On April 6, 2015, the Neuroscience Program hosted its annual spring symposium at the Sadler Center. The event began with six “data blitz” talks, given by W&M students Eileen Ablondi, Emma Albert-Stone, Lyuba Bolkhovitinov, John Bramley, Evan Jones and Spencer Millen. These talks were followed by a colloquium by an alumnus, Dr. Eric Yttri, a post-doctoral research at HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus. His talk, entitled, “Lights, Camera, Action! Motor learning and motivation in the basal ganglia revealed by optogenetics.” focused on the role of distinct pathways involved in controlling the speed of movements. The keynote talk, “Stress, Fear Memory and Sleep” was then given by Dr. Larry Sanford from Eastern Virginia Medical School. The talk illustrated how fear and stress can impact sleep, potentially contributing brain regions, while also describing challenges within this field.
