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What could be the consequence of global warming on the firing pattern of neurons of organisms?
- [WS] There is no universal answer; it will be dependent on species and circuit and condition. Excluding homeothermic animals for now, and assuming that the neurons are directly experiencing the effects of environmental temperature changes, likely most neurons would fire at higher frequency until it gets warm enough and firing fails. However, those responses depend on the circuit and the condition. If inhibitory neurons fire more, their postsynaptic partners may fire less. And this does not take neuronal plasticity into account. Acclimation and adaptation of neuronal activity may compensate for temperature effects, but we do not know if acclimation/adaptation occurs everywhere and what their limits are when it comes to neuronal responses.
Is the rate of neural adaptation observed to be similar in both large and small animals?
- [WS] I think the answer to this is that most of the time adaptation acts more quickly on animals with shorter reproductive cycles and more offspring. Many small animals have quick reproductive cycles. But maybe the real question here is whether the ability to adapt (or acclimate) is similar in large and small animals/brains. I don’t think we know the answer, but maybe the number of neurons makes a difference (maybe redundancy or ability to diversify neuronal circuits over evolutionary times scales comes into play).
Animals experience pH disturbances all the time, from both internal and external sources. Many of them are much more pronounced than predicted by anthropogenic OA. What are the implications for OA research in terms of the underlying mechanisms, experimental design, and interpretation of results?
- [CP] I was very surprised to find out that, despite being able to regulate internal acidosis or being exposed to high CO2 on a regular basis in their environment, the olfactory system of coastal animals was so sensitive to these external changes (we have a study submitted on tide pool crabs that show this). It was even more surprising that this was happening at multiple biological levels, indicating different mechanisms behind these effects. We are lacking enough long-term exposures to determine how these animals can acclimate and, more importantly, if they can adapt.
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Join speakers Amanda Lauer, Cosima Porteus, and Joseph Santin for the inaugural session of an exciting new collaborative series by the Society for Neuroscience and The Kavli Foundation. Moderated by Wolfgang Stein, this webinar will explore mechanisms by which nervous systems acclimate to human-generated environmental changes, offering insights across different levels of biological organization and species. Presentations and discussions will highlight recent advances in the field, and how diverse species acclimate to shifting ecosystems, making this event a must for anyone interested in the intersection of neuroscience, ecology, and environmental science.
Learning Objectives:
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1. Introduction into Neural Adaptation in Changing Ecosystems as an active area of research that studies neuronal acclimation in response to environmental change, using diverse approaches and interdisciplinary methodologies.
2. Gain an understanding of neural adaptation, focusing on the mechanisms of how nervous systems respond and acclimate to environmental changes.
3. Examine examples of neural adaptation across species that inhabit largely different ecological niches.
4. Learn about recent advances in the field that are shaping the understanding of neural adaptation to environmental changes.
Speakers
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I have other questions not answered here. Email digitallearning@sfn.org with any other questions.
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