Eve Marder on the Crucial Resilience of Neurons
Summary
Neuroscientist Eve Marder explains how she uses the small, well-defined nervous system of lobsters and crabs to uncover fundamental principles of brain function. She discusses how these crustaceans maintain reliable rhythmic movements despite constant protein turnover and environmental temperature changes, illustrating the concept of "degenerate function" where different neural circuits produce similar outputs. Marder also reflects on her career path, emphasizing the importance of finding the right level of scientific ambiguity and sharing a story of generosity from a former collaborator th…
Topics discussed
Introduction: Working with lobsters and crabs
Eve Marder's early career and mentorship
The turning point: Abnormal psychology class
Choosing UCSD and meeting the spiny lobster
Moving to France and finding the crab
Explaining the Stomato-Gastric Ganglion (STG)
Crab stomach anatomy vs. human motor systems
Central pattern generators and rhythmic movement
Medical implications and neuromodulation
Nervous system plasticity and resilience
Temperature effects on neural rhythms
The orchestra analogy for biochemistry
Climate change and long-term acclimation
Resilience to stress and febrile seizures
Degenerate function and multiple solutions
Evolutionary benefits of neural diversity
Homeostasis of intrinsic excitability
The ambiguity hierarchy in scientific research
Finding the right level of ambiguity for scientists
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