Spin-L共催　生理学研究所 感覚認知情報研究部門 部門公開セミナー（第22回）を開催します

この度、生理学研究所 感覚認知情報研究部門による部門公開セミナーを、 Spin-Lとの共催で開催することになりましたのでご案内させていただきます。
今回のセミナーは、Health and Medical University, PotsdamのNina Patzke先生に、MRIを用いて海洋生物の脳標本を対象とした計測を行い、哺乳類の多様性や進化について新たな知見を得ることを目指した取り組みをご紹介いただきます。
所外の方については、参加登録が必要となりますが、ご関心のある方は奮ってご参加ください。
よろしくお願い致します。

The Division of Sensory and Cognitive Information at the National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), in collaboration with Spin-L, is pleased to invite you to our upcoming department seminar.
We are excited to welcome Dr. Nina Patzke from Health and Medical University, Potsdam. She will present her research utilizing MRI to scan brain specimens of marine life, aiming to uncover new insights into mammalian diversity and evolution.
While the seminar is open to all, external participants are required to register in advance.
We look forward to welcoming many of you to this event.

MRI studies of marine mammal brains: challenges, methods and comparative perspectives 

Nina Patzke
（Professor of Neuroanatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Medical University, Potsdam, Germany）

Marine mammals provide an important comparative perspective on brain evolution, sensory specialization and the neural basis of complex behaviour. However, their brains also present substantial practical and analytical challenges. Many species have large brains, unusual brain shapes, high degrees of cortical folding and tissue properties that differ from standard laboratory models. In addition, specimens are rare, often obtained opportunistically, and may vary in fixation quality, post-mortem condition and completeness.

In this talk, I will discuss how