortex. Among these tools is optically transparent Windansee electrode arrays that can be combined with optical imaging. Combining Windansee recordings with two-photon imaging and biophysical modeling, we show that spontaneous inputs to layer 1 were coded by a selective, sparse sub-population of local neurons. This is in contrast with earlier studies in the same system where each instance of a sensory input activated a different subset of neurons indicating redundancy in coding. Because selective coding by a few “oracle” neurons is nonredundant, we are tempted to speculate that the health of internally generated brain activity may be more vulnerable to damage or disease compared to that in response to external stimuli. Light refreshments before the seminar
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    Vision and AI

    Date:
    16
    Sunday
    July
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:15-13:15
    Title: Deep Learning Approaches for Inverse Problems in Computational Imaging and Chemistry
    Location: Jacob Ziskind Building
    Lecturer: Tomer Weiss
    Organizer: Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
    Contact: karina.avadia@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: In this talk, I will present two chapters from my Ph.D. thesis. The core of my r ... Read more In this talk, I will present two chapters from my Ph.D. thesis. The core of my research focuses on methods that utilize the power of modern neural networks not only for their conventional tasks such as prediction or reconstruction, but rather use the information they “learned” (usually in the forms of their gradients) in order to optimize some end-task, draw insight from the data, or even guide a generative model. The first part of the talk is dedicated to computational imaging and shows how to apply joint optimization of the forward and inverse models to improve the end performance. We demonstrate these methods on three different tasks in the fields of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) radar imaging. In the second part, we show a novel method for molecular inverse design that utilizes the power of neural networks in order to propose molecules with desired properties. We developed a guided diffusion model that uses the gradients of a pre-trained prediction model to guide a pre-trained unconditional diffusion model toward the desired properties. This method allows, in general, to transform any unconditional diffusion model into a conditional generative model.
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    Vision and AI

    Date:
    13
    Thursday
    July
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:15-13:15
    Title: SeaThru-NeRF- neural radiance fields in scattering media
    Location: Jacob Ziskind Building
    Lecturer: Deborah Levy
    Organizer: Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
    Contact: karina.avadia@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Research on neural radiance fields (NeRFs) for novel view generation is explodin ... Read more Research on neural radiance fields (NeRFs) for novel view generation is exploding with new models and extensions. However, a question that remains unanswered is what happens in underwater or foggy scenes where the medium strongly influences the appearance of objects. Thus far, NeRF and its variants have ignored these cases. However, since the NeRF framework is based on volumetric rendering, it has inherent capability to account for the medium’s effects, once modeled appropriately. We develop a new rendering model for NeRFs in scattering media, which is based on the SeaThru image formation model, and suggest a suitable architecture for learning both scene information and medium parameters. We demonstrate the strength of our method using simulated and real-world scenes, correctly rendering novel photorealistic views underwater. Even more excitingly, we can render clear views of these scenes, removing the medium between the camera and the scene and reconstructing the appearance and depth of far objects, which are severely occluded by the medium. I will also briefly show several other projects from our lab.
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    Dendritic voltage imaging, excitability rules, and plasticity

    Date:
    10
    Monday
    July
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:45-13:45
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Adam E. Cohen
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Dr. Takashi Kawashima takashi.kawashima@weizmann.ac.il For accessibilit ... Read more Host: Dr. Takashi Kawashima takashi.kawashima@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: Membrane voltage in dendrites plays a key role in mediating synaptic integration ... Read more Membrane voltage in dendrites plays a key role in mediating synaptic integration and activity-dependent plasticity; but dendritic voltages have been difficult to measure.  We developed molecular, optical, and computational tools for simultaneous optogenetic perturbations and voltage mapping in dendrites of neurons in acute slices and in awake mice.  These experiments revealed relations between dendritic ion channel biophysics and rules of synaptic integration and plasticity.  I will also describe tools for mapping large-scale network dynamics with millisecond time resolution, and for mapping brain-wide patterns of plasticity.
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    Toward “reading” and “writing” neural population codes in the primate cortex

    Date:
    05
    Wednesday
    July
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
    Lecturer: Prof. Eyal Seidemann
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: devora.sofer@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: host: Prof. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: : A central goal of sensory neuroscience is to understand the nature of the neur ... Read more : A central goal of sensory neuroscience is to understand the nature of the neural code in sensory cortex to the point where we could “read” the code – i.e., account for a subject’s perceptual capabilities using solely the relevant cortical signals, and “write” the code – i.e., substitute sensory stimuli with direct cortical stimulation that is perceptually equivalent.  Distributed representations and topography are two key properties of primate sensory cortex. For example, in primary visual cortex (V1), a localized stimulus activates millions of V1 neurons that are distributed over multiple mm2, and neurons that are similarly tuned are clustered together at the sub-mm scale and form several overlaid topographic maps. The distributed and topographic nature of V1’s representation raises the possibility that in some visual tasks, the neural code in V1 operates at the topographic scale rather than at the scale of single neurons. If this were the case, then the fundamental unit of information would be clusters of similarly tuned neurons (e.g., orientation columns), and to account for the subjects’ performance, it would be necessary and sufficient to consider the summed activity of the thousands of neurons within each cluster. A long-term goal of my lab is to test the topographic population code hypothesis.  In this presentation, I will describe our progress toward developing a bi-directional, read-write, optical-genetic toolbox for directly testing this hypothesis in behaving macaques.
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    Machine Learning and Statistics Seminar

    Date:
    05
    Wednesday
    July
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:15-12:15
    Title: Implicit Bias and Provable Generalization in Overparameterized Neural Networks
    Location: Jacob Ziskind Building
    Lecturer: Gal Vardi
    Organizer: Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
    Contact: karina.avadia@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: When training large neural networks, there are typically many solutions that per ... Read more When training large neural networks, there are typically many solutions that perfectly fit the training data. Nevertheless, gradient-based methods have a tendency to reach those which generalize well, and understanding this "implicit bias" has been a subject of extensive research. In this talk, I will discuss three works that show settings where the implicit bias provably implies generalization in two-layer neural networks: First, the implicit bias implies generalization in univariate ReLU networks. Second, in ReLU networks where the data consists of clusters and the correlations between cluster means are small, the implicit bias leads to solutions that generalize well, but are highly vulnerable to adversarial examples. Third, in Leaky-ReLU networks (as well as linear classifiers), under certain assumptions on the input distribution, the implicit bias leads to benign overfitting: the estimators interpolate noisy training data and simultaneously generalize well to test data. Based on joint works with Spencer Frei, Itay Safran, Peter L. Bartlett, Jason D. Lee, and Nati Srebro. Bio: Gal is a postdoc at TTI-Chicago and the Hebrew University, hosted by Nati Srebro and Amit Daniely as part of the NSF/Simons Collaboration on the Theoretical Foundations of Deep Learning. Prior to that, he was a postdoc at the Weizmann Institute, hosted by Ohad Shamir, and a PhD student at the Hebrew University, advised by Orna Kupferman. His research focuses on theoretical machine learning, with an emphasis on deep-learning theory.
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    Mood temporal dynamics characterized with computational and engineering-based approaches

    Date:
    20
    Tuesday
    June
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Location: Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
    Lecturer: Dr. Hanna Keren
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: :The non-linearity and variability in individual mood responses pose multiple an ... Read more :The non-linearity and variability in individual mood responses pose multiple analytic and experimental challenges. These challenges limit our understanding of mental health disorders with aberrant mood dynamics such as depression, and the development of more effective treatments. Computational approaches can help overcome some of these challenges by creating and modeling individual mood transitions. I will describe a study where closed-loop control approach was used to generate individual mood transitions and then a computational modeling approach was used to characterize the temporal effects on these mood changes. This study showed that early events exert a stronger influence on reported mood compared to recent events (a primacy weighting), in contrary to previous theoretical accounts which assumed that recent events are most influential on mood. This Primacy model accounted better for mood reports compared to a range of alternative temporal representations, in random, consistent, or dynamic reward environments, across different age groups, and in both healthy and depressed participants. Moreover, I will show how this temporal relation between early experiences and mood is mediated by specific neural signals. Interestingly, in repetitive reward environments or resting-state conditions, we found that mood reports consistently decline over time, stressing the importance of accounting for temporal effects in mood responses. These findings hold implications for the timing of events when addressing mood and behavior in experimental and in clinical settings.
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    Beyond the arcuate fasciculus: A multiplicity of language pathways in the human brain

    Date:
    13
    Tuesday
    June
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Michal Ben-Shachar
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Early models of the neurobiology of language targeted a single white matter path ... Read more Early models of the neurobiology of language targeted a single white matter pathway, the left arcuate fasciculus, as the critical language pathway in the human brain. Current models, supported by structural and functional imaging data, describe a more elaborate scheme of semi-parallel and bilateral white matter pathways that implement a variety of linguistic processes. In this talk, I will describe our current understanding of the language connectome, and highlight some recent additions to this scheme, including the frontal aslant tract and cerebellar pathways. I will expand on the role of ventral language pathways in extracting word structure, and on the role of dorsal and cerebellar pathways in mediating speech fluency and written text production. Our experimental approach combines diffusion MRI and targeted behavioral measurements, relating specific aspects of language processing with structural tract properties assessed in the same individual. Our findings show that cognitive associations with tractometry generalize across independent samples, languages, modalities and tasks. I will discuss the implications of our findings in the context of dual stream models of spoken and written language processing.
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    Reprogramming the topology of the nociceptive circuit in C. elegans reshapes sexual behavior

    Date:
    12
    Monday
    June
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:00-12:15
    Location: Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
    Lecturer: Vladyslava Pechuk
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: devora.sofer@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Student Seminar Ph.D. Thesis Defense
    Abstract: The effect of the detailed connectivity of a neural circuit on its function and ... Read more The effect of the detailed connectivity of a neural circuit on its function and the resulting behavior of the organism, is a key question in many neural systems Here, I study the circuit for nociception in C elegans which is composed of the same neurons in the two sexes, that are wired differently I set out to elucidate how the topological design of a compact neuronal circuit affects its behavioral output, how genetic sex affects the connectivity and dynamics of a circuit, and how specific circuit components orchestrate together to establish the behavioral sexual dimorphism I used behavioral assays, optogenetics calcium and glutamate imaging, measurement of protein expression, artificial connectivity, molecular and genetic tools, and show that the nociceptive sensory neurons respond similarly in the two sexes, yet the animals display sexually dimorphic behaviors to the same aversive stimuli To uncover the role of the downstream network topology in shaping behavior, I measured the neuronal activity of a key interneuron, and found dimorphic responses to the stimulus as well as dimorphic intrinsic basal interneuron activity I then showed that neuron specific genetic sex plays a role in shaping connectivity and circuit dynamics, and proceed to an artificial subtle synaptic rewiring which flips behavior between sexes Interestingly, when presented with aversive cues, rewired males were compromised in finding mating partners, suggesting that network topologies that enable efficient avoidance of noxious cues have a reproductive " My results present a deconstruction of the design of a neural circuit that controls sexual behavior, and how to reprogram it
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    Local and long-range inputs contributing to sequence generation in the zebra finch

    Date:
    06
    Tuesday
    June
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
    Lecturer: Prof. Michael A. Long
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Dr. Yarden Cohen Yarden.J.Cohen@weizmann.ac.il tel: 5138 For accessibi ... Read more Host: Dr. Yarden Cohen Yarden.J.Cohen@weizmann.ac.il tel: 5138 For accessibility isssues:naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: : A central question in neuroscience is how local processing and long-range infl ... Read more : A central question in neuroscience is how local processing and long-range influences work together to create behaviorally relevant neural dynamics. We address this issue by examining the song control pathway in the zebra finch. We find sufficient synaptic information is present in a key cortical structure to enable propagation of song-related sequences. We further demonstrate that long-range inputs from the motor thalamus can engage this circuitry in the service of behavior and large-scale brain synchronization. Our findings suggest that thalamic inputs may play an important initiating role for behaviorally-relevant cortical activity across species.
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    Volatile cortical working memory representations crystalize with practice

