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Marie E. Burns, a professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, and Cell Biology and Human Anatomy in the School of Medicine, and a core faculty member at the Center for Neuroscience (CNS), has been appointed the CNS interim director, effective July 1, 2024. 

SACRAMENTO — On exhibit this summer at a museum near you: The Last Hope: Glial Cells Attacking SARS-Co-V2-Infected Neurons, a 3D reconstruction of cells that could be mistaken for modern art, and Pillars of Memory, an image of clusters of neurons in the hippocampus that looks like the Milky Way Galaxy. 

Visitors to the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity (MOSAC) are seeing firsthand what UC Davis neuroscientists and trainees know well.

DAVIS – Inspired by her mother, a talented painter, local artist Davida Feder has cultivated a lifelong passion for creation, first finding solace and joy in the intricacies of sewing projects. However, after she retired, Davida delved into photography classes, and when she exhausted those, she enrolled in art classes. Since the pandemic, Davida’s favorite pastime is getting lost in her art, enjoying the meticulous craft of handmade books and cards, which she lovingly sends to friends, each imbued with a fragment of herself.

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.

Charan Ranganath admits he can be forgetful. This is true of most people, but most people are not leading experts on the neuroscience of human memory.

“Everybody knows I have a terrible memory,” said Ranganath, a professor of psychology and core faculty member at the Center for Neuroscience, “and yet I got a Ph.D., and I publish papers all the time. I'm totally functional, so maybe the expectations we have are just wrong.”

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 2024 today!

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.

(DAVIS) The main building of the Center for Neuroscience (CNS) has a new name: “Robert D. Grey Hall” in honor of Robert D. Grey, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Emeritus, who served UC Davis and the University of California system for 37 years. The building dedication ceremony was held October 11, 2023.

Donors to the University of California, Davis, gave robust support to the university during the last fiscal year, exceeding its annual fundraising goal by more than $27 million. Data announced August 8 show the university raised $253 million in FY22-23 in 56,071 gifts and pledges from 31,078 donors.

Scientists at UC Davis are working to identify early indicators to identify people with pre-clinical Alzheimer’s disease. The hope is that earlier detection — before the brain is significantly damaged — would allow for more successful interventions and better outcomes.

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