Colloquium on the Brain and Cognition with Daniel Colón-Ramos, PhD, Yale University

• Date: Thursday, April 18, 2024
• Time: 4:00pm
• Location: Singleton Auditorium (46-3002)
• Zoom: https://mit.zoom.us/j/91606646266

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Powering the Nervous System: Energy Distribution in the Connectome

Neuronal computations are energetically expensive, and changing energy landscapes in specific brain regions reflect spatially-restricted adaptations to energy demands. We hypothesize that the structure of the energy landscapes in a functional connectome, much like the structure of synaptic positions in an anatomical connectome, represents a constraint that shapes information flow and circuit function, including plasticity. To address this hypothesis it is necessary to examine how energy metabolic pathways are organized in the context of the anatomical connectome and across scales, from the subcellular architecture of energy-producing pathways within synapses to energy states in the context of the connectome. We address this gap in knowledge in C. elegans, where we have established a system that enables in vivo examination of energy metabolism in single neurons via integration of microfluidic devices that alter activity of identified neurons, single cell genetic knockouts that introduce specific metabolic perturbations and recently developed biosensors as readouts for glycolytic flux. We use this system to address 1) How glycolytic enzymes are organized within polarized neurons to support synaptic function, 2) How glycolytic energy states within single neurons influence their function and plasticity during behavior, and 3) How glycolytic energetic states globally map onto the connectome.

Daniel Colón-Ramos was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He completed his B.A. at Harvard University, his PhD in the lab of Dr. Sally Kornbluth at Duke University and was a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Kang Shen at Stanford University. The Colón-Ramos lab is interested in how synapses are precisely assembled to build the neuronal architecture that underlies behavior. To address this, they developed tools in the thermotaxis circuit of C. elegans. Their system enables unbiased genetic screens to identify novel pathways that instruct synaptogenesis in vivo, and single-cell manipulation of these pathways to understand how they influence behavior.