On the night of November 22th, 2022, the sixth lecture of professional advanced forum series themed “The Mixed Study Seminar” of Cho Kochen Honors College was successfully held in the 302 Class of Second East building located in Zijingang Campus. The department head as well as the professor of Brain science and Brain medicine college in Zhejiang University, Doctoral supervisor Hu Hailan had given a speech themed “The exploring journal of emotional brain mechanism”. The rational and professional speech was fascinating as well, therefore gained the sincere ardour and highly welcome of all students. The lecture was hosted by Professor Yu Qian, the vice president of CKC.
Introduction of Report Gist, Stimulation of live atmosphere
Ms. Hu Hailan,who once won the 24th World Outstanding Female Scientist Award,is the professor of both the Qiushi Institute for Advanced Study and the Medicine College in Zhejiang University, also the executive director of the Neuroscience Center in Zhejiang University and the dean of the College of Brain Science and Brain Medicine. The lecture began with Professor Hu’s introduction of her master-appendices inheritance experience, research direction and team members in University of California Berkeley, providing the whole lecture with professional atmosphere, well-organized logic and clear structure.
Quote the social reality examples. Explain profound theories in simple words
Professor Hu Hailan’s topic is the research of the neuroscientific mechanism about social hierarchies. Firstly, she led to the topic with a paper about the British civil servants’ shift in social status and how this effected their mental health. Then she came up with the ideas “Where there is a long-established order, there are competitions and class of advantage.” Social status is the most key factor that influences health. Immediately after this, she used scientific research, analysis and reasoning ways to perform “Pipe Drilling Experiment”(钻管实验) on the mice so as to unfold the study about social status. Later she introduced the biological method of using virus to control the functioning of glutamate receptors(谷氨酸受体) in each brain area of every single mouse. In this way, it’s finally possible to confirm which brain area is related to control the social status.
While the students were listening attentively, the professor put forward the interactive question of whether the drilling test can correctly reflect the hierarchical relationship between mice, which aroused a heated discussion among the students. The atmosphere was quite active, and the lecture was full of interest.
Enumerate Logical Problems and Deepen the Content
Subsequently, the professor put forward two unresolved logical problems and introduced them for further research. He introduced technical methods such as "mPFC neuron distribution detection"(mPFC神经元发放检测)and "photogenetics activates the prefrontal cortex"(光遗传学激活前额叶皮层), which systematically and vividly demonstrated the conclusions of the experiment. Ultimately, the professor gave an example of the well-known boxing champion Tyson to talk about the "victory effect". In the end, through a small experiment, the selective attention test, the professor revealed a thought-provoking conclusion: people always selectively ignore the surprise under the eyelids while paying attention, thus contributing to the selective attention blind spot. This is also one of the causes of depression. The lecture ended with thunderous applause. Through this wonderful lecture, the participants can not only gain new professional brain science knowledge and research methods, but also find a way to march forward in our wonderful college life.
Professor Hu Hailan applied multi-disciplinary knowledge such as sociology, psychology and bioengineering in his research. Professor Yu Qian concluded that "with the deepening and cutting-edge of the research, we can see the importance of interdisciplinary integration." It is believed that the students in the mixed class can learn comprehensively and pluralistically, and make greater contributions to the development of science and technology.
Copywriting | Xie Yiji Chen Dejiang
Photos from Yang Zhengyu
Typesetting | Gan Jiayi
Editor-in-charge | Zhu Qingwen
Proof Read by Zhang Yutong
