Psychology Fall Lecture Series: Astrocytes in cognition: An important piece of an unfinished puzzle

Lori Newman

Title: Astrocytes in cognition: An important piece of an unfinished puzzle

Abstract: In the brain, neurons are notable for their impressive ability to maintain electrical signals across long distances as well as their ability to change the strength of these signals at their points of connection, known as synaptic plasticity, a process crucial to learning and memory. But is this the whole story? Astrocytes form the interface between the blood and the neurons controlling blood flow, contributing to immune responses, and creating the extracellular environment that is necessary for neuronal communication. Dr. Newman explores the astrocytes’ critical function in cognition, elucidating their potential as targets for treatment in many neurodegenerative diseases.

Bio: Lori Newman is an assistant professor in Psychological Science and Neuroscience & Behavior at Vassar College where she works with her undergraduate students to discover the roles of astrocytes in cognition. While her curiosity about attention and memory began as an undergraduate at the College of William & Mary and into her graduate career at the University of New Hampshire, her postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Syracuse University into metabolism in astrocytes during cognition convinced her of the importance of these little support cells in the brain.