Talk by NeuroCure Visiting Fellow Martyn Goulding

Speaker: Martyn Goulding (NeuroCure Visiting Fellow, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, LaJolla, CA, USA)

Titel: Spinal circuits for touch and movement

Date: Wednesday, 28.09.2016, 17:00

Host: Prof. Dr. Carmen Birchmeier, MDC

Location: BCCN Lecture Hall, HU Campus Nord, Philippstr. 13, Haus 6

ABSTRACT:
Animals use a variety of sensory modalities to control ongoing movement.  Of particular importance is the somatosensory system, which monitors the internal and external state of the body. To date, very little is known about how cutaneous sensory information is processed and trafficked through the nervous system. Using a sophisticated suite of genetic tools, we have begun to functionally dissect cutaneous arm of the somatosensory system, which plays a central role in generating many of the protective and affective behaviors animals display.  Our studies have led to the identification of a number of excitatory and inhibitory cell types that play key roles in processing and gating both noxious and innocuous mechanosensory stimuli.  This in turn is enabling us to determine how these sensory pathways interface with the spinal motor system to control movement and generate stimulus-specific motor reflexes.