Date: Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Location: 46-3002 (Singleton Auditorium) and YouTube Stream (https://youtu.be/WpLhcc2OOhE)

Speaker: Corey Harwell, Ph.D.
Affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine, UCSF

Host: Dr. Mriganka Sur

Talk title: Development and neural diversity of septal nuclei

Abstract: Septal nuclei in the basal forebrain have critical roles in regulating motivational and emotional states including fear, anxiety, and aggression. Dysfunction of septal neurons is believed to contribute to the pathophysiology of various psychiatric and behavioral disorders. The septum can be classified into two regions: the medial septum and the lateral septum. The medial septum is composed of cholinergic, GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons that primarily project to the hippocampus. While the lateral septum is made up of a diverse array of GABAergic projection neurons that have reciprocal connections with several brain regions known to regulate emotion, affect and motivational states. It is currently unclear how septal diversity and circuit wiring are specified during development. We have employed molecular genetic approaches and single-cell/nuclei RNA-seq to systematically assess the extent of septal cell diversity and the developmental logic for the production and wiring of these diverse neural cell types. We will discuss our recent progress in understanding the anatomical organization and functional specialization of neural cell types in the lateral septum.