Venue : CGFB
For anyone interested in meeting the speaker, please contact Christophe Dubois ()
Olivier Thibault
University of Kentucky Medical College
http://www.uky.edu/~othibau/index.shtml
Title
In vivo neuronal calcium networks in S1 during aging and potential relationships to gait dysregulation
Abstract
The Thibault lab has been studying brain aging processes for approximately 35 years. As an electrophysiology lab focusing on single cell measures of calcium dysregulation in the aging brain, we have conducted all my work in the hippocampal formation and in the context of learning and memory processes. Approximately 5 years ago, we refocused our goals to investigate mechanisms underlying the increase in falls with aging. We now use a multicellular intravital calcium imaging approach on a two-photon microscope and are imaging neuronal networks during ambulation and at rest in young and aged mice. We also investigate the clinically relevant use of intranasal insulin to offset perturbations in cognitive decline and ambulation. Given that approximately 30% of adults over the age of 65 experience one fall each year and that the National Council on Aging has reported that these falls are the leading cause of fatal injury among older adults, causing 1 older adult death every 19 minutes, it is abundantly clear that more investigations and awareness about the links between Ca2+ and gait dysregulation in the somatosensory cortex with age are vitally needed.