CONNECTING MINDS is a student-led talk series for junior researchers in brain and cognitive sciences at MIT and other institutions to present their research, provide feedback on others’ work, and foster collaboration in a student-only space.
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When: 2/28/2022 Monday 4-5pm
Where: Building 46- 3310
Who:

Speaker 1: Miranda Dawson
Talk title:
Wide-Field Delivery and Detection of Exogenous Molecules in the Rodent Brain
 
Bio:
Miranda Dawson is a PhD candidate in Dr. Alan Jasanoff’s lab.  Working as a neurobiological engineer, she is developing probes for MRI to study molecular brain dynamics in vivo.
 
Abstract:
Delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents to the central nervous system is hindered by the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a system of tightly juxtaposed endothelial and perivascular cells that prevents extravasation of most blood-borne molecules. Here we quantitatively evaluate and compare strategies for wide-field brain delivery.  Using molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, we determine that optimal delivery is attained using a chemically-mediated BBB disruption method that yields reproducible and homogeneous hemisphere-wide contrast agent distributions with minimal risk of injury.

Speaker 2: Mitchell Murdock
Bio:
Mitch is a fifth year PhD student in BCS supervised by Li-Huei Tsai and Ed Boyden.

Abstract:
The glymphatic system is a highly organized fluid transport system in the brain that utilizes arterial pulsations and water channels on astrocytic endfeet to propel cerebrospinal fluid through the brain and clear pathogenic proteins. I will present evidence that gamma rhythms promote glymphatic clearance of amyloid in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.​