    Date:
    01
    Thursday
    June
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
    Lecturer: Prof. Peyman Golshani
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host-Prof. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues: n ... Read more Host-Prof. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: Working memory (WM), the process through which information is transiently mainta ... Read more Working memory (WM), the process through which information is transiently maintained and manipulated over a brief period of time, is essential for most cognitive functions. However, the mechanisms underlying the generation and stability of WM neuronal representations at the population level remain elusive. To uncover these mechanisms, we trained head-fixed mice to perform  an olfactory working memory task and used optogenetics to delineate circuits causal for behavioral performance. We used mesoscopic and light bead  two photon imaging to record from up to 35,000 secondary motor cortical neurons simulataneously across multiple days and show differential stabilization of different task parameters with learning and practice of the task. We find that cortical working memory representations causal for task performance are highly volatile but only stabilize after multiple days of practice well after task learning. We hypothesize that representational drift soon after learning may allow for higher levels of flexibility for new task rules.  I will also review some of the new open-source tools developed for large-scale imaging of neural activity patterns in freely behaving animals.
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    Cognitive neuroscience of learning and memory in human infants

    Date:
    30
    Tuesday
    May
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Nick Turk-Browne
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host- Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues: ... Read more Host- Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: In this talk, I will present the approach my lab has developed for performing fM ... Read more In this talk, I will present the approach my lab has developed for performing fMRI studies in awake infants during cognitive tasks. I will share some of our recent studies and highlight some of the big open questions that remain to be addressed, with potential to reveal the brain systems underlying how infants perceive and attend to their environment, why infants are such proficient learners, and why we all have amnesia for infant experiences. Despite countless limitations and challenges at present, this work suggests that awake infant fMRI could become more feasible, useful, and ubiquitous in cognitive neuroscience.
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    Illuminating neural computations with structured light and sound wavefronts

    Date:
    21
    Sunday
    May
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Shy Shoham
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host-Prof. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il tel 6957 For accessibilit ... Read more Host-Prof. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il tel 6957 For accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Non-invasive Methods for Extracting Microstructural Information from Human Tissues: Implementation in a Clinical MRI Scanner

    Date:
    18
    Thursday
    May
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 09:30-10:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Dr Analía Zwick
    Organizer: Clore Institute for High-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy
    Contact: ana.naamat@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Extracting quantitative information about tissue microstructure using non-invasi ... Read more Extracting quantitative information about tissue microstructure using non-invasive methods is an exceptional challenge in understanding disease mechanisms and enabling early diagnosis of pathologies. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a promising and widely used technique to achieve this goal, but it still provides low resolution to reveal details of the microstructure. Recently, we have developed methods to produce images with quantitative information about the microstructure based on selective probing of spin dephasing induced by molecular diffusion restriction in cavities of the tissue microstructure [1-3]. The feasibility of the theoretical method has been demonstrated so far by first-principles experiments and simulations on typical size distributions of white matter in the mouse brain [3]. As a next step towards practical implementation, we have implemented this method in clinical scanners [4]. In this work, I present the challenges and preliminary results of this implementation in both phantoms and human volunteers. These results open up a new avenue for MRI to advance in extracting quantitative, and fast microstructural information from images. [1] A. Zwick, D. Sueter, G. Kurizki, G. A. Álvarez, Phys. Rev. Applied 14, 024088, (2020). [2] M. Capiglioni, A. Zwick, P. Jiménez, G. A. Álvarez. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 29, 2036 (2021) [3] M. Capiglioni, A. Zwick, P. Jiménez and G. A. Álvarez, Phys. Rev. Applied 15, 014045 (2021). [4] E. Saidman, A. Zwick, S. Tambalo, T. Feiweier, J. Jovicich, G. A. Álvarez. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. (2023)
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    Smell and our unconscious sense of self

    Date:
    10
    Wednesday
    May
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00-14:00
    Location: Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
    Lecturer: Prof. Benjamin D. Young
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Benjamin D. Young Ph.D. is an associate professor in philosophy and interdiscipl ... Read more Benjamin D. Young Ph.D. is an associate professor in philosophy and interdisciplinary neuroscience at the University of Nevada, Reno. Previously he held a Kreitman Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at Ben-Gurion University, as well as Visiting Assistant Professorship and Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Department of Cognitive Science at Hebrew University. He conducts empirically informed philosophical research with a particular emphasis on olfaction focusing on non-conceptual content, qualitative consciousness in the absence of awareness, and the perceptible objects of smell. His most recent projects include co-editing the textbook Mind, Cognition, and Neuroscience and the collection Theoretical Perspectives on Smell. Ben is finishing a book on smell tentatively titled Stinking Philosophy! and beginning to work on a book about the unconscious mind. Previously he showed how olfaction calls into question the general neuroscientific theories of consciousness and the relationship between access and phenomenal consciousness. Dr. Young’s current research extends this framework and examines the role that smell plays in allowing us to recognize our embodied material composition and what we can perceive about others from their smell both with and without subjective awareness. For more information about Ben’s research see https://www.unr.edu/philosophy/faculty-staff/benjamin-young
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    Nature, nurture, and the neuroscience of parenthood

    Date:
    02
    Tuesday
    May
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Bianca Jones Marlin
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Prof. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il tel: 6957 For accessibil ... Read more Host: Prof. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il tel: 6957 For accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: Introduction: Bianca Jones Marlin, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist and Herbert and Flo ... Read more Introduction: Bianca Jones Marlin, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist and Herbert and Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Cell Research at the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University in New York City. Her research investigates how organisms unlock innate behaviors at appropriate times, and how learned information is passed to subsequent generations via transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. Dr. Marlin combines neural imaging, behavior, and molecular genetics to uncover how learned behavior in the parent can become innate behavior in the offspring— work that promises to make a profound impact on societal brain health, mental well-being, and parenting. For more information about Dr. Marlin, visit www.biancajonesmarlin.com
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    Nature, nurture, and the neuroscience of parenthood

    Date:
    02
    Tuesday
    May
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Bianca Jones Marlin
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Prof. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il tel: 6957 For accessibil ... Read more Host: Prof. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il tel: 6957 For accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: Introduction: Bianca Jones Marlin, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist and Herbert and Flo ... Read more Introduction: Bianca Jones Marlin, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist and Herbert and Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Cell Research at the Zuckerman Institute at Columbia University in New York City. Her research investigates how organisms unlock innate behaviors at appropriate times, and how learned information is passed to subsequent generations via transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. Dr. Marlin combines neural imaging, behavior, and molecular genetics to uncover how learned behavior in the parent can become innate behavior in the offspring— work that promises to make a profound impact on societal brain health, mental well-being, and parenting. For more information about Dr. Marlin, visit www.biancajonesmarlin.com
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    Vision and AI

    Date:
    20
    Thursday
    April
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:15-13:15
    Title: Training Set Reconstruction and Single-Video Generation
    Location: Jacob Ziskind Building
    Lecturer: Niv Haim
    Organizer: Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
    Contact: karina.avadia@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Over the past decade, deep learning has made significant strides in the fields o ... Read more Over the past decade, deep learning has made significant strides in the fields of computer vision and machine learning. However, there is still a lack of understanding regarding how these machines store and utilize training samples to generalize to unseen data. In my thesis (guided by Prof. Irani), I investigated how neural networks encode training samples in their parameters and how such samples can sometimes be reconstructed. Additionally, I examined the capabilities of generative models in learning and generalizing from a single video. Specifically, I explored the effectiveness of patch-based methods and diffusion models in generating diverse output samples, and how such models can utilize the motion and dynamics of a single input video to learn and generalize.
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    Neurotechnology 2023: Precision Approaches for Studying and Treating the Brain

    Date:
    19
    Wednesday
    April
    2023
    -
    20
    Thursday
    April
    2023
    Conference
    Time: 08:00 - 20:30
    Location: The David Lopatie Conference Centre
    Contact: takashi.kawashima@weizmann.ac.il
    Neurotechnology 2023: Precision Approaches for Studying and Treating the Brain Conference website

    Navigation in larval zebrafish:strategies and internal representations

    Date:
    03
    Monday
    April
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:45-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Ruben Portugues
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Takashi Kawashima takashi.kawashima@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility is ... Read more Host: Takashi Kawashima takashi.kawashima@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: Larval zebrafish can navigate their environment and seek conditions that meet th ... Read more Larval zebrafish can navigate their environment and seek conditions that meet their physiological needs. We refer to this process as homeostatic navigation. We use careful behavioral analysis, whole-brain imaging, and neuronal perturbations to identify the behavioral strategy and the neuronal circuitry that underlie this important behavior. In addition, I will recap recent studies from our lab, involving perceptual decision making and the identification of a heading direction network, that all together, provide insights into how the brain of this small vertebrate controls behavior across these various paradigms.
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    3D quantitative-amplified Magnetic Resonance Imaging (3D q-aMRI)

    Date:
    02
    Sunday
    April
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 16:30-17:30
    Location: Perlman Chemical Sciences Building
    Lecturer: Itamar Terem
    Organizer: Clore Institute for High-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy
    Contact: ana.naamat@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Changes in blood vessel pulsation and cerebrospinal fluid dynamics cause cyclic ... Read more Changes in blood vessel pulsation and cerebrospinal fluid dynamics cause cyclic deformation of the brain, which can be altered by neurological pathologies. Various MRI techniques are available to visualize and quantify pulsatile brain motion, but they have limitations. Amplified MRI (aMRI) is a promising new technique that can visualize pulsatile brain tissue motion by amplifying sub-voxel motion in cine MRI data, but it lacks the ability to quantify the sub-voxel motion field in physical units. Here a novel 3D quantitative aMRI (3D q-aMRI) post-processing algorithm is introduced that can visualize and quantify pulsatile brain motion. To validate the algorithm, we tested it on a 3D digital phantom and on healthy volunteers. We also acquired preliminary data on participants with Alzheimer's disease and healthy aging controls. The results show that 3D q-aMRI can accurately quantify sub-voxel motion (of 0.005 pixel size) and has potential diagnostic value in identifying disease-induced biomechanical differences.
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    Brain plasticity Regulation and Modulation. Neurobiology symposium in honor of Prof. Menahem Segal

    Date:
    29
    Wednesday
    March
    2023
    -
    30
    Thursday
    March
    2023
    Conference
    Time: 15:00 - 17:15
    Location: The David Lopatie Conference Centre
    Contact: ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il
    Brain plasticity Regulation and Modulation. Neurobiology symposium in honor of Prof. Menahem Segal Conference website

    The neurobiological function of experience-regulated genomic enhancers From transcriptional mechanisms to control over synaptic plasticity and sensory processing

    Date:
    20
    Monday
    March
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:45-15:45
    Location: Max and Lillian Candiotty Building
    Lecturer: Ori Roethler Dr. Ivo Spiegel Lab
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details:
    Abstract: The brain consists of a mosaic of distinct cell-types with unique activity-regul ... Read more The brain consists of a mosaic of distinct cell-types with unique activity-regulated gene programs that can drive long-lasting changes in the function and structure of developing and matured neural circuits. However, the molecular mechanisms in specific neuronal subtypes underlying these cellular/circuit changes remain poorly understood and techniques for studying these molecular mechanisms in specific cell populations are still lacking. Genomic enhancers are thought to modulate specific sets of synapses by regulating experience-induced and cell-type specific transcription of genes that promote neural circuit plasticity. Nevertheless, this idea remains untested. Thus, here I set out to investigate the genomic mechanisms that control the experience-induced transcription of the Insulin-like growth factor 1 (Igf1) in disinhibitory VIP interneurons (INs) in the adult visual cortex and the cellular and circuit functions they underly. I found two cell-type specific sensory-induced enhancers that selectively drive sensory-induced Igf1 transcription. These enhancers homeostatically control the ratio between excitation and inhibition (E/I-ratio), thereby restricting the activity of VIP INs and preserving the response properties to visual stimuli.
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    Neuronal activity and noise in synaptic wiring specificity

    Date:
    16
    Thursday
    March
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 10:30-13:30
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Brain Research
    Lecturer: Dr. Laura Andreae
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: ROOM 113 Host: Dr. Yoav Livneh yoav.livneh@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility ... Read more ROOM 113 Host: Dr. Yoav Livneh yoav.livneh@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: The role of neuronal activity in the development of neurons and circuits remains ... Read more The role of neuronal activity in the development of neurons and circuits remains controversial. Historically, activity has been seen to be critical for the sculpting of connectivity patterns after the period of synapse formation, often pruning unused synapses and helping to maintain or grow active ones. We now have evidence that a specific type of activity, spontaneous transmitter release, in the past often regarded as simply 'noise', plays a role in synapse formation and the development of dendritic morphology at early stages in the developmental period. Using both in vitro and in vivo approaches in mice to manipulate spontaneous transmitter release and the postsynaptic receptors that detect it, we show that these effects are connection specific in the developing hippocampal circuit. Many of the key synaptic proteins involved are known to be mutated in severe neurodevelopmental disorders, indicating how important these early roles may be in healthy brain development.
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    Sensory processing in the whisker system of awake, behaving mice

