Invaders and Robbers: How Our Brains Go Wrong

If you’ve ever felt like your brain is barely holding it together, good news: some creatures are actively trying to make that worse. Join us for a tour of the parasites that sneak into the brain, spark inflammation, and alter our behaviors. It’s gross, it’s fascinating, and it will make you wash your hands more.

The memories we make in our daily lives form the foundation of our identity (think Inside Out). When we lose the ability to make these memories, we lose ourselves. However, psychology and neuroscience studies typically examine how the brain forms memories in the lab, which is like trying to study how a bird flies while it's in a cage. In this talk, I'll share how the INMAN lab develops new scientific approaches to capturing real-world experiences while we simultaneously record from the human brain and body. As an example of our research, I'll share what happens in your brain's memory-making areas when you get lost and find your way.