Join the conversation at the Discovery Museum 2019 Speaker Series featuring
Takao K. Hensch, Ph.D.
Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School’s Boston Children’s Hospital and
Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University’s Center for Brain Science
Power of the Baby Brain
We have much to learn from infants. Early experience enduringly shapes the brain, creating windows of great opportunity and vulnerability. Dr. Hensch's work has focused on the biological basis of such critical periods. Strikingly, their timing can be either accelerated or delayed regardless of actual age—a condition seen in neurodevelopmental disorders. Closure of critical periods in turn reflects an active process, rather than a purely passive decay. Lifting such “brakes” allows the reopening of plastic windows in adulthood, while rendering neural circuits unstable in disease states. Understanding how brain plasticity and stability are naturally balanced throughout life offers new insight into mental illness and novel therapeutic strategies for the recovery of function in adulthood.
Location: Fortis Hall, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, 200 Shire Way, Lexington, MA
Join us at 6:30 pm for light refreshments.
The presentation will begin at 7:00 pm.
Contact Karen Kerns with any questions, or call (978) 264-4200 x 113.
Please note for security reasons, pre-registration is required. No walk-ins will be permitted.