    Date:
    27
    Monday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Rasmus Petersen
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Prof. Ehud Ahissar ehud.ahissar@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues ... Read more Host: Prof. Ehud Ahissar ehud.ahissar@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: The ultimate purpose of sensory systems is to drive behaviour.  Yet the bulk of ... Read more The ultimate purpose of sensory systems is to drive behaviour.  Yet the bulk of textbook knowledge of sensory systems comes from experiments on anaesthetised animals where the motor systems are disengaged.  The broad aim of our research is to investigate the neural basis of sensation in the behaving brain.  In this talk, I will present work that addresses two fundamental issues concerning the function of primary sensory cortex.  First, what role does Sensory Adaptation play under awake, behaving conditions?  Second, to what extent does behaviour modulate sensory processing in freely moving animals?
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    How the brain transforms sensory input into action

    Date:
    21
    Tuesday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Lecturer: Prof. Tom Mrsic-Flogel
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/96661197731?pwd=QTM4dHcvUFovTjZRU1BUVGhnW ... Read more Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/96661197731?pwd=QTM4dHcvUFovTjZRU1BUVGhnWjZHZz09 Meeting ID: 966 6119 7731 Password: 814783 Host: Dr. Ivo Spiegel
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    Sensitizing P-selectin-expressing brain malignancies to immune checkpoint modulators

    Date:
    16
    Thursday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00-15:00
    Location: Max and Lillian Candiotty Building
    Lecturer: Prof. Ronit Satchi-Fainaro, PhD
    Organizer: Dwek Institute for Cancer Therapy Research
    Contact: michal.av@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/5065402023?pwd=a3Z6KzRCU0xJaUFoM2Y5emZwZm1oZz09

    Molecular MRI of brain function

    Date:
    16
    Thursday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 09:30-10:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Alan Jasanoff
    Organizer: The Helen and Martin Kimmel Institute for Magnetic Resonance Research
    Contact: ananaamat@gmail.com
    Abstract: Understanding the neural bases of behavior and cognition requires determining ho ... Read more Understanding the neural bases of behavior and cognition requires determining how mechanistically distinct processing elements combine to carry out brain function at an integrated level. In this talk, I will introduce some of our laboratory’s efforts to address this goal using a combination of molecular sensors with noninvasive wide-field imaging. In the first part of the talk, I will discuss how workhorse optical neuroimaging approaches have inspired the design of molecular MRI probes for sensing physiological variables. Some of these probes detect light, providing a means for deep-tissue MRI-assisted optical imaging. I will next introduce an alternative molecular imaging concept inspired by widely used hemodynamic functional MRI techniques. By reengineering some of the proteins and peptides involved in neurovascular coupling, it is possible to create sensitive probes for a variety of neurobiological targets. I will illustrate how this strategy can be used to elucidate patterns of information flow and neurochemically specific functional connectivity in brain circuitry, with anticipated utility for deciphering mechanisms of learning and sensory processing in rodents and primates.
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    Cerebral Cortex Connectomics

    Date:
    14
    Tuesday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Moritz Helmstaedter
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Prof. Yaniv Ziv yaniv.ziv@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues:naomi ... Read more Host: Prof. Yaniv Ziv yaniv.ziv@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues:naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: Dept of Connectomics Max Planck Institute for Brain Research Frankfurt ... Read more Dept of Connectomics Max Planck Institute for Brain Research Frankfurt
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    Vision and AI

    Date:
    09
    Thursday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:15-13:15
    Title: The implicit bias of SGD: A Minima stability analysis
    Location: Jacob Ziskind Building
    Lecturer: Tomer Michaeli
    Organizer: Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
    Contact: karina.avadia@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: One of the puzzling phenomena in deep learning, is that neural networks tend to ... Read more One of the puzzling phenomena in deep learning, is that neural networks tend to generalize well even when they are highly overparameterized. Recent works linked this behavior with implicit biases of the algorithms used to train networks (like SGD). Here we analyze the implicit bias of SGD from the standpoint of minima stability, focusing on shallow ReLU networks trained with a quadratic loss. Specifically, it is known that SGD can stably converge only to minima that are flat enough w.r.t. its step size. Here we show that this property enforces the predictor function to become smoother as the step size increases, thus significantly regularizing the solution. Furthermore, we analyze the representation power of stable solutions. Particularly, we prove a depth-separation result: There exist functions that cannot be approximated by depth-2 networks corresponding to stable minima, no matter how small the step size is taken to be, but which can be implemented with depth-3 networks corresponding to stable minima. We show how our theoretical findings explain behaviors observed in practical settings. (Joint works with Rotem Mulayoff, Mor Shpigel Nacson, Greg Ongie, Daniel Soudry).
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    Machine Learning and Statistics Seminar

    Date:
    09
    Thursday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:15-13:15
    Title: The implicit bias of SGD: A Minima stability analysis
    Location: Jacob Ziskind Building
    Lecturer: Tomer Michaeli
    Organizer: Department of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics
    Contact: karina.avadia@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: One of the puzzling phenomena in deep learning, is that neural networks tend to ... Read more One of the puzzling phenomena in deep learning, is that neural networks tend to generalize well even when they are highly overparameterized. Recent works linked this behavior with implicit biases of the algorithms used to train networks (like SGD). Here we analyze the implicit bias of SGD from the standpoint of minima stability, focusing on shallow ReLU networks trained with a quadratic loss. Specifically, it is known that SGD can stably converge only to minima that are flat enough w.r.t. its step size. Here we show that this property enforces the predictor function to become smoother as the step size increases, thus significantly regularizing the solution. Furthermore, we analyze the representation power of stable solutions. Particularly, we prove a depth-separation result: There exist functions that cannot be approximated by depth-2 networks corresponding to stable minima, no matter how small the step size is taken to be, but which can be implemented with depth-3 networks corresponding to stable minima. We show how our theoretical findings explain behaviors observed in practical settings. (Joint works with Rotem Mulayoff, Mor Shpigel Nacson, Greg Ongie, Daniel Soudry).
    Close abstract

    Mapping brainstem nuclei structure and connectivity in health and disease 

    Date:
    07
    Tuesday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Dr. Marta Bianciardi
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues c ... Read more Host: Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues contact:naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: Brainstem nuclei in humans play a crucial role in vital functions, such as arous ... Read more Brainstem nuclei in humans play a crucial role in vital functions, such as arousal, autonomic homeostasis, sensory and motor relay, nociception, and sleep and have been implicated in a vast array of brain pathologies, including disorders of consciousness, sleep disorders, autonomic disorders, pain, Parkinson’s disease and other motor disorders. Yet, an in vivo delineation of most human brainstem nuclei location and connectivity using conventional imaging has been elusive because of limited sensitivity and contrast for detecting these small regions using standard neuroimaging methods. In this talk, Dr. Bianciardi will present the probabilistic atlas and connectome of 31 brainstem nuclei of the arousal, motor, autonomic and sensory systems developed by her team in healthy living humans using structural, functional and diffusion-based MRI at 7 Tesla. She will also show the translatability of 7 Tesla connectivity results to conventional 3 Tesla imaging. Dr Bianciardi will conclude her seminar by presenting the first translational application of the brainstem nuclei atlas to investigate arousal and motor mechanisms in traumatic coma and premanifest synucleinopathy.
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    Active vision and vision for action

    Date:
    02
    Thursday
    February
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Daniel Kerschensteiner
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host-Dr. Michal Rivlin michal.rivlin@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract:  Vision is an active sense in which an animal's gaze and pupil shape the conten ... Read more  Vision is an active sense in which an animal's gaze and pupil shape the content of the retinal image. In the first part of my talk, I will discuss how the viewing strategies of mice align with the neural architecture of their visual system to accomplish an essential visual task: predation. In the second part of my talk, I will compare the hunting behavior of mice to that of a specialized predator, similar in size but distant in evolution, and present our initial insights into the organization of visual information in this animal. Finally, I will present ongoing work indicating that the pupillary reflex arc implements a more complex stimulus-response function than previously thought. I will discuss the underlying neural mechanisms and potential purpose and show conservation from mice to humans. 
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    My adventures in the rat interactive foraging facility (RIFF)

    Date:
    31
    Tuesday
    January
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Eli Nelken
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host-Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues:na ... Read more Host-Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues:naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: We developed an arena (called colloquially the RIFF) for jointly studying behavi ... Read more We developed an arena (called colloquially the RIFF) for jointly studying behavior and neural activity in freely-behaving rats. The RIFF operates as a state machine, allowing us to implement a large number of different behaviors as Markov Decision Processes and therefore to analyze much of the data within the theoretical framework of reinforcement learning. In the studies I will show here, we recorded neural activity from auditory cortex while rats performed auditory-guided behavior. We observed an intricate interplay between behavior and neural activity that was much richer than we expected.
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    Rapid learning (and unlearning) in the human brain

    Date:
    19
    Thursday
    January
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00-15:00
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Nitzan Censor
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues c ... Read more Host: Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il For accessibility issues contact:naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: A plethora of studies have pointed to sensory plasticity in the adult visual sys ... Read more A plethora of studies have pointed to sensory plasticity in the adult visual system, documenting long-term improvements in perception. Such perceptual learning is enabled by repeated practice, inducing use-dependent plasticity in early visual areas and their readouts. I will discuss results from our lab challenging the fundamental assumption in low-level perceptual learning that only 'practice makes perfect', indicating that brief reactivations of visual memories induce efficient rapid perceptual learning. Utilizing behavioral psychophysics, brain stimulation and neuroimaging, we aim to reveal the neurobehavioral mechanisms by which brief exposure to learned information modulates brain plasticity and supports rapid learning processes. In parallel, we investigate how these learning mechanisms operate across domains, for example by testing the hypothesis that similar inherent mechanisms may also result in maladaptive consequences, when brief reactivations occur spontaneously as intrusive enhanced memories following negative events. Unraveling the mechanisms of this new form of rapid learning could set the foundations to enhance learning in daily life when beneficial, and to downregulate maladaptive consequences of negative memories.
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    Reverse-engineering deep neural networks

    Date:
    19
    Thursday
    January
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 09:30-10:30
    Location: Perlman Chemical Sciences Building
    Lecturer: Prof. Ilya Kuprov
    Organizer: Clore Institute for High-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy
    Contact: ananaamat@gmail.com
    Abstract: The lack of interpretability is a much-criticised feature of deep neural network ... Read more The lack of interpretability is a much-criticised feature of deep neural networks. Often, a neural network is effectively a black box. However, we have recently found a group-theoretical procedure that brings inner layer signalling into a human-readable form. We applied it to a signal processing network used in magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and found that the network spontaneously invents a bandpass filter, a notch filter, a frequency axis rescaling transformation, frequency division multiplexing, group embedding, spectral filtering regularisation, and a map from harmonic functions into Chebyshev polynomials – in ten minutes of unattended training.
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    Brain-body interactions: sensations and predictions in the insular cortex

    Date:
    15
    Sunday
    January
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 15:00-16:00
    Location: Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
    Lecturer: Dr. Yoav Livneh
    Organizer: Life Sciences
    Contact: yael.kuperman@weizmann.ac.il

    “Functional MRI Advances at the Nexus of Acquisition, Processing, and Neuroscience”

