Learn more about the causes of depression, the functioning of the teenage brain, and positive steps to prevent the onset of depression at a young age during Tabor Academy’s third Science@Work lecture of the season.
Sage Aronson is a PhD candidate in the department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego, where he studies the neurobiological underpinnings of how the brain processes valence (whether something is good or bad) and how the dysregulation of these systems can lead to depression. In addition to his role as a graduate student, in 2017, he started a company, Neurophotometrics, that manufactures an imaging device to record how signals propagate throughout the brain.
Many parts of the brain are involved in determining whether a particular experience or action is perceived to be good or bad. Our ability to appropriately assign these valence signals is fundamental to our everyday life. But what happens when this delicately balanced circuitry gets thrown out of balance?
In this talk, PhD candidate Sage Aronson will provide an overview of what we know about how the brain assigns and processes valence, how individual symptoms of depression can be caused by the up- or down-regulation of individual components of this circuitry, and positive steps we can take to help prevent the onset of depression at a young age.
The lecture is free and open to the public on February 11at 6:30 pm in the Lyndon South Auditorium in the Stroud Academic Center at 242 Front Street, Marion.