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SUMMARY:Brain Power: Where does it come from and how is it used? - Profess
 or David Attwell\, University College London
DTSTART:20131107T170000Z
DTEND:20131107T180000Z
UID:TALK48746@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Scientific Meetings Co-ordinator
DESCRIPTION:The brain’s computational power is limited by its energy sup
 ply. By devising an energy budget for the grey matter\, I will explain how
  key design features of the brain\, such as the millisecond timescale of n
 eural processing\, the properties of glutamate receptors and the size of s
 ynaptic boutons\, are determined by the energy supply the brain receives a
 s oxygen and glucose. I will examine why the white matter uses less energy
  than the grey matter\, whether myelination really saves energy\, and whet
 her internodal axons need metabolic support from their myelinating glia. I
  will present a simple account of how information flow through synapses re
 lates to the energy used by the synapses and show that this explains why s
 ynapses are unreliable transmitters of information. I will demonstrate tha
 t the primary locus of control of the brain’s energy supply is in capill
 aries rather than arterioles. Finally\, I will describe how\, in diseases 
 like stroke\, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injury\, failure of the energ
 y supply leads to glutamate transporter reversal\, which damages neurons a
 nd oligodendrocytes and causes mental and physical disability.
LOCATION:Max Perutz Lecture Theatre\, Medical Research Council (MRC) (MRC 
 Laboratory of Molecular Biol
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