The Rapidly Changing Brain – Of Taxi Driving Mice and Maze Running Men

From the NIH:

7T Seminar Series: The Rapidly Changing Brain – Of Taxi Driving Mice and Maze Running Men

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Air date:Friday, March 19, 2010, 2:00:00 PM
Time displayed is Eastern Time, Washington DC Local
Category: 7 T Seminars

Description: How does the shape of the brain change with learning? Initial studies indicated that spatial expertise - in the form of experienced Taxi drivers - enlarged the hippocampus, one of the key structures involved in spatial navigation. Whether regional growth or shrinkage in the brain can be induced with specific training administered over short time periods is, however, unknown. The talk will present results of training studies in both mice and men, including some initial investigations using histology to ascertain the cellular bases of training induced volume changes.

Dr. Jason Lerch is a scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. His research program is focused on how the brain changes it's shape, with activities including the MRI of learning and memory, the effect of specialized training on the human brain, and methods of analyzing neuroanatomy.

Author:Dr. Jason Lerch
Runtime: 60 minutes

Permanent link:http://videocast.nih.gov/launch.asp?15732

Tags: The Rapidly Changing Brain, Of Taxi Driving Mice and Maze Running Men, NIH, neuroscience, Dr. Jason Lerch, Psychology, brain, learning, neuroplasticity