The ability to acquire and adapt behavior through the process of learning is one of the most fundamental functions of the brain and, when gone awry can lead to numerous disorders. Synaptic plasticity is thought to underlie learning by altering the input-output transformations performed by individual neurons and reorganize neural circuits. Dr. Wright will discuss his recent findings dissecting how synaptic plasticity is regulated in the intact brain during learning to produce new behaviors.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY

Dr. William (Jake) Wright is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Takaki Komiyama at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He currently investigates how synaptic plasticity is regulated in the intact brain and how this plasticity in turn reorganizes neural circuits to mediate learning. Prior to joining the Komiyama lab at UCSD, Dr. Wright received his PhD in neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh, where he worked with Dr. Yan Dong to study the synaptic mechanisms underlying drug-associated memories.