Lectures are free and open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance.
“Neurobiology of Thirst and Hunger Drives” Liqun Luo, Stanford University.
Because of the utmost importance of water and food, animals exhibit strong innate behaviors to search for and consume water or food when they are thirsty or hungry. These innate drives are also powerful means for acquiring learned skills and behaviors. In this lecture, I will summarize our recent work linking thirst to motivated behavior and investigating neural dynamics underlying thirst motivation. I will further discuss how animals resolve competing needs, such as thirst and hunger, across time.
Liqun Luo grew up in Shanghai, China. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Science & Technology of China, Ph.D. from Brandeis University, and postdoctoral training at UCSF. Together with his students and postdocs in his lab at Stanford University, Dr. Luo studies how neural circuits are assembled during development and how their architectures enable them to perform specific functions in adults. Dr. Luo is currently the Ann and Bill Swindells Professor of Humanities and Sciences, Professor of Biology, and Professor of Neurobiology by courtesy, at Stanford University. He is also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Luo teaches neurobiology to undergraduate and graduate students. His single-author textbook “Principles of Neurobiology” is widely used for undergraduate and graduate courses across the world. Dr. Luo is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and recipient of many awards, including the Pradel Research Award and NAS Award in the Neurosciences from the National Academy of Sciences, and the Edward M. Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience.
No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM in the Cornelia Clapp Auditorium.
