Calendar of Events

Calendar of Events

2009-2010 Calendar

Fall 2009

The Amazing Chickadee Brain: Stem Cells and Adult Neurogenesis
Friday, November 20 12:30-1:30 pm
Main Lounge, Moulton Union

Next time someone calls you a birdbrain thank them!  Birds are amazing animals and bird brains are even more fascinating than you might think.  We can see examples of their remarkable abilities in our own backyard.  Set out a few seeds and watch a chickadee pick them up hurriedly in his beak and fly off a short distance only to hide them in various holes he will diligently dig in your lawn or favorite tree.  If you watch long enough you may even spot him "sneak" back to his cache of seeds, retrieve them from their clever hiding places, and nibble away.  What you may not realize is that this chickadee has probably hidden hundreds of seeds in hundreds of locations all over yours' and your neighbors' yards only to remember where each seed is hidden and retrieve them days, weeks, or even months later.  Given that we have difficulty remembering where we parked our cars just half an hour ago, this is no small accomplishment for these tiny birdbrains.  How is this remarkable feat accomplished?  Food-storing birds such as our backyard chickadees, bluejays, crows, magpies, nutcrackers, and nuthatches have evolved a brain capable of responding to seasonal memory demands by activating stem cells that give birth to new neurons in the hippocampus -- a brain structure essential for processing memories.  Although initial studies investigating the ability of the brain of many animals to show neurogenesis began as long as 30 years ago, work with these amazing birdbrains has revitalized interest in looking into the ways in which the brain actually "grows" and forms new neurons in response to season, changes in the complexity of their environments, and memory formation.  Research such as this may prove to be a vital link in understanding how the brain may actually repair and/or replenish itself and aid in our attempts to prevent deterioration due to age, disease, or physical injury.  Exciting new possibilities abound!

Diane Lee is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Long Beach, and is the Coastal Studies Scholar at Bowdoin College, Fall 2009 where she is teaching an advanced seminar in behavioral neuroscience. Professor Lee is a "neuroethologist" who studies the neurobiology of animal cognition in the wild. Her interests lie at the convergence of the psychology of learning, ethology, and neuroscience. That is, she investigates how animals have evolved to use higher order learning skills to solve ecologically meaningful tasks. Dr. Lee studies food storing (caching) birds, their behavior in the wild and laboratory, and the neuroanatomy of the brain structures involved.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Rosemary Armstrong at 207-725-3396.

Fall 2009 Events Archive

Coastal Studies Student Fellows, Summer 2009 Poster Symposium
Wednesday, Sept. 9 4:00-5:00 pm
Morrell Lounge, Smith Union

Common Good Day at the Coastal Studies Center
Coastal Clean-up: A Maine Coastal Coastal Program
Saturday, Sept. 12 1:00-4:00 pm