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Walking on ice takes more than brains
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Martyn Goulding and his team discovered that much of the balancing act that our bodies perform when faced with tasks like walking on ice happens unconsciously. This feat is thanks to a cluster of neurons in our spinal cord that function as a "mini-brain" to integrate sensory information and make the necessary adjustments to our muscles so that we don't slip and fall.
The study, published in Cell and conducted in mice, provides the first detailed blueprint for a spinal circuit that serves as control center for integrating motor commands from the brain with sensory information from the limbs. A better understanding of these circuits should eventually aid in developing therapies for spinal cord injury and diseases that affect motor skills and balance, as well as the means to prevent falls for the elderly.
PRESS RELEASE: Walking on ice takes more than brains
SELECT MEDIA COVERAGE: ABC News, Computerworld, Daily Mail
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Salk Science News
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Tony Hunter
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Tony Hunter wins BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biomedicine
Tony Hunter, professor and director of the Salk Cancer Center, has received the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Biomedicine category for "carving out the path that led to the development of a new class of successful cancer drugs." Hunter will share the prestigious award with scientists from Yale University School of Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The award recognizes "the contributions of three eminent scientists who have taken the field all the way from initial basic discoveries to clinical applications that save lives," according to the award jury.
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Jeanine Van Nostrand
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Salk researcher wins prestigious fellowship
Jeanine Van Nostrand, a researcher in Reuben Shaw's lab, was named a Damon Runyon Fellow. The recipients of this prestigious, four-year award are outstanding postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators across the country.
Van Nostrand aims to understand how signaling pathways involved in the energetic and metabolic stress responses prevent cancer. She will generate models harboring specific mutations that prevent the stress response and evaluate the effects of these mutations on lung cancer development.
View article here »
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Neuroscience for Architecture
Tuesday, March 10, 2015 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Conrad T. Prebys Auditorium
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The discipline of architecture has deep roots in ancient traditions that seek to optimize human responses to the built environment. Using a variety of powerful experimental approaches from neuroscience, we can begin to evaluate and optimize the built environment by exploring its influence on brain systems for perception, memory and emotion.
Click here to RSVP »
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 Reprogramming Cancer Cells Amy Rommel
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Conrad T. Prebys Auditorium
The event features Amy Rommel, a postdoctoral research associate in Professor Inder Verma's laboratory of genetics. Rommel's current work proposes novel strategies to treat glioblastoma, changing the game on how we treat cancer.
For information and to RSVP:
Elizabeth (Betsy) Reis
Director of Donor Relations
Phone: (858) 453-4100 ext. 1426 email: breis@salk.edu
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French actress Marion Cotillard brings
Dior to Salk
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Marion Cotillard and Ronald Evans
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French actress Marion Cotillard played an instrumental role in attracting fashion house Christian Dior to the Salk Institute last month for a fashion shoot. Cotillard has been the face of Lady Dior handbags since 2008. After seeing the film My Architect, Cotillard became a devotee of Louis Kahn's work and suggested the Institute as a possible location for the shoot. During her daylong visit, Cotillard was given a private tour of the Institute along with a visit to Ronald Evans' lab.
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Science image for download
Decorate your desktop, tablet or smartphone with some of the most intriguing images from the Salk Institute!
Salk researchers mapped neural circuits in the spinal cord that process light touch signals from the feet, a critical function for fine motor tasks, such as walking on ice. This image shows this neural circuitry in a mouse spinal cord. The red cells are RORα neurons, which merge signals coming from neural fibers coming from the brain and limbs (both colored blue).
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For instructions and downloads Click here »
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