    Date:
    12
    Thursday
    January
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 09:30-10:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Peter Bandettini
    Organizer: Clore Institute for High-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy
    Contact: ana.naamat@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: MRI is truly unique in that contrast and acquisition can be manipulated to highl ... Read more MRI is truly unique in that contrast and acquisition can be manipulated to highlight a many tissues and physiologic processes at a wide range of speeds and resolutions. In the early 90’s, echo-planar imaging (EPI), a rapid imaging method that required specialized hardware, enabled time series acquisition of images - each collected in tens of milliseconds. Susceptibility contrast weighting sensitized the images to subtle shifts in blood oxygenation, allowing localized brain activation changes in oxygenation to be observed in near real time, thus introducing fMRI to the world. Since this breakthrough, fMRI has continued to advance in sophistication and impact. Higher fields, higher performance gradients, and novel pulse sequences and contrasts have allowed ever more subtle effects to be observed at higher fidelity, speed, and resolution. The signal became more informative as brain activation paradigms and processing methods advanced in conjunction with our deeper understanding of artifact and signal. Importantly, our insight into brain structure and function motivated and informed the experiments and, likewise, was enriched by the results. In this talk, I’ll trace the progress in fMRI, showing how the creative tension between advances in technology, processing, and our understanding of brain activation dynamics and physiology generated many of the innovations. My talk will include retinotopy, event-related fMRI, multi-echo EPI, resting state fMRI, connectivity, representational similarity analysis, decoding, naturalistic stimuli, inter-subject correlation, high field, and layer fMRI. Lastly, I’ll describe some of the technical and practical challenges facing the field today.
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    Capturing Neuronal Activity with more Precision and Fidelity in Time and Space

    Date:
    10
    Tuesday
    January
    2023
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Dr. Peter Bandettini
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host - Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: My lab’s focus in recent years has been split between development of ultra-hig ... Read more My lab’s focus in recent years has been split between development of ultra-high resolution fMRI at high field and the exploration of more sensitive yet robust methods to find all the salient transients and trends in the signal. High field, high resolution fMRI relies heavily on the acquisition technology and the functional contrast used as well as unique processing approaches that segment, as well as possible, cortical layers for analysis. Our fMRI time series analysis research relies on creative paradigm design in conjunction with tailored processing methods that strike a balance between casting a wide net for potentially informative signals and applying just enough modeling to make sense of the data. Our goal is to use fMRI to see neuronal activity and capture neural correlates of behavior that have previously been elusive to more standard approaches.  Specifically, for our high resolution fMRI work, I will describe experiments demonstrating layer-specific activity in motor, somatosensory, and visual cortex that changes with tasks that modulate the hypothesized input and output cortical communication. In our lab, we perform layer fMRI using a functional contrast called VASO (vascular space occupancy) that is sensitive to blood volume changes in micro vessels - having more specificity than BOLD with only a small tradeoff in sensitivity. Layer fMRI has the potential to provide cortical hierarchy information and communication directionality based on the understanding that feedforward connections terminate predominantly in middle layers and feedback connections terminate in predominantly upper and lower layers. Hence by determining activation location across cortical depth, one can infer whether the activation is feedforward or feedback. I will also demonstrate how the use of resting state connectivity in conjunction with layer fMRI is able to discern such cortical hierarchy in visual areas. Lastly, I will also show examples of applications of layer fMRI in frontal cortex during a working memory task. In addition, I will show our high resolution fMRI work that has allowed us to discern a new digit organizational pattern in motor cortex.  For our time series work, I will show our recent results in using connectivity-based decoding for identifying, in an unsupervised manner, tasks being performed. In addition, I will show an application of naturalistic stimuli and inter subject correlation to characterize personality trait and language skills of individuals. Lastly, changes arousal state during scanning has been viewed as both a confound and opportunity. I demonstrate our effort to further characterize the temporal and spatial signatures of arousal state changes in fMRI time series.
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    How movement regulates defensive behaviours in a social context

    Date:
    13
    Tuesday
    December
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Marta Moita
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Our work concerns the general problem of adaptive behavior in response to predat ... Read more Our work concerns the general problem of adaptive behavior in response to predatory threats, and of the neural mechanisms underlying a choice between strategies. Interacting predators and prey tightly regulate their motion, timing with precision when to hold, attack or escape. Motion cues are thus paramount in these interactions. Speed and (un)predictability have shaped the evolution of sensory and motor systems, the elucidation of which a great deal of research has been devoted. Much less attention has been paid to the role of motion as a social cue of threat or safety. We and others have found that prey animals use the movement of their neighbors to regulate their defensive responses. We have studied social regulation of freezing in rodents and found that rats use cessation of movement evoked sound, resulting from freezing, as a cue of danger. In addition, auto-conditioning, whereby rats learn the association between shock and their own freezing, during prior experience with shock, facilitates the use of freezing by others as an alarm cue. To further explore the social regulation of defensive responses we resorted to the use fruit flies as it easily allows testing of groups of varying sizes, the collection of large data sets and genetic access to individual neuronal types. We established that fruit flies in response to visual looming stimuli, simulating a large object on collision course, make rapid freeze/flee choices accompanied by lasting changes in the fly’s internal state, reflected in altered cardiac activity. Freezing in flies is also strongly modulated by the movement of surrounding neighbours. In contrast with rodents that use auditory cues, female flies use visual motion processed by visual projection neurons. Finally, I will discuss more preliminary findings suggesting that there are multiple states of freezing as measured by muscle activity in the fly legs. Having established the fly as a model to study freezing/fleeing decisions, we are in a great position to perform large scale integrative studies on the organization of defensive behaviours. Short Bio Marta Moita received her BSc degree in Biology at the University of Lisbon, in 1995. As part of Gulbenkian’s PhD programme in Biology and Medicine she developed her thesis work, on the encoding by place cells of threat conditioning under the supervision of Prof. Joseph Ledoux, at the New York University (1997-2002). In 2002, Marta Moita worked as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Tony Zador’s laboratory, at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, to study the role of auditory cortex in sound discrimination. In 2004, she became a principal investigator, leading the Behavioral Neuroscience lab, at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência. In 2008 her group joined the starting Champalimaud Neuroscience program. In 2018 and 2019 Marta Moita served as Deputy Director of Champalimaud Research. Her lab is primarily interested in understanding the mechanisms of behavior. To this end, the lab has focused on behaviors that are crucial for survival and present in a wide range of species, namely defensive behaviors triggered by external threats. Using a combination of state-of-the-art tools in Neuroscience (initially using rats and currently using fruit flies) and detailed quantitative descriptions of behavior, her lab aims to understand how contextual cues guide the selection between different defensive strategies and how the chosen defensive behavior and accompanying physiological responses are instantiated.    
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    Large scale spatio-temporal organization of brain tumors: from oncostreams to liquid crystals

    Date:
    01
    Thursday
    December
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00-15:00
    Location: Max and Lillian Candiotty Building
    Lecturer: Prof. Pedro Lowenstein
    Organizer: Dwek Institute for Cancer Therapy Research
    Contact: michal.av@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/5065402023?pwd=a3Z6KzRCU0xJaUFoM2Y5emZwZm1oZz09

    Deciphering non-neuronal cells contribution to Alzheimer’s disease pathology using high throughput transcriptomic and proteomic methods

    Date:
    30
    Wednesday
    November
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00-15:00
    Lecturer: Sedi Medina (PhD Thesis Defense Seminar) on Zoom
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Student Seminar - PhD Thesis Defense Zoom link:https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/910 ... Read more Student Seminar - PhD Thesis Defense Zoom link:https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/91099678492?pwd=RWp2dlNKYTc4NllCb3VLTGVGOVQ4UT09 Meeting ID: 910 9967 8492 Password: 837997
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    Abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating pathology of the central nervous syste ... Read more Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating pathology of the central nervous system (CNS) of unknown etiology which represents the most common neurodegenerative disorder. For decades, AD was perceived as a disease of the neuron alone. However, research advances in recent years have challenged this concept and shed light on the critical roles of non-neuronal cells on the development and progression of AD. In my PhD, I focused on understanding how two non-neuronal cell types - the Astrocytes and Microglia - respond to AD and how they possibly affect pathological processes. Our research identified a unique population of Astrocytes that significantly increased in association with brain pathology, which we termed disease-associated astrocytes (DAAs). This novel population of DAAs appeared at an early disease stage, increased in abundance with disease progression, and was not observed in young or in healthy adult animals. In addition, similar astrocytes appeared in aged wild-type (WT) mice and in aging human brains, suggesting their linkage to genetic and age-related factors. Aging is considered the greatest risk factor for AD, although the mechanism underlying the aging-related susceptibility to AD is unknown. One emerging factor that is involved in biological aging is the accumulation of senescent cells. Cellular senescence is a process in which aging cells change their characteristic phenotype. Under physiological conditions senescent cells can be removed by the immune system, however with aging, senescent cells accumulate in tissues, either due to a failure of effective removal or due to the accelerated formation of senescent cells. Our data highlight the contribution of non neuronal cells to AD pathogenesis by demonstrating  that 1. Overexpression of a specific gene by astrocytes affected the microglia cells' state, leading to a more homeostatic and less reactive microglial phenotype in comparison to the control group. 2. Accumulation of senescent microglia cells was observed in the brain of aged WT mice and AD mouse model (5xFAD), and by applying different therapeutic strategies we managed to observe significant quantitative differences in these cells, followed by a cognitive amelioration.
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    M.Sc thesis defense: "Self-Integrating Memories Based on Guided Nanowires"

    Date:
    24
    Thursday
    November
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:00-12:00
    Location: Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Building
    Lecturer: Omri Ron
    Organizer: Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science
    Contact: ana.naamat@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Neuromorphic computing designs have an important role in the modern ‘big data ... Read more Neuromorphic computing designs have an important role in the modern ‘big data’ era, as they are suitable for processing large amount of information in short time, eliminating the von Neumann (VN) bottleneck. The neuromorphic hardware, taking its inspiration from the human brain, is designed to be used for artificial intelligence tasks via physical neural networks, such as speech or image recognition, bioinformatics, visual art processing and much more. The memristor (memory + resistor), is one of the promising building blocks for this hardware, as it mimics the behavior of a human synapse, and can be used as an analog non-volatile memory. The memristor has been proven as a viable memory element and has been used for constructing resistive random access memory (RRAM) as a replacement for current VN hardware. However, the mechanism of operation and the conducting bridge formation mechanisms in electrochemical metallization memristors still require further investigation. A planar single-nanowire (NW) based memristor is a good solution for elucidating the mechanism of operation, thanks to the high localization of switching events, allowing in-situ investigation as well as post-process analysis. Our group, which has developed the guided-growth approach to grow guided planar NWs on different substrates, has used this method to integrate guided epitaxial NWs into functional devices such as field-effect transistors (FETs), photodetectors and even address decoders. However, the guided-growth approach has not been used for creating memristors up to date. In this work, I successfully synthesized guided NWs of two metal-oxides on flat and faceted sapphire substrates – ZnO and β-Ga2O3 were successfully grown in the VLS mechanism as surface guided NWs. I successfully grew planar guided β-Ga2O3 NWs on six different sapphire substrates, for the first time as far as we know. We characterized the newly grown β-Ga2O3 NWs with SEM, TEM, EDS and Raman spectroscopy. The monoclinic NWs grew along surprising directions on the flat sapphire surfaces and I demonstrated a new mode of growth – epitaxy favored growth on a faceted surface, when graphoepitaxy is also possible. I created electrochemical metallization memristors with the obtained NWs and successfully demonstrated the effect of resistive switching for β-Ga2O3 guided NW based devices. With the abovementioned achievements, we expanded the guided-growth approach on flat and faceted sapphire surfaces, and opened the opportunity for creating surface guided-NW based neuromorphic hardware.
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    Molecular maps for odor processing in the mouse olfactory system

    Date:
    22
    Tuesday
    November
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Alexander Fleischmann
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host-Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot.weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: We are interested in the organization and function of neural circuits for sensor ... Read more We are interested in the organization and function of neural circuits for sensory processing and behavior. A main goal of the lab is to integrate complementary approaches of system interrogation: we study the molecular diversity of cell types, their connectivity and functional properties; we investigate network dynamics and core computational principles; and we explore how learning and experience shapes behavioral decisions. I will discuss ongoing work aimed at characterizing molecular maps for odor processing in the mouse olfactory bulb. I will present preliminary data using spatial transcriptomics to generate a comprehensive map of glomerular identity and domain structure of the olfactory bulb. Furthermore, I will discuss single cell sequencing experiments and gene regulatory network models that define the diversity and connectivity of olfactory bulb projection neurons. I will try to illustrate how the early olfactory system of mice provides an ideal model system to integrate molecular biology, functional imaging, and behavioral experiments to address fundamental questions in sensory processing and behavior.
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    "In search for speed and resolution in (functional) neuroimaging at 7T and up"

