Raine Visiting Professor Lecture – 8 October 2018
Professor Akihiro Yamanaka
will present a Raine Lecture entitled:
Behavioural Control Using Optogenetics
on Monday 8 October 2018 at 5.00 pm
at G33 Lecture Theatre, Bayliss Building, The University of Western Australia
All welcome
Professor Akihiro Yamanaka leads a team of researchers at the Department of Neuroscience II, Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (RIEM) at Nagoya University, Japan. Professor Yamanaka is a pharmacologist by training but early in his career, he developed a strong interest in neurosciences. Professor Yamanaka has been at the forefront of research on orexin/hypocretin neurons since their discovery in 1998. First, using slice patch clamp recording of orexin neurons and later using optogenetics to control the activity of orexin neurons and associated neurotransmitter pathways, Professor Yamanaka has unravelled the nature and functionality of the neural network that is involved in the regulation of sleep/wakefulness.
Professor Yamanaka has published more than 90 papers since obtaining his PhD in 2000, with more than 40% of his papers published in high impact journals such as Nature, Science, and Neuron. Professor Yamanaka has extensively published about the applications and developments of optogenetics technology in the neurosciences.
Optogenetics enables neuroscientists to manipulate the activity of neurons using light. What is the mechanism of optogenetics? What can a neuroscientist reveal using optogenetics? In this lecture, Professor Yamanaka will discuss the impact of optogenetics on neuroscience research, taking as an example the application to neural circuits that regulate animal behaviour.
University Host:
Professor Shane Maloney
School of Human Sciences
University of Western Australia
Telephone: 6488 3394
Email: shane.maloney@uwa.edu.au
