Science & Technology

Researchers in the College of Biological Sciences have received a grant to study the role of the cerebellum in autism. “We need a more holistic understanding of the brain circuits that drive this disorder,” says Alex Nord, an associate professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior (NPB); psychiatry and behavioral sciences; and a core faculty member at the Center for Neuroscience (CNS). “The cerebellum is a key component that has been largely overlooked until recently.”

As interviewed by Gabriela Lee

Dr. Xiaomo Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior in the College of Biological Sciences, a core member of the Center for Neuroscience, and an affiliated faculty at the Center for Neuroengineering and Medicine at UC Davis.

Our understanding of schizophrenia has increased greatly in recent years, as studies of large groups of people have identified a multitude of genetic variants that increase a person’s risk of the disease. But each of those individual risk factors accounts for “only a very minor amount of the overall risk,” said Alex Nord, a professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior in the College of Biological Sciences; psychiatry and behavioral sciences; and a core faculty member at the Center for Neuroscience.

When it comes to brain anatomy, the thalamus occupies a humble position. It sits at the top of our brainstem — an apparent vestige of our reptilian past — and is dwarfed by the massive, wrinkled cerebral cortex, which sits above it. The cortex is often credited as the throne of human intellect. But a team of researchers across the country, with UC Davis led by W. Martin Usrey, sees the thalamus as a critical coordinator of our thoughts and perceptions – and pivotal in human disease.

(DAVIS) Christina Kim, faculty member of the Center for Neuroscience and assistant professor in the UC Davis Department of Neurology was selected as a 2023 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award recipient as part of the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program.

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Why does memory fade? Why does it stay?

These questions, among others, occupy the mind of Charan Ranganath, a UC Davis psychology professor in the College of Letters and Science and a core faculty member with the Center for Neuroscience. But the transient nature of memory isn’t just a focal point of Ranganath’s research. It’s something that he, like the rest of us, deals with daily.

(SACRAMENTO) The University of California, Davis has launched the Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics to advance basic knowledge about the mechanisms of psychedelics and translate it into safe and effective treatments for diseases such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease, among others.

We are looking for your most beautiful images and art (includes all mediums) that represent your research! (Don’t be restricted to anatomy!) Every kind of data can be beautiful and can make for appealing art. Enter your favorite images and/or pieces of art in the Center for Neuroscience’s NeuroArt Contest 2023 today!