26th of November 2009

 Lecture: Circuits that regulate cortical plasticity

Dr. Patrick Kanold, an associate professor at University of Maryland, will give the lecture Circuits that regulate cortical plasticity on the 10th of December 2009 at 4 pm. The lecture will be held at Reykjavík University, Kringlunni 1 room K5.

29th of October 2009

Ragnhidur Káradóttir's lecture

Dr. Ragnhildur Káradóttir will give a lecture on October 30th at 3:30 pm. The lecture will be held at Reykjavík University, Kringlan 1, room K-5. Enclosed is Ragnhildur's abstract.

 Abstract

Neuregulin expressed by axons can regulate myelination by signalling to ErbB receptors on myelinating cells. Furthermore, in CNS grey matter, neuregulin increases the expression of NMDA receptors. Oligodendrocytes at all developmental stages in the white matter exhibit NMDA evoked currents, mediated by receptors which show very weak magnesium block and are expressed in the myelin (Káradóttir et al., 2005, 2008), indicating that they might play a role in myelination.

We now use an assay in which cortical oligodendrocytes ensheath dorsal root ganglion cells (Wang et. al., 2006) to show that neuregulin and NMDA receptors interact to regulate myelination. Without neuregulin, blocking NMDA receptors had no effect on myelination. Adding neuregulin (in the form of the extracellular domain of NRG1-b1, 10ng/ml) increased myelination by 60%, and led to the majority of myelination being dependent on activation of NMDA receptors: NMDA receptor block decreased myelination by 80%. Blocking action potentials with TTX also had no effect in the absence of neuregulin, but greatly reduced myelination in the presence of neuregulin. Neuregulin's effect was associated with a 4-fold increase in NMDA receptor current in oligodendrocyte lineage cells. Thus, neuregulin apparently switches myelination from a default programme, that is independent of neuronal activity, to a mechanism that is regulated by glutamate released from active axons.

These data reveal a function for oligodendrocyte NMDA receptors, and could provide a novel white matter explanation for how the linkage of neuregulin to schizophrenia can be reconciled with schizophrenia involving a malfunction of NMDA receptors. The absence of
neuregulin in multiple sclerosis lesions, and restoration of myelination by added neuregulin, suggest a role for neuregulin/NMDA receptor dependent remyelination after pathology.

8th of October 2009

Lecture: Can neuroscience help us understand the mind?

Dr. Bruni Falissard will give a lecture titled Can neuroscience help us understand the mind? on the 16th of November at 4 pm at University of Iceland. The lecture is based on Dr. Falissard's book Exploring The Workings of The Mind  that was published in 2008. The lecture is sponsored by the French Embassy in Iceland.

25th of September 2009

Lecture: Ultrasound Current Density Imaging (UCSDI)

Dr. Ragnar Ólafsson will give a lecture titled Ultrasound Current Source Density Imaging (UCSDI) on the 25th of September at Reykjavík University, Kringlan 1, room K-5 at 3 pm. 

5. maí 2009

Mótefni gegn Alzheimer: Framtíðin eða fjarstæða?

TÍ vill vekja athygli á málstofunni sem ber yfirskriftina Mótefni gegn Alzheimer: Framtíðin eða fjarstæða? Sjá nánari upplýsingar hér að neðan.

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 Málstofa í stofu 104 í Haga við Hofsvallagötu, fimmtudaginn 7. maí kl. 12-13

 Í málstofu Rannsóknarstofnunar um lyfjamál, Lyfjafræðideildar og  fræðslunefndar Lyfjafræðingafélags Íslands mun Doktor Einar Már Sigurðsson, dósent við New York University, Langone Medical Center, halda erindið "Mótefni gegn Alzheimer: Framtíðin eða fjarstæða?"

Nánari upplýsingar um Dr. Einar Má og rannsóknir hans má finna á slóðinni: http://www.med.nyu.edu/people/sigure01.html eða meðfylgjandi
viðhengi. pdf

Fyrirlesturinn er öllum opinn.

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May 5th 2009

ISfN cocktail party 

The Icelandic Society for Neuroscience invited its members to a cocktail party at The Thorvaldssen Bar on the 17th of April. The party was informal and allowed members to meet and have a good time. Árni Kristjánsson, a member of the society, gave a lecture. Below are some pictures from the lecture.