Tracing Brain Circuits for Mental Health, with Dr. Talia Lerner The K12 Engineering Education Podcast

Neuroscience research needs help from many fields, including engineering. Dr.
Talia Lerner describes some of the engineering tools that she uses to study
neural circuits in animal models, especially involving dopamine. She is a
professor and basic science researcher at Northwestern University in Chicago,
and she studies these circuits in the hopes of improving mental health diagnoses
and treatments. Dr. Lerner also shares her thoughts on what doctors, scientists,
and engineers will tackle in future neuroscience work. Related to this episode:
• Dr. Talia Lerner's lab, The Lerner Lab: http://lernerlab.org/ • Videos of
neurons visualized with new techniques: http://lernerlab.org/research/ • Article
on some common genetic links among depression, schizophrenia, autism, and other
conditions:
http://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/researchers-just-discovered-a-genetic-link-between-alcoholism-autism-bipolar-disorder-depression-and-schizophrenia
• Neurotransmitters (such as glutamate), on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotransmitter • Neuromodulators (such as
serotonin, dopamine), on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromodulation • Synapses (or neuronal
connections), on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synapse • Action
potentials (or neuronal signals), on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_potential • Karl Deisseroth's Lab at
Stanford: https://web.stanford.edu/group/dlab/ • Optogenetics resources:
https://web.stanford.edu/group/dlab/optogenetics/index.html • GFP (green
fluorescent protein), at Connecticut College:
https://www.conncoll.edu/ccacad/zimmer/GFP-ww/GFP-1.htm • Recombinant DNA, at
Khan Academy:
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/biotech-dna-technology/dna-cloning-tutorial/v/dna-cloning-and-recombinant-dna
• CLARITY resources: http://clarityresourcecenter.org/ • Article on the history
of hydrogels:
http://www.jbiomeds.com/biomedical-sciences/history-and-applications-of-hydrogels.php?aid=7218
• NeuWrite West (formerly Stanford Neuroblog): http://www.neuwritewest.org/ •
Berkeley Science Review (science news): http://berkeleysciencereview.com/ •
Carry the One Radio (podcast): http://www.carrytheoneradio.com/ • Viral neuronal
tracing, on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_neuronal_tracing •
Article on using the engineered rabies virus against brain cancer:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/how-stop-brain-cancer-rabies • Ed
Callaway, neuroscientist: http://callaway.salk.edu/ • Ian Wickersham,
neuroscientist: http://wickershamlab.org/ian-wickersham/ • Biosafety levels,
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
https://www.cdc.gov/training/QuickLearns/biosafety/ Our closing music is "Late
for School" by Bleeptor, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Subscribe and find more podcast
information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular
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contributions by buying us coffee: https://ko-fi.com/pioslabs. Thanks to our
donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education
Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.