UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO - Key Persons

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• Associate Professor, Neurology UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences
• Member of Executive Comittee

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• Constantly Changing Just to Stay the Same

When my family gathers at my parent's house, we will often sit down to watch old home videos - cringeworthy fun. At a recent showing, I was suddenly struck by something that is both completely obvious and an absolute mystery. Every member of my family and all my childhood friends remain completely recognizable in movies that were created twenty years ago. My friends and I were only eight years old. Yet, our characteristic facial expressions, mannerisms and attitudes are all clearly recognizable. The movies project younger reflections of our current selves. I still relate to my childhood friends in the same way. I still give my mom that same eye-roll. Each of us has certainly changed. Yet, there is an underlying, undeniable stability regarding who we were and who we remain today. What stabilizes our individuality - throughout life ? As a member of the Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience (KIFN) at the University of California, San Francisco, I am learning about brain stability, talking with Dr. Graeme Davis, professor of biochemistry and neuroscience and director of KIFN. Davis emphasizes that, "Every aspect of our individuality and our daily life is controlled by the complex circuitry of the human brain." This allows me to pose my question more precisely. How can the human brain achieve both stability (our life-long individuality) while simultaneously changing every single day, enabling our ability to learn about the world and adapt to new circumstances? An entire subfield of modern neuroscience, pioneered by Dr. Graeme Davis, seeks answers to my question. This area of brain research is termed Homeostatic Plasticity. Davis points out that the term Homeostatic Plasticity encompasses concepts related to both stability and change. The word ‘Homeostasis' refers to the maintenance of a biological process within a normal operational range. This term was first used by a famous physiologist named Walter Cannon who worked at Harvard University in the early 1900s. He was referring to, among other things, the stability of human heart rate - which increases when we exercise, but returns to a characteristic, stable resting rate. By contrast, the word ‘Plasticity' describes how neurons can change their form and function during, for example, learning and memory. When the two terms are combined, ‘Homeostatic Plasticity' refers to how nerve cells can make corrective, adaptive changes, stabilizing their function within a normal operational range. In other words, homeostatic plasticity refers to how nerve cells change in order to remain the same. And, like the brain itself, the way that this is achieved is very complicated.

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• MACP, Is the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost at UCSF
• Member of Executive Comittee

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• Assistant Professor
• Member of Executive Comittee

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• Associate Professor Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research
• Member of Executive Comittee

Graeme Davis, PhD, is the Morris Herzstein Distinguished Professor of Medicine at UCSF. Davis and his laboratory study how the brain achieves both stability and capacity for change throughout life.

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• Assistant Professor Anatomy
• Member of Executive Comittee

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• Lead Admin and Communications Director

Lead Admin and Communications Director of Kavli IFN. Julia received her Bachelors from Loyola Marymount University in Communication Studies and a Masters degree in Media, Communications, and International Journalism from the University of Glasgow. Prior to joining KIFN, Julia gained experience in television, entertainment, and video journalism. Julia has a passion for communicating the complexities of fundamental science to the general public in order to broaden understanding, promote education and increase support for science.

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• Associate Professor
• Member of Executive Comittee

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• Member of Executive Comittee
• Senior Staff Scientist Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

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• Director for the Center for Bioengineering at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
• Member of Executive Comittee

Job Titles:

• Member of Executive Comittee