Brain Assembly: Making the Right Connections Through Genes and Experience [Brain School seminar]

Michael Fox, PhD, Associate Professor, Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute

All of our behaviors, emotions, and memories arise from specialized circuits between neurons in the brain. During our development, these circuits form with extreme precision—a bewildering concept since your brain contains more neurons than there are stars in our galaxy—and each of these neurons is connected to up to 100,000 other neurons. Forming these precise connections requires both innate properties and experience. Dr. Fox’s presentation will tease out how genetics and experience affect the human brain.