Forum
Launched in 2022, Dynamics Club is a UCLA-based forum for junior scientists to discuss nonlinear dynamics in biology and physiology. Starting from 2024, this is also the home for the BRI Brain-Body Dynamics Affinity Group.
Our monthly seminars are mostly on Zoom, with hybrid access to in-person events. Campus visits are made possible by the Brain Research Institute (BRI), Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology (IBP), and Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences (QCBio).
Currently, we have 335 members. If you’re new, sign up here!
Job opportunities:
- Two PhD positions are available with Dr. Dagmar Iber at ETH (Basel) (Link1, Link2)
- A postdoctoral position is available with Dr. Tianchi Xin at Georgia Cancer Center (Details)
- A postdoctoral position is available with Dr. Sahib Khalsa at UCLA (Details)
- A postdoctoral position is available with Dr. Natalie Porat-Shliom at NIH/NCI (Details)
- A postdoctoral position is available with Dr. Paul François at Université de Montréal (Details)
Key References (PDFs are available online):
Modeling Life by Alan Garfinkel, Jane Shetsov and Yina Guo (Teaching Materials)
Understanding Data by Alan Garfinkel and Yina Guo
Dynamics Club in December:
Electrical synapses mediate visual orientation behavior
Speaker: Giovanni Frighetto, PhD (Postdoctoral Fellow; UCLA)
Date and Time: December 18 (Friday) at 12pm Pacific Time / 3pm Eastern Time
Hybrid Event: TSLB 1100 and on Zoom (Meeting ID: 998 9338 6618; Passcode: 849638)
Abstract:
Animals constantly detect and orient toward salient visual objects, but the neural circuits underlying this process remain poorly understood. We previously showed that T3 neurons, a visual columnar cell type in Drosophila melanogaster, drive saccadic orientation toward visual landmarks during flight. Here, we identify LC17 neurons, a visual projection cell type, as T3 downstream partners for saccadic visual orientation. Using in vivo optical physiology and virtual reality behavior, we demonstrate that LC17 neurons are broadly tuned to visual objects and necessary for object tracking during flight. Notably, this tracking behavior depends on electrical synapses. We show that the innexin Shaking B (ShakB), which forms gap junctions in the fly brain, is highly expressed in LC17 dendrites. Additionally, LC17-specific knockdown of shakB perturbs the cell physiological visual response and impairs the behavioral readout of object motion vision for saccadic orientation. Our findings reveal the mechanisms underlying visual orientation and highlight the interplay between electrical and chemical neurotransmission for object detection and rapid action selection.
Scheduled Sessions:
| Date | Topic | Speaker(s) |
| 2027 | Neurophysiological principles of reward | Dr. Annie Park (Oxford University) |
| 2027 | Mammalian circadian rhythms and metabolism | Dr. Julie Pendergast (University of Kentucky) |
| 2027 | Cross-sectional and longitudinal microbiome studies | Dr. Maggie Stanislawski (CU Anschutz) |
| 2027 | Cholinergic regulation of osteocyte mechanobiology | Dr. Karl J. Lewis (Cornell University) |
Past Events in 2026:
| Date | Topic | Speaker(s) | Materials |
| Jan 20 | Microdomain Metabolism in Pacemaker Myocytes: The Ca2+ Clock Drives the ATP Clock | Manuel Munoz Camus, PhD (UC Davis) | Pubmed |
| Feb 13 | Pulsed stimuli enable p53 phase resetting to synchronize single cells and modulate cell fate | Harish Venkatachalapathy, PhD (UMN) | Pubmed |
| Mar 6 | How neural heterogeneity controls network function | Richard Gast, PhD (Scripps Research) | Pubmed |
| Apr 10 | LNE Seminar: Leveraging small but persistent differences for detection in human health | Benjamin Smarr, PhD (UCSD) | Pubmed |
| Jun 25 | Epinephrine oscillation enhances the alertness of target cells to stress | Mark Greenwood, PhD (Whitehead Institute) | |
| Aug 26 | Immunometabolism in the brain: How brain-resident macrophages regulate tissue homeostasis | Drew Adler, PhD (NYU) | Pubmed |
| Sep 9 | Capturing spatiotemporal organization of tissue-wide Ca2+ activity in skin vasculature | Anush Swaminathan, PhD (Yale University) | Pubmed |
| Sep 24 | Pericyte KATP channel hyperactivity redistributes cortical blood flow | Danielle A. Jeffrey, PhD (CU Anschutz) | Pubmed |
| Oct 15 | Sleep deprivation and intensity on cerebral vasomotion and cardiorespiratory brain pulsations | Sara M. Ulv Larsen, MD, PhD (University of Copenhagen) | Pubmed |
| Nov 4 | Deciphering circadian timekeeping in the brainstem satiety centre | Lukasz Chrobok, PhD (University of Bristol) | Pubmed |
Past Events in 2025
Past Events in 2024
Past Events in 2023
Past Events in 2022