The exam

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_in_the_human_brain

Too many thing to memorize... :(

The Motor Lab

This is a very interesting lab. http://motorlab.neurobio.pitt.edu/index.php

Especially the multimedia of robot arms controlled by cortical neuron activity. But my main argu is that because of the plasticity of the brain, you don't really need to train the person prior to implement the robot arm, nor to put the source electrode at any specific area of the brain.

It's really great to hear the Evinger have invited Dr. Schwartz to come. I am so looking forward to that. I think I have a lot to discuss with him.

Very interesting multimedia to watch here: http://motorlab.neurobio.pitt.edu/multimedia.php

The best knowledge collection of visual system

http://webvision.med.utah.edu/

Should be interesting to know

Title: Regulation of the timing of MNTB neurons by short-term and long-term modulation of potassium channels

I know some families of potassium channel are important in auditory function. Especially the ones in the hair cells. But this is something I didn't know.

http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.hsclib.sunysb.edu/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T73-4FXV7BJ-3&_user=334567&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000017318&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=334567&md5=bb2dd706f5fc02dee27cde9d9097e1ed

Abstract

The firing patterns of neurons in central auditory pathways encode specific features of sound stimuli, such as frequency, intensity and localization in space. The generation of the appropriate pattern depends, to a major extent, on the properties of the voltage-dependent potassium channels in these neurons. The mammalian auditory pathways that compute the direction of a sound source are located in the brainstem and include the connection from bushy cells in the anteroventral cochlear nucleus (AVCN) to the principal neurons of the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB). To preserve the fidelity of timing of action potentials that is required for sound localization, these neurons express several types of potassium channels, including the Kv3 and Kv1 families of voltage-dependent channels and the Slick and Slack sodium-dependent channels. These channels determine the pattern of action potentials and the amount of neurotransmitter released during repeated stimulation. The amplitude of currents carried by one of these channels, the Kv3.1b channel, is regulated in the short term by protein phosphorylation, and in the long term, by changes in gene expression, such that the intrinsic excitability of the neurons is constantly being regulated by the ambient auditory environment.