Internal Seminar: Arbuthnott Unit and Chakrborty Unit

Join us for December's Internal Seminar Series on Dec. 12, from 17:00 to 18:00 in B250. This month's seminars feature the Brain Mechanism for Behavior Unit (Gordon Arbuthnott) and the Fluid Mechanics Unit (Pinaki Chakraborty).

Brain Mechanism for Behavior Unit (Gordon Arbuthnott)

Speaker : Omar Jaidar

Title : Spying neurons through the window

Abstract : The Thalamus is a vertex which mediates basal ganglia, cerebellum, and motor related-cortical areas influences on cortical activity. The Motor thalamus plays a key role in movement control, linking the basal ganglia to the cerebral cortex. Large amounts of thlamocortical axons are condensed in different areas of layer 1 of the cerebral cortex. However, how the thalamic activity changes during motor behavior and moreover, how this activity is transmitted to other layers in the cortex is unknown. The main goal of this project is to visualize the in vivo activity of the axons projecting to layer 1 of the motor cortex and their interaction with layer 5 dendritic trees. For this purpose, we apply 2 photon imaging in head restricted animals, using an adeno-associate virus, containing a cassette driving GCamP6f, an encoded calcium indicator, and a chronic cranial window with silicon access port.

Fluid Mechanics Unit (Pinaki Chakraborty)

Speaker : Pinaki Chakraborty

Title : A soapy approach to understanding turbulent friction

Abstract : In this talk I will describe how to use dishwasher detergent, fishing lines, and soap-bubble techniques familiar to every child to show that turbulent friction (which is what sets the cost of pumping oil through a pipeline and other things that worry engineers and capitalists) is inextricably linked to the nature of the velocity fluctuations in a flow. This conclusion might seem intuitively obvious. Nevertheless, it is contrary to the teachings of the prevailing theory, and it renders the prevailing theory incomplete. On the other hand, the conclusion is in quantitative agreement (as I will show) with the predictions of an alternative theory (which I will describe). This research was carried out in collaboration with the Continuum Physics Unit.