    Date:
    03
    Thursday
    November
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 09:30-10:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Benedikt A Poser
    Organizer: Clore Institute for High-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy
    Contact: ana.naamat@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: 7T MRI has proven itself as a great tool for neuroscientific investigation and h ... Read more 7T MRI has proven itself as a great tool for neuroscientific investigation and has been embraced by many researchers for both structural and functional neuroimaging. This talk will focus on acquisition for functional MRI at UHF. Gradient-echo BOLD fMRI is a long- and well-established tool for mapping brain activation in general neuroscience applications, owing to its robustness, acquisition speed and high sensitivity. With the signal change being driven by local deoxyhemoglobin content as a composite effect of the blood flow (CBF), blood volume (CBV) and oxygen uptake (CMRO2) response to neuronal activation, there is an overall weighting towards the draining vasculature as we go up in field strength. The super-linear sensitivity gains with B0 thus come at the expense of specificity, and this makes alternative measures such CBV or CBF more attractive, especially when aiming to resolve activation to laminar or columnar details with submillimetre resolutions. Making these techniques routinely useful, however, poses new acquisition-methodological challenges. In this talk I will discuss some of the advances in non-BOLD and non-echo-planar fMRI acquisition, with some focus on lifting the coverage limitations of VASO fMRI and CBF/ASL with parallel imaging, as well as non-Cartesian approaches to CBV and CBF measurement. Finally, I will touch on the topic of parallel RF transmission which undoubtedly play a role in future methodology and once more operator- and researcher-friendly implementations are available
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    Selective vascular injury induces degeneration of the olfactory bulb and development of alternatives for functional olfaction

    Date:
    26
    Wednesday
    October
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:15-12:15
    Location: Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
    Lecturer: Dr. Tamar Licht
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Prof. Noam Sobel
    Abstract: The olfactory bulb is the only recipient of direct olfactory sensory input in th ... Read more The olfactory bulb is the only recipient of direct olfactory sensory input in the brain and is therefore considered indispensable for odor detection. However, some humans demonstrate normal olfaction despite OB absence. The mechanisms involved in preserving olfaction and the pathogenesis leading to this condition are unknown. We use a mouse model mimicking vascular injury typical of the premature brain. We mapped maturation of blood vessels during development and found selective vulnerability of olfactory bulb vasculature during a specific developmental stage. This injury led to the development of adult, healthy mice with 5% - 35% of the original OB size. Mice could perform innate and learned olfactory tasks, and odor-specific sniff-locked responses were recorded from Piriform cortex. Anatomically, olfactory sensory neurons connect to the rudimentary OB and other ectopic regions and lose typical glomerular convergence. Accordingly, mitral/tufted apical dendrite extends beyond the territory of a single glomerulus. These and additional anatomical findings present alternative nose-to-brain connectivity may underlie preservation of olfaction in humans with degenerated olfactory bulbs.
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    Mapping internal representations with adaptive sampling, massive online experiments and cross-cultural research

    Date:
    24
    Monday
    October
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:00-12:00
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
    Lecturer: Dr. Nori Jacoby
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: ROOM 191 C-NEW
    Abstract: Our brain relies on internal representations to support perception, action, and ... Read more Our brain relies on internal representations to support perception, action, and decision-making. Internal representations are usually rich, multidimensional, and cannot be directly observed. How can these internal representations be characterized? How are they affected by experience? My work develops adaptive behavioral paradigms that integrate human decisions into computer algorithms via human-in-the-loop experiments. I combine these paradigms with a data-intensive expansion of the scale and scope of behavioral research by means of massive online experiments and cross-cultural comparative research. This talk presents “adaptive sampling,” a type of experimental paradigm inspired by Monte Carlo Markov Chain techniques. Each successive stimulus depends on a subject's response to the previous stimulus. This process allows us to sample from the complex and high-dimensional joint distribution associated with internal representations and obtain high-resolution maps of perceptual spaces. After introducing these methods and describing their implementation via large-scale online experiments and field experiments around the world, I demonstrate how they can be applied to fundamental questions in the understanding of the human mind. Specifically, I examine how biology and culture influence internal representations and how semantics influence perception.
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    Valence Based Learning in Primate Amygdala Single-Neurons

    Date:
    04
    Sunday
    September
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 09:00-10:00
    Location: Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
    Lecturer: Tamar Reitich-Stolero (Advisor: Prof. Rony Paz Lab)
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/96622589021?pwd=Tkh1RWk0OFhaVFE0SW9KeU84Q1 ... Read more Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/96622589021?pwd=Tkh1RWk0OFhaVFE0SW9KeU84Q1cvZz09 Meeting ID: 966 2258 9021 Password: 022196
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    Abstract: Humans and animals tend to behave differently when learning from rewarding or av ... Read more Humans and animals tend to behave differently when learning from rewarding or aversive feedback, and the amygdala is hypothesized to play a role in these differences. Here, we studied neural mechanisms of learning and decision making in reward and punishment, namely post-stimulus rehearsal, balancing of exploration and exploitation and generalization. To study post-stimulus rehearsal in amygdala neurons, we investigated spike-sequences across simultaneously recorded neurons of non-human primates, while they learned to discriminate between aversive and pleasant tone-odor associations. We showed that valence specific sequences across amygdala neurons rehearsed the coding of the recent association, so they can serve as a coding mechanism that enhances memory formation by rehearsal of the recent association. Next, to examine neural coding of exploration under rewards and punishments, we recorded single neurons while human subjects were engaged in a probabilistic decision-making task with gain and loss conditions, and found more exploration when subjects tried to minimize their losses. We found two mechanisms of explorational choices: one is executed through firing rate of single neurons in the temporal cortex and amygdala and is shared across valence, and the other is executed by an increase in noise in amygdala neurons, and is specific to the loss condition. Finally, we found that over-generalization around a loss-conditioned tone was accompanied by a similar over response of amygdala neurons. Together, this work expands the knowledge of neural mechanisms that enhance learning and improves decision making, specifically in complex environments that include opportunities for rewards and risks for punishments. Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/96622589021?pwd=Tkh1RWk0OFhaVFE0SW9KeU84Q1cvZz09 Meeting ID: 966 2258 9021 Password: 022196
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    How brains add vectors

    Date:
    30
    Tuesday
    August
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Gaby Maimon
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Prof. Nachum Ulanovsky nachum.ulanovsky@weizmann.ac.il tel:6301 For ass ... Read more Host: Prof. Nachum Ulanovsky nachum.ulanovsky@weizmann.ac.il tel:6301 For assistance with accessibility issues contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: Many cognitive computations rely on the nervous system estimating mathematical v ... Read more Many cognitive computations rely on the nervous system estimating mathematical vectors, but aside from computer models, how brains represent vectors or perform vector operations remains unknown. In this talk, I will describe how the fly brain performs vector arithmetic in the context of spatial navigation. The central features of this vector calculator inside the insect brain may generalize to other nervous systems and other cognitive domains beyond navigation where vector operations are required.
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    Emergent collective coding properties in hippocampal neuronal population activity

    Date:
    01
    Monday
    August
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:00-14:00
    Title: Student Seminar-PhD Thesis Defense HYBRID
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Brain Research
    Lecturer: Liron Sheintuch
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Link:https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/97167587409?pwd=TDFFYWI0ZmF5YXk0TW5oN1ZKSStndz09 ... Read more Link:https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/97167587409?pwd=TDFFYWI0ZmF5YXk0TW5oN1ZKSStndz09 Meeting ID: 971 6758 7409 Password: 227875 Benoziyo Brain Research Building Room 113
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    Abstract: Populations of hippocampal neurons have been hypothesized to operate collectivel ... Read more Populations of hippocampal neurons have been hypothesized to operate collectively to support the stable maintenance of long-term memories. To test this hypothesis, we performed large-scale calcium imaging in the hippocampus of freely behaving mice that repeatedly explored the same environments over weeks. Surprisingly, we discovered that across separate visits to the same familiar environment, hippocampal neurons can collectively switch between multiple distinct spatial representations, without any apparent changes in sensory input or animal’s behavior. The distinct representations were spatially informative and stable over weeks, and switching between them required a complete disconnection of the animal from the environment, demonstrating the coexistence of distinct stable attractors in the hippocampal network. In the second part of the talk, I will present a comparison of the coding properties between hippocampal subfields CA1 and CA3 in novel environments. Place cells in CA3 had more precise and stable spatial tuning than place cells in CA1. Moreover, we showed that in CA3 the tuning of place cells exhibited a higher statistical dependence with their peers compared to in CA1, uncovering an organization of CA3 into cell assemblies. Interestingly, cells with stronger tuning peer-dependence had higher stability but not higher precision, suggesting that distinct mechanisms control these two aspects of the neural code. Overall, our results demonstrate that multiple attractor states can stably coexist in the hippocampus and suggest that a cell-assembly organization in hippocampal CA3 underlies the long-term maintenance of stable spatial codes. Link:https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/97167587409?pwd=TDFFYWI0ZmF5YXk0TW5oN1ZKSStndz09 Meeting ID: 971 6758 7409 Password: 227875
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    Using functional MRI to better understand neurodevelopmental disorders and to find biomarkers of treatment response in mental illness

    Date:
    05
    Tuesday
    July
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Keith Shafritz
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il tel:4417
    Abstract: Our ability to correctly diagnose and treat mental illness is limited by the ove ... Read more Our ability to correctly diagnose and treat mental illness is limited by the overlap in symptoms of many disorders, despite differing etiology. Determining the proper course of treatment is quite difficult because treating individual symptoms does not always lead to successful remission and typically involves a trial-and-error approach. Task-based functional MRI has become a highly useful tool for determining the brain regions involved in cognition and behavior in humans, with the potential to be used to find biomarkers of mental illness and treatment outcomes. Much of the research in this domain has focused on the differences in brain activation between groups of individuals with specific mental disorders and typically developing “control” groups. However, by relating brain activation patterns of clinical groups to symptom severity, developmental processes, and response to treatment at the individual level, we can determine brain-based markers that have the potential to be used as diagnostic tools in the future and to determine whether certain treatments would be helpful based on specific brain activation patterns. In this talk, I will present data from studies using task-based functional MRI in autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, and childhood adversity that illustrate the potential of this technology for diagnostic and treatment purposes. I will also discuss the promises and limitations of using fMRI as a clinical tool.
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    Special Guest Seminar with Dr. Roy Maimon

    Date:
    30
    Thursday
    June
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 15:00-16:00
    Title: Tracing Glia-into-Neuron Conversion in the Aged Mouse Brain using Single Cell Spatial Transcriptomics
    Location: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95250374032?pwd=U0h4QmFQZENIZ0cvOENMZ0hMamdpQT09
    Lecturer: Dr. Roy Maimon
    Organizer: Department of Molecular Neuroscience
    Contact: bosmat.kariti@weizmann.ac.il

    Genetic Factors & Long Range Circuit Dynamics Underlying Memory Processing-ZOOM

    Date:
    28
    Tuesday
    June
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 15:00-16:00
    Lecturer: Prof. Priya Rajasethupathy
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeH ... Read more Zoom Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421
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    Abstract: How do fleeting molecules and dynamic neural codes enable the conversion of tr ... Read more How do fleeting molecules and dynamic neural codes enable the conversion of transient stimuli into lasting internal representations? And are there unique strategies to achieve memory on different time scales. Our lab addresses these questions by bridging functional genomics with systems neuroscience to provide cross-disciplinary insights. On one hand, we perform genetic mapping in outbred mice for unbiased discovery of genes, cell types, and circuits relevant for memory across different time scales. In parallel, we develop and apply methodologies to record and manipulate high resolution neural activity from these relevant circuits in the behaving animal. In today’s talk, I will discuss how these approaches have led to new insights into the genetic contributions and long-range circuit dynamics that facilitate both short- and long- term memory.  Zoom Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421
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    Special guest seminar with Dr. Or Shemesh

