Institute for Neurosciences and Cognition Open Mind Seminar Series presents     11.30 – 12.30  2nd floor, room R229  45, rue des St Pères  75006 Paris

Shaping Neural Circuits by Early Experience 
 Takao Hensch, 
Professor of Neurology Children's Hospital Boston (Pediatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School) and Professor of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Harvard University 

Neural circuits are shaped by experience in early life. The biological bases underlying such critical periods are increasingly being resolved in the developingmouse visual cortex. A gradually evolving excitatory inhibitory balance initiates a plastic process that becomes limited in adulthood by a variety of molecular 'brakes.' 

Understanding these events offers novel biomarkers and deeper insight into neurodevelopmental disorders, therapeutic strategies and maturational milestones more broadly.  

For more information on Professor Takao Hensch and his work, visit: http://www.mcb.harvard.edu/Faculty/faculty_profile.php?f=takao-hensch