• NeuroPod Extra: SfN highlights

    November 2009

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        SfN best bits

        Nature Neuroscience editor Charvy Narain is on the line to tell Kerri about her highlights from last month's Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago. Tune in as they make light work of optogenetics, discuss an unusual conference talk by two magicians, and ask whether 'brainreading' needs a code of conduct.

About NeuroPod

NeuroPod is the neuroscience podcast from Nature, produced in association with the Dana Foundation. Each month, join us as we delve into the latest research on the brain, from its molecular makings to the mysteries of the mind. We'll also be bringing you the latest news from neuroscience conferences around the globe, along with special reports on hot areas in neuroscience.

For complete access to the original papers featured in NeuroPod, subscribe to Nature, Nature Neuroscience, and Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

Meet the presenter

Kerri SmithSelf-confessed neurogeek Kerri Smith joined Nature in 2006 after completing an MSc in Science Communication at Imperial College London. She also co-presents the weekly Nature Podcast and is part of the team that produce Nature's other podcasts. Before finding her way to Nature she was at the University of Oxford, where she took a degree in human sciences and an MSc in Neuroscience. Although she spends most of her time podcasting, the news team sometimes let her write stories about neuroscience and other bits of biology. In the past she has been a freelance contributor to various publications including New Scientist and The Times.

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  • Archive

    • October 2009:

      How sleep deprivation affects your memory, teaching mice to play video games in the name of neuroscience, the evolution of the human cerebral cortex, and how different two brains can be, and still perform the same task.

    • September 2009:

      The plus-sides and pitfalls of genome-wide association studies, mitigating stroke by knocking out a key protein, gene therapy for colour blindness, and a test of awareness in minimally conscious patients.

    • August 2009:

      A class of genes that jump around the genomes of brain cells, a challenge to the 'use it or lose it' theory of neuronal connections, how the brain processes faces and a brain mapping anniversary.

    • See complete archive >>

  • About our sponsors

    The Dana Foundation is a private philanthropic organization with principal interests in brain science, immunology, and arts education. The Foundation's website, www.dana.org, provides resources and free publications in the areas it supports, webcasts of events at the Dana Center in Washington, DC and the Dana Centre in London, and a resource service for journalists, among its many features.

    The Foundation also supports the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives and the European Dana Alliance for the Brain, organizations representing more than 430 neuroscientists, including 15 Nobel laureates. The Alliances are committed to advancing public awareness about the progress of brain research.