    Date:
    28
    Tuesday
    June
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 09:30-10:30
    Title: Infectious Neuroscience - Do Common Pathogens Play a Part in Neurodegeneration?
    Location: Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Building for Biomedical Research
    Lecturer: Dr. Or Shemesh
    Organizer: Department of Molecular Neuroscience
    Contact: Bosmat.kariti@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1) is a usual suspect when it comes to Alzheimer's d ... Read more Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1) is a usual suspect when it comes to Alzheimer's disease (AD), and its DNA and RNA were found in the brains and serological samples of AD patients. Such molecular presence of HSV-1 in AD is especially intriguing as HSV-1 virions are rarely detected in AD brains. To follow the molecular footsteps detected, we imaged viral proteins in postmortem human AD brains at superior resolution using expansion microscopy, a tissue manipulation method that physically expands the samples by a factor of 4.5x, allowing a 40 nm imaging resolution, and immunolabeled herpetic proteins, AD pathologies and cell markers. We found an abundance of herpetic proteins, previously undetectable with standard methods, across large brain areas. Importantly, we found that HSV-1 proteins strongly co-localized with AD pathologies. Consequently, we hypothesized that expression of HSV-1 proteins during latency may be linked to AD pathology. We are now in the process of characterizing the HSV-1 proteome in AD brains by imaging key proteins in expanded AD brain slices and examining their colocalization with AD pathologies across brain areas and disease stages. As a complementary system to the fixed human brain slices, we are exposing live human brain organoids, to HSV-1, and imaging the relationships between viral proteins and the formation of AD pathologies via expansion microscopy. Pathogens may be triggers of immune responses driving AD; this study would shed light on one common pathogen, HSV-1, while serving as a framework to unveiling molecular causation between infectious agents and AD hallmarks.
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    Sugar: A gut choice

    Date:
    21
    Tuesday
    June
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Diego V. Bohórquez, Ph.D.
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Animals distinguish sugars from non-nutritive sweeteners even in the absence of ... Read more Animals distinguish sugars from non-nutritive sweeteners even in the absence of sweet taste. This hidden sugar sense seems to reside in the gut, but the cells and neural circuits are unknown. In 2018, the Bohórquez Laboratory discovered a neural circuit linking the gut to the brain in one synapse. The neural circuit is formed between neuropod cells in the gut and the vagus nerve. This neural circuit is essential to convey sensory cues from sugars. In 2020, the Bohórquez Laboratory discovered using a new fiber optic technology along with optogenetics, that animals rely on neuropod cells to distinguish sugars from non-caloric sweeteners. Much like the brain relies on retinal cone cells to see color, gut neuropod cells help the brain’s choose sugar over non-caloric sweeteners.
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    Deciphering non-neuronal cells fate in Alzheimer’s disease by next generation transcriptomics

    Date:
    20
    Monday
    June
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:30-12:30
    Title: Student Seminar - PhD Thesis Defense -ZOOM-
    Lecturer: Mor Kenigsbuch
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom link-https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/98815291638?pwd=cnZTanhzWkEyYmh4Mjk4OWxHMGE ... Read more Zoom link-https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/98815291638?pwd=cnZTanhzWkEyYmh4Mjk4OWxHMGE5UT09 Meeting ID:988 1529 1638 Password:880170
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    Abstract: For decades, Alzheimer's disease (AD) was perceived as a disease of the neuron a ... Read more For decades, Alzheimer's disease (AD) was perceived as a disease of the neuron alone. However, research advances in recent years have challenged this concept and shed light on the critical roles of other cells within the central nervous system (CNS) and the periphery. Within the CNS, microglia and astrocytes were revealed to be key players in disease progression, while other cell types, such as oligodendrocytes, pericytes, and endothelial cells, remained relatively understudied. In my PhD, I focused on understanding how two non-neuronal cell types, the oligodendroglia in the brain parenchyma and the choroid plexus (CP) epithelium, respond to AD and how they possibly affect pathological processes. My research identified a cellular state of oligodendrocytes that significantly increased in association with brain pathology, which we termed disease-associated oligodendrocytes (DOLs). Oligodendrocytes with DOL signature could also be identified in a mouse model of tauopathy and other neurodegenerative and autoimmune inflammatory conditions, suggesting a common response of oligodendrocytes to severe deviation from homeostasis. In the second part of my PhD, I contributed to a research aiming to investigate the mechanisms underlying the decline of the CP's neuroprotective abilities in the context of AD. We found that exposure of choroid plexus epithelial cultures to 24-hydroxycholesterol (24-OH), the enzymatic product of the brain-specific enzyme cholesterol 24-hydroxylase (CYP46A1), results in downregulation of aging- related transcriptomic signatures-such as Interferon type I (IFN-I) associated inflammation. Moreover, we found that CYP46A1 is constitutively expressed by the CP of humans and mice but is reduced in AD patients and 5xFAD mice. Overexpression of Cyp46a1 at the CP in 5xFAD mice attenuated cognitive loss and brain inflammation. Our results suggest that CP CYP46A1 is an unexpected safeguard against chronic anti-viral-like responses that can be rescued when lost. Overall, my PhD work highlights the significance of studying the fate of non-neuronal cell types in neurodegenerative diseases, in general, and in AD, in particular, and emphasizes the potential of next- generation transcriptomic techniques as a powerful tool to unveil previously unexpected pathways and mechanisms involved in these diseases.  Zoom link-https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/98815291638?pwd=cnZTanhzWkEyYmh4Mjk4OWxHMGE5UT09 Meeting ID:988 1529 1638 Password:880170
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    Nonoscillatory coding and multiscale representation of ultra-large environments in the bat hippocampus

    Date:
    09
    Thursday
    June
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 15:00-16:30
    Title: Student Seminar - PhD Thesis Defense
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Tamir Eliav
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: The hippocampus plays a key role in memory and navigation, and forms a cognitive ... Read more The hippocampus plays a key role in memory and navigation, and forms a cognitive map of the world: hippocampal ‘place cells’ encode the animal’s location by activating whenever the animal passes a particular region in the environment (the neuron’s ‘place field’). Over the last 50 years of hippocampal research, almost all studies have focused on rodents as animal models, using small laboratory experimental setups. In my research, I explored hippocampal representations in a naturalistic settings, in a unique animal model – the bat. My talk will outline two main stories: (i) In rodents, hippocampal activity exhibits ‘theta oscillations’. These oscillations were proposed to support multiple functions, including memory and sequence formation. However, absence of clear theta in bats and humans has questioned these proposals. Surprisingly, we found that in bats hippocampal neurons exhibited nonoscillatory phase-coding. This highlights the importance of phase-coding, but not oscillations per se, for hippocampal function across species – including humans. (ii) Real-world navigation requires spatial representation of very large environments. To investigate this, we wirelessly recorded from hippocampal dorsal CA1 neurons of bats flying in a long tunnel (200 meters). Place cells displayed a multifield multiscale code: Individual neurons exhibited multiple place fields of diverse sizes, ranging from 0.6 to 32 meters, and the fields of the same neuron differed up to 20-fold in size. Theoretical analysis showed that the multiscale code allows representing large environments with much better accuracy than other codes. Thus, by increasing the spatial scale, we uncovered a neural code that is radically different from classical spatial codes. Together, these results highlight the power of the comparative approach, and demonstrate that studying the brain under naturalistic settings and behavior enables discovering new unknown aspects of the neural code.
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    Molecular mechanisms underlying neural circuit assembly in the mammalian visual system

    Date:
    09
    Thursday
    June
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Alex L. Kolodkin
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Hosts- Dr. Meital Oren meital.oren@weizmann.ac.il Dr. Michal Rivlin michal.r ... Read more Hosts- Dr. Meital Oren meital.oren@weizmann.ac.il Dr. Michal Rivlin michal.rivlin@weizmann.ac.il For issues on accessibility matters: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: The assembly of neural circuits critical for visual system function includes the ... Read more The assembly of neural circuits critical for visual system function includes the differentiation of select subtypes of amacrine cells (ACs) and retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the elaboration of precise connections within the retina among ACs and RGCs, and targeting of RGC axons to their appropriate retino-recipient regions within the CNS. I will consider these events in the context of the mammalian accessory optic system (AOS), which is tuned to detect slow directional motion in order to stabilize images on the retina. This work implicates mutations in certain human genes that encode orthologues of proteins critical for assembling murine AOS circuits in phylogenetically conserved aspects of visual system function.
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    Architecture and function of small neuronal networks

    Date:
    06
    Monday
    June
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 13:30-15:30
    Title: Student Seminar - PhD Thesis Defense HYBRID
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Adam Haber
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Hybrid seminar Schmidt Lecture hall Zoom Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95 ... Read more Hybrid seminar Schmidt Lecture hall Zoom Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421
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    Abstract: Neurons in the brain form complex networks of synaptic connections. These elabor ... Read more Neurons in the brain form complex networks of synaptic connections. These elaborate networks define the physical scaffold on which neural activity occurs, and shape the collective dynamics of groups of neurons. In this talk, I will present my work on understanding the structural design principles of neural networks, and the relations between their architecture and their functional properties. First, I will ask what are the structural features that shape the function of neural networks, and show we can learn these features from large ensembles of simulated networks. Second, I will discuss how a strong biological constraint on the structure of neural networks does not incur a computational cost, and may even be functionally beneficial. Third, I will show how we can build connectomes which capture both the structure and the function of real data, using a small number of simple biological features.   Zoom Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421
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    Fast multimodal imaging of brain dynamics underlying sleep and wakefulness

    Date:
    17
    Tuesday
    May
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00-15:00
    Title: On ZOOM
    Lecturer: Dr. Laura Lewis
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: ZOOM Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeH ... Read more ZOOM Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421
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    Abstract: When we fall asleep, brain function and physiology are rapidly transformed. Unde ... Read more When we fall asleep, brain function and physiology are rapidly transformed. Understanding the neural basis of sleep requires imaging methods that can capture multiple aspects of brain physiology at fast timescales. We develop approaches for analyzing human brain physiology using multimodal neuroimaging, and apply them to investigate the neural origins and consequences of sleep. We found that accelerated methods for fMRI can enable imaging subsecond neural dynamics throughout the human brain. We applied these methods to investigate the neural dynamics that occur at state transitions, and identified temporal sequences within thalamocortical networks that precede the moment of awakening from sleep. In addition, we developed a method to image cerebrospinal fluid flow, and discovered large waves of fluid flow that appear in the sleeping human brain. Together, these studies highlight the new biological information that can be extracted from fast fMRI data, and use this approach to discover neurophysiological dynamics unique to the sleeping brain. Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421
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    Brain plasticity: Regulation and Modulation

    Date:
    16
    Monday
    May
    2022
    -
    17
    Tuesday
    May
    2022
    Conference
    Time: 08:00 - 18:00
    Location: David Lopatie Conference Centre
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: ilan.lampl@weizmann.ac.il

    Representation of 3D space in the mammalian brain: From 3D grid cells in flying bats to 3D perception in flying humans

    Date:
    27
    Wednesday
    April
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Title: Student Seminar - PhD Thesis Defense FRONTAL
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Gily Ginosar
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: While our world is three-dimensional (3D), spatial perception is most often stud ... Read more While our world is three-dimensional (3D), spatial perception is most often studied in animals and humans navigating across 2D surfaces. I will present two cases in which the consideration of the 3D nature of the world has led us to surprising results. The first case regards the neural recording of mammalian grid cells. Grid cells that are recorded over 2D surfaces create a hexagonal-shaped repetitive lattice, which inspired many theoretical studies to investigate the pattern’s mechanism and function. Upon recording in bats flying through 3D space, we found that grid cells did not exhibit a hexagonal global lattice, but rather showed a local order – with grid-fields exhibiting fixed local distances. Our results in 3D strongly argue against most of the prevailing models of grid-cell function, and we suggest a unified model that explains the results in both 2D and 3D.  The second case regards the perception of 3D space in humans. Different behavioral studies have shown contradicting evidence of human perception of 3D space being either isotropic or vertically compressed. We addressed this question using human experts in 3D motion and navigation – fighter pilots – studied in a flight simulator. We considered two aspects of the perception of 3D space: surrounding space and travelled space. We show that different aspects of the perception of space are shaped differently with experience: whereas the perception of the 3D surrounding space was vertically compressed in both expert and non-expert subjects, fighter pilots exhibited isotropic perception of travelled space, whereas non-expert subjects retained a distorted perception.  Together, our research sheds light on the differences and similarities between the coding of 3D versus 2D space, in both animals and humans.  
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    Fragmenting the self: brainwide recording and the neurobiology of dissociation

    Date:
    13
    Wednesday
    April
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Dr. Isaac Kauvar
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host-Prof. Ofer Yizhar ofer.yizhar@weizmann.ac.il tel: 6957
    Abstract: Advanced methods now allow fast, cellular-level recording of neural activity acr ... Read more Advanced methods now allow fast, cellular-level recording of neural activity across the mammalian brain, enabling exploration of how brain-wide dynamical patterns might give rise to complex behavioral states, such as the clinically important state of dissociation. We established a dissociation-like state in mice, induced by administration of ketamine or phencyclidine. Large-scale neural recording revealed that these dissociative agents elicited a 1–3-Hz rhythm in layer 5 neurons of retrosplenial cortex, uncoupled from most other brain regions except thalamus. Additionally, using brain-wide intracranial electrical recording in a patient with focal epilepsy, the human experience of dissociation was linked to a similar ~3 Hz rhythm in posteromedial cortex (homologous to mouse retrosplenial cortex), and stimulation of this area induced dissociation.   
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    Conscious intentions during voluntary action formation

    Date:
    05
    Tuesday
    April
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Dr. Uri Maoz
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host-Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il tel: 4417 Coordination & ... Read more Host-Dr. Michal Ramot michal.ramot@weizmann.ac.il tel: 4417 Coordination & accessibility issues-naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: Investigating conscious intentions associated with spontaneous, voluntary action ... Read more Investigating conscious intentions associated with spontaneous, voluntary action is challenging. Typical paradigms inherently lack the stimulus-response structure that is common in neuroscientific tasks (Haggard, 2019). Moreover, studying the onset of intentions has proven notoriously difficult, conceptually and empirically. Measuring the onset of intentions with a clock was shown to be inconsistent, biased, and unreliable (Maoz et al., 2015). Furthermore, probe methods estimated intention onset much earlier than clock-based methods (Matsuhashi & Hallett, 2008), complicating the reconciliation of these results. Some have even questioned the existence of intentions as discrete, causal neural states (Schurger & Utihol, 2015).
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    The impact of metabolic processes at the brain’s choroid plexus and of the gut microbiome on Alzheimer’s disease manifestation

    Date:
    24
    Thursday
    March
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 16:00
    Title: Student Seminar - PhD Thesis Defense -ZOOM-
    Lecturer: Afroditi Tsitsou-Kampeli
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom link https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/98658552127?pwd=ZkZmWTBkd1AxZ0xPbGlpU3FPUW ... Read more Zoom link https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/98658552127?pwd=ZkZmWTBkd1AxZ0xPbGlpU3FPUWpzUT09 Meeting ID:986 5855 2127 Password:495213
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    Abstract: The immune system and the gut microbiome are becoming major players in chronic n ... Read more The immune system and the gut microbiome are becoming major players in chronic neurodegenerative conditions. One of the key interfaces between the brain and the immune system with an impact on brain function is the choroid plexus (CP). The CP interface is central to the maintenance of brain homeostasis by exerting a plethora of different biological processes. However, in aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), interferon type-I (IFN-I) signaling accumulates at the CP and impedes part of its beneficial function by inducing a CP-pro-aging signature. My research contributed to the finding that IFN-I signaling at the CP induces an aging-like signature in microglia and impedes cognitive abilities in middle-aged mice in a microglia-dependent manner. In addition, I demonstrated that the brain-specific enzyme, cholesterol 24-hydroxylase (CYP46A1), is expressed by the CP epithelium and that its product, 24-hydroxycholesterol (24-OH), downregulates CP-pro-inflammatory signatures. Furthermore, in AD, CP CYP46A1 protein levels were decreased in both mice and humans and overexpression of Cyp46a1 at the CP in 5xFAD mice reversed brain inflammation, microglial dysfunction signatures, and cognitive loss. Finally, while the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α impaired CP Cyp46a1 expression in vitro, boosting systemic immunity in vivo increased its levels in an IFNGR2-dependent manner. These results highlight CYP46A1 at the CP as a remote regulator of brain inflammation, which diminishes with neurodegeneration, but is amenable to rescue. Focusing on the gut microbiome, I found that 5xFAD mice devoid of microbiome exhibited a striking decrease of long-term spatial memory deficit and increased synaptic and neuronal survival. Spatial memory deficit in 5xFAD mice kept in germ free (GF) or specific-pathogen free (SPF) conditions, negatively correlated with the abundance of 2-hydroxypyridine, while systemic, chronic supply of 2-hydroxypyridine in SPF 5xFAD mice improved spatial memory deficits in comparison to phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)-supplied 5xFAD mice. Overall, these findings demonstrate a microbiome-dependent effect on AD pathology in the 5xFAD mouse model and suggest a connection between 2-hydroxypyridine and AD manifestation. In general, this research thesis addresses novel aspects of choroid plexus and gut microbiome metabolism and their relation to AD progression. Zoom link https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/98658552127?pwd=ZkZmWTBkd1AxZ0xPbGlpU3FPUWpzUT09 Meeting ID:986 5855 2127 Password:495213
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    Cracking the olfactory code using behavior

    Date:
    13
    Sunday
    March
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 10:00-11:00
    Title: Hybrid Seminar
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Dmitry Rinberg
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZ ... Read more Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421 Dr. Takashi Kawashima tel:2995 takashi.kawashima@weizmann.ac.il Contact & accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: Two of the most fundamental questions of sensory neuroscience are: 1) how is sti ... Read more Two of the most fundamental questions of sensory neuroscience are: 1) how is stimulus information represented by neuronal activity? and 2) what features of this activity are read out to guide behavior? The first question has been the subject of a large body of work across different sensory modalities. The second question remains a significant challenge, since one needs to establish a causal link between neuronal activity and behavior. In olfaction, it has been proposed that information about odors is encoded in spatial distribution of receptor activation and the next level mitral/tufted cells, as well as in their relative timing and synchrony. However, the role of different features of neural activity in guiding behavior remains unknown. Using mouse olfaction as a model system, we developed both technological and conceptual approaches to study sensory coding by perturbing neural activity at different levels of information processing during sensory driven behavioral tasks. We developed methods for both one-photon spatiotemporal pattern stimulation using digital mirror devices at the glomerulus level in the olfactory bulb, and two-photon holographic pattern stimulation deeper in the brain, at the level of mitral/tufted cells. Using these techniques, we performed quantitative behavioral experiments to, first, measure psychophysical limits of the readability of different features of the neural code, and, second, to quantify their behavioral relevance. Based on these results, we built a detailed mathematical model of the behavioral relevance of the different features of spatiotemporal neural activity. Our approach can be potentially generalized to other sensory systems. Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421
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    Brain-computer interfaces for basic science

    Date:
    10
    Thursday
    March
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Title: Hybrid Seminar
    Location: Gerhard M.J. Schmidt Lecture Hall
    Lecturer: Prof. Byron Yu
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Host: Dr. Takashi Kawashima takashi.kawashima@weizmann.ac.il tel: 2995 Contac ... Read more Host: Dr. Takashi Kawashima takashi.kawashima@weizmann.ac.il tel: 2995 Contact & accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: Abstract: Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) translate neural activity into movemen ... Read more Abstract: Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) translate neural activity into movements of a computer cursor or robotic limb. BCIs are known for their ability to assist paralyzed patients. A lesser known, but increasingly important, use of BCIs is their ability to further our basic scientific understanding of brain function. In particular, BCIs are providing insights into the neural mechanisms underlying sensorimotor control that are currently difficult to obtain using limb movements. In this talk, I will demonstrate how a BCI can be leveraged to study how the brain learns. Specifically, I will address why learning some tasks is easier than others, as well as how populations of neurons change their activity in concert during learning. Brief bio: Byron Yu received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley in 2001. He received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 2003 and 2007, respectively, from Stanford University. From 2007 to 2009, he was a postdoctoral fellow jointly in Electrical Engineering and Neuroscience at Stanford University and at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London. He then joined the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University in 2010, where he is a Professor in Electrical & Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, and the Gerard G. Elia Career Development Professor. He is broadly interested in how large populations of neurons process information, from encoding sensory stimuli to driving motor actions. His group develops and applies novel statistical algorithms and uses brain-computer interfaces to study brain function. Link- https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421
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    Experience- Dependent Transcription From Genomic Mechanisms to Neural Circuit Function

    Date:
    09
    Wednesday
    March
    2022
    -
    10
    Thursday
    March
    2022
    Conference
    Time: 08:00
    Location: Virtual Conference
    Contact: ivo.spiegel@weizmann.ac.il
    Experience- Dependent Transcription From Genomic Mechanisms to Neural Circuit Function Conference website

    Neural representation geometry: a mesoscale approach linking learning to complex behavior

    Date:
    07
    Monday
    March
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00-15:00
    Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Brain Research
    Lecturer: Stefano Recanatesi
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: BENOZIYO BRAIN RESEARCH BUILDING ROOM 113 Host: Prof. Misha Tsodyks misha@weizm ... Read more BENOZIYO BRAIN RESEARCH BUILDING ROOM 113 Host: Prof. Misha Tsodyks misha@weizmann.ac.il tel-2157 Contact & accessibility issues: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
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    Abstract: I will demonstrate how neural representation geometry may hold the key to linkin ... Read more I will demonstrate how neural representation geometry may hold the key to linking animal behavior and learning to circuit mechanisms. We will proceed in three steps. 1) We will start by establishing a connection between the sequential dynamics of complex behavior and geometrical properties of neural representations. 2) We will then link these geometrical properties to underlying circuit components. Specifically, we will uncover connectivity mechanisms that allow the circuit to control the geometry of its representations. 3) Finally, we will investigate how key geometrical structures emerge, de novo, through learning. To answer this, we will analyze the learning of representations in feedforward and recurrent neural networks trained to perform predictive tasks using machine learning techniques. As a result, we will show how both learning mechanisms and behavioral demands shape the geometry of neural representations.
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    Effects of physical exercise and adult neurogenesis on hippocampal neural codes

    Date:
    10
    Thursday
    February
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 09:00-10:00
    Lecturer: Yoav Rechavi - PhD Thesis Defense on Zoom
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom link-https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/93585241611?pwd=RGsxakU2aElVQ01nbUpuRjVqOWQ ... Read more Zoom link-https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/93585241611?pwd=RGsxakU2aElVQ01nbUpuRjVqOWQ0QT09 Meeting ID: 935 8524 1611 Password: 243908
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    Abstract: ABSTRACT Physical activity plays a vital role in maintaining a healthy brain, au ... Read more ABSTRACT Physical activity plays a vital role in maintaining a healthy brain, augmenting memory and cognition in both humans and animals. Previous studies have identified multiple distinct molecular and cellular factors that mediate these effects, both within the brain and systemically. However, what remains unknown is how exercise affects the neural coding mechanisms that underlie these cognitive and memory abilities. In my work I addressed this question in the context of spatial cognition, and studied how chronic voluntary exercise affects the quality and the long-term stability of hippocampal place codes. I performed longitudinal imaging of calcium activity in the hippocampal CA1 of mice as they repeatedly explored initially novel environments over weeks, and compared the place codes of mice that voluntarily ran on wheels in their home cage to those of sedentary mice. As previously reported, physical activity enhanced adult neurogenesis rates in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in the running group. I found that running increased the firing rates and the information content that place cells carry about position. In addition, I discovered a surprising relationship between physical activity and long-term neural-code stability: although running mice demonstrated an overall more stable place code than sedentary mice, their place code exhibited a higher degree of representational drift when controlling for code quality level. Using a simulated neural network, I found that the combination of both improved code quality and faster representational drift in runners, but neither of these effects alone, could recapitulate my experimental results. Overall, these results imply a role for physical activity in both improving the spatial code and accelerating representational drift in the hippocampus. Zoom link-https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/93585241611?pwd=RGsxakU2aElVQ01nbUpuRjVqOWQ0QT09 Meeting ID: 935 8524 1611 Password: 243908
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    Theory of neural perturbome

    Date:
    01
    Tuesday
    February
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30
    Title: ZOOM
    Lecturer: Prof. Claudia Clopath
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Seminar via Zoom Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3Smp ... Read more Seminar via Zoom Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421 Host: Dr. Takashi Kawashima takashi.kawashima@weizmann.ac.il tel: 2995
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    Abstract: To unravel the functional properties of the brain, we need to untangle how neur ... Read more To unravel the functional properties of the brain, we need to untangle how neurons interact with each other and coordinate in large-scale recurrent networks. One way to address this question is to measure the functional influence of individual neurons on each other by perturbing them in vivo. Application of such single-neuron perturbations in mouse visual cortex has recently revealed feature- specific suppression between excitatory neurons, despite the presence of highly specific excitatory connectivity, which was deemed to underlie feature-specific amplification. Here, we studied which connectivity profiles are consistent with these seemingly contradictory observations, by modeling the effect of single-neuron perturbations in large-scale neuronal networks. Our numerical simulations and mathematical analysis revealed that, contrary to the prima facie assumption, neither inhibition dominance nor broad inhibition alone were sufficient to explain the experimental findings; instead, strong and functionally specific excitatory–inhibitory connectivity was necessary, consistent with recent findings in the primary visual cortex of rodents. Such networks had a higher capacity to encode and decode natural images, and this was accompanied by the emergence of response gain nonlinearities at the population level. Our study provides a general computational framework to investigate how single-neuron perturbations are linked to cortical connectivity and sensory coding and paves the road to map the perturbome of neuronal networks in future studies. Zoom Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421
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    Hippocampal spatial representation during dynamic natural navigation

    Date:
    25
    Tuesday
    January
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 10:00-11:15
    Title: Student Seminar - PhD Thesis Defense - ZOOM -
    Lecturer: Ayelet Sare l- PhD Thesis Defense
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/94670920898?pwd=TzhWTnNsS3FuTXA3SlllMkw1cn ... Read more Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/94670920898?pwd=TzhWTnNsS3FuTXA3SlllMkw1cnc1QT09 Meeting ID: 946 7092 0898 Password: 482721
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    Abstract: Navigation, the ability to reach a desired goal location, is a complex behavior ... Read more Navigation, the ability to reach a desired goal location, is a complex behavior that occurs in complex environments. It requires the animal to know its own location in the environment, but also be attentive to other things in the environment that could influence its route – such as the navigational goal or other alternative goals, landmarks and obstacles along the route, as well as other conspecifics it may encounter. Despite the complexity and richness of real-world navigation, most studies of the neural basis of navigation were done in small empty setups. During my PhD, I focused on how the hippocampus represents navigation in more naturalistic and dynamic scenarios. In my first PhD project I found a vectorial representation of spatial goals in the bat hippocampus, which could support goal-directed navigation. In my second PhD project I found that during dynamic ‘cross-overs’ between two bats, hippocampal neurons switched from representing the bat’s self-position to a conjunctive representation of position × distance to the other bat – an extremely rapid neuronal switch. Taken together, in my PhD I studied the neural basis of dynamic natural navigation by adding more naturalistic aspects of navigation – such as navigation to goals and collision-avoidance behavior – and this allowed me to reveal interesting and surprising new representations in the hippocampus. 
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    BOOSTING CAR T CELL EFFICACY BY MODULATION OF THE MICROENVIRONMENT IN BRAIN TUMORS

    Date:
    20
    Thursday
    January
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00
    Location: Max and Lillian Candiotty Building
    Lecturer: Prof. Dinorah Friedmann-Morvinski
    Organizer: Dwek Institute for Cancer Therapy Research
    Contact: michal.av@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/5065402023?pwd=a3Z6KzRCU0xJaUFoM2Y5emZwZm1oZz09

    Student Seminar on Zoom - PhD Thesis Defense by Maya Amitai

    Date:
    19
    Wednesday
    January
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 10:00-11:00
    Lecturer: Maya Amitai, MD, PhD
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Student Seminar - PhD Thesis Defense Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/9109 ... Read more Student Seminar - PhD Thesis Defense Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/91093085114?pwd=RVBKbEZXbjlsaVZrUVRuNThtVHB1UT09 Meeting ID: 910 9308 5114 Password : 419366
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    Abstract: Depression and anxiety disorders are among the most common childhood psychiatric ... Read more Depression and anxiety disorders are among the most common childhood psychiatric disorders. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are generally considered first-line treatment for both depression and anxiety in this age group. However, 30%–40% of all patients who receive a sufficient dose and duration of treatment fail to respond. Moreover, SSRI use is frequently associated with adverse events (AEs), including activation symptoms, manic switch and increased suicidal behavior (SBs). These are particularly relevant in pediatric populations because of concerns about the suicide threat of SSRIs, resulting in a "black-box" warning. There are currently no biomarkers that can predict treatment response or AEs. Identification of such biomarkers could help to maximize the benefit-risk ratio for the use of SSRIs and speed the matching of treatment to patient. Given the fact that depression / anxiety risk is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors and that both state and trait factors will be important in treatment response prediction, a multidimensional biomarker panel covering several levels of biological information would likely be necessary. The main objective of this research thesis is to identify biomarkers that will aid in the prediction of response and suicidal and other AEs of SSRI treatment in children and adolescents treated for depression and/or anxiety disorders. We examined the involvement of specific biomarkers (miRNA’s, DNA methylation, single nucleotide polymorphism [SNP's] and metabolites) in the response to SSRIs treatment in children and adolescents and in the differences observed between individuals exhibiting response or non-response/AEs to treatment with SSRIs. Two hundred and sixty-six children and adolescents with depression and/or anxiety disorders were recruited and treated with fluoxetine. The overall response rate was 55%. Several targets from several biological domains (DNA methylation profile, miRNA’s and metabolites) were identifies as differentially expressed between responders and non-responders at baseline test. Pathway analysis of the predicted targets was carried out to assess their putative biological functions. Interestingly, when combining targets from the four biological domains, the targets were predicted to regulate specific biological pathways associated with immune system pathways and/or developmental pathways. Dysregulation of complex gene networks in the developing brain is thought to underlie depression with childhood or adolescent onset. Thus, the identified molecules might play critical roles in transcriptional networks related to treatment response and AEs. These transcriptional networks are particularly relevant to the developing human brain and to neurodevelopmental disorders with childhood/adolescent onset, such as depression and anxiety disorders. Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/91093085114?pwd=RVBKbEZXbjlsaVZrUVRuNThtVHB1UT09 Meeting ID: 910 9308 5114 Password : 419366
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    The immune system-gut-brain axis: environmental impacts on aging and neurological disorders

    Date:
    16
    Sunday
    January
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 11:00-12:30
    Location: Wolfson Building for Biological Research
    Lecturer: Dr. Eran Blacher
    Organizer: Department of Molecular Cell Biology
    Contact: michal.ovadia@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/93005753989?pwd=WllWVlNsUnRPSnVEemRLUUZvU0 ... Read more Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/93005753989?pwd=WllWVlNsUnRPSnVEemRLUUZvU0RLdz09 Meeting ID: 930 0575 3989 Password: 599484
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    Gallery: The immune system-gut-brain axis: environmental impacts on aging and neurological disorders Gallery
    The immune system-gut-brain axis: environmental impacts on aging and neurological disorders Lecture / Seminar website

    Zoom seminar -Diversity of dopamine neurons: multi-agent reinforcement learning

    Date:
    11
    Tuesday
    January
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 16:00-17:00
    Lecturer: Prof. Naoshige Uchida
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeH ... Read more Zoom Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421 Host: Dr. Takashi Kawashima takashi.kawashima@weizmann.ac.il tel - 2995
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    Abstract: Dopamine regulates multiple brain functions including learning, motivation and m ... Read more Dopamine regulates multiple brain functions including learning, motivation and movement. Furthermore, the striatum, a major target of dopamine neurons, is parceled into multiple subregions that are associated with different types of behavior, such as Pavlovian, goal-directed, and habitual behaviors. An important question in the field is how dopamine regulates these diverse functions. It has been thought that midbrain dopamine neurons broadcast reward prediction error signals to drive reinforcement learning. However, recent studies have found more diverse dopamine signals than originally thought. How can we reconcile these results? In this talk, I will discuss our recent studies characterizing diverse dopamine signals, and how these findings can be understood in a coherent theoretical framework. Zoom Link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421
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    Circuits for decisions, attention and working memory in the primate visual system

    Date:
    10
    Monday
    January
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 14:00-16:00
    Location: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/91943040474?pwd=b0pya3luOGp6TVl1NGFuMUp4Ulo0QT09
    Lecturer: Dr. Leor Katz
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: shakked.ganor@weizmann.ac.il
    Abstract: Making decisions, attending to certain items, and manipulating information in wo ... Read more Making decisions, attending to certain items, and manipulating information in working memory are fundamental behaviors that rely on specific neural circuitry. Throughout my research I have contributed to understanding such behaviors in human and in nonhuman primates but found that despite tremendous advances in the field, we still lack a mechanistic understanding of what goes wrong in conditions such as dementia or autism. My long-term research goal is to determine the circuits that support cognitive behavior, in health and disease. In my talk, I present three key contributions I have made towards uncovering neuronal circuits for cognition in the macaque, an animal model whose neural circuitry affords unique insight into human brain function. First, I demonstrate the utility of rigorous psychophysical frameworks in determining the causal contribution of key brain regions to behavior in a perceptual decision-making task. Next, I describe how causal manipulations of brain areas involved in attentional control can be used to identify hitherto unknown areas and reveal new functional circuits in support of selective attention and object recognition. Finally, I show how computational analyses of population data reveal circuits within circuits with distinct roles in supporting working memory. I end the talk by presenting my future research directions and approach: to leverage my experience studying how we select from external information (from sensory signals) to investigate how we select from internal information (from information stored in visual working memory). By blending theory-driven experiments with large-scale electrophysiological recording and circuit-specific causal manipulations in behaving macaques, I aim to uncover how we select relevant information from working memory, and equally important, how we fail to do so when struck by disorders of executive or memory function.
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    Zoom Seminar - Using deep neural networks as cognitive models for how brains act in the natural world

    Date:
    04
    Tuesday
    January
    2022
    Lecture / Seminar
    Time: 12:30-13:30
    Lecturer: Prof. Uri Hasson
    Organizer: Department of Brain Sciences
    Contact: naomi.moses@weizmann.ac.il
    Details: Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVe ... Read more Zoom link: https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421 Host: Dr. Takashi Kawashima takashi.kawashima@weizmann.ac.il tel:2995
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    Abstract: Naturalistic experimental paradigms in neuroimaging arose from a pressure to tes ... Read more Naturalistic experimental paradigms in neuroimaging arose from a pressure to test the validity of models we derive from highly controlled experiments in real-world contexts. In many cases, however, such efforts led to the realization that models developed under particular experimental manipulations failed to capture much variance outside the context of that manipulation. The critique of non-naturalistic experiments is not a recent development; it echoes a persistent and subversive thread in the history of modern psychology. The brain has evolved to guide behavior in a multidimensional world with many interacting variables. The assumption that artificially decoupling and manipulating these variables will lead to a good understanding of the brain may be untenable. Recent advances in artificial neural networks provide an alternative computational framework to model cognition in natural contexts. In contrast to the simplified and interpretable hypotheses we test in the lab, these models do not learn simple, human-interpretable rules or representations of the world. Instead, they use local computations to interpolate over task-relevant manifolds in high-dimensional parameter space. Counterintuitively, over-parameterized deep neural models are parsimonious and straightforward, as they provide a versatile, robust solution for learning a diverse set of functions in natural contexts. Naturalistic paradigms should not be deployed as an afterthought if we hope to build models of brain and behavior that extend beyond the laboratory into the real world. In my talk, I will discuss the relevance of deep neural models to cognition in the context of natural language and deep language models. Zoom link- https://weizmann.zoom.us/j/95406893197?pwd=REt5L1g3SmprMUhrK3dpUDJVeHlrZz09 Meeting ID: 954 0689 3197 Password: 750421
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    Example 1 for internal event node

    Date:
    08
    Monday
    May
    2017
    -
    10
    Wednesday
    May
    2017
    Retreat
    Time: 10:00 - 12:30
    Location: David Lopatie Conference Centre ...
    Organizer: Department of ...
    Contact: weizmann@weizmann.ac.il

    Example 2 for internal event node

    Date:
    08
    Monday
    May
    2017
    -
    10
    Wednesday
    May
    2017
    Retreat
    Time: 10:00 - 12:30
    Location: David Lopatie Conference Centre ...
    Organizer: Department of ...
    Contact: weizmann@weizmann.ac.il