fiat scientia: bringing spikes to the Society of Neuroscience and Eric Kandel
The annual Society for Neuroscience meeting is a big event for us; we prepare all year working on new prototypes and experiments for annual review by our colleagues, friends, and academic foes. This year was a special treat, as we were recognized for our outreach efforts by the Society itself, represented by President Michael Goldburg.
Copyright (c) 2010, Society for Neuroscience. All rights reserved. Photo by Jeff Nyveen.
Copyright (c) 2010, Society for Neuroscience. All rights reserved. Photo by Jeff Nyveen.
The highlight of this conference for us, of indeed all the conferences we’ve been to, was meeting the second most famous Neuroscientist ever. Yes, none other than Nobel LaureateEric Kandel. When we saw him at the beginning of the Presidential lecture, making rounds and shaking hands with the other famous neuroscientists, we snuck up behind him and slowly turned up the speaker on our SpikerBox. When he turned around, we said,”Sorry to interrupt you, Professor Kandel, but we were just wondering if you’ve ever seen neurons before.” He didn’t skip a beat; he saw the real-time spikes on the iPad, and said “My, those are beautiful! Spikes at Neuroscience! You’re the ones who should be giving the presidential lecture!” He touched the cockroach leg to see if he could evoke a neural response, and he was convinced. We then sat down. Thanks Professor! We’ll keep working hard! Props also to Jeff Nyveen, photographer for the meeting, for quickly grabbing the shots for us.
Copyright (c) 2010, Society for Neuroscience. All rights reserved. Photo by Jeff Nyveen.
Copyright (c) 2010, Society for Neuroscience. All rights reserved. Photo by Jeff Nyveen.
I was once the center of a nobel laureate sandwich with Kandel about a foot in front of me and Axel a foot or two behind me. We were on line for a buffet at a Columbia U reception. It was one of the highlights of my life (yet I do not think either realized the impact of their proximity to me). Just thought I’d share this since you appear to have been starstruck as well.
Comment by Jeanne Garbarino — 2011-Jan-05 @ 20:34
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Drug Monkey. Drug Monkey said: "excuse me Professor Kandel, have you ever seen a neuron before?" HAHAHAAHA! https://backyardbrains.com/news/?p=531 […]
Pingback by Tweets that mention Backyard Brains �� fiat scientia: bringing spikes to the Society of Neuroscience and Eric Kandel -- Topsy.com — 2011-Jan-05 @ 20:38
Awesome! Love the pics!
Comment by Jessica Poort — 2011-Jan-05 @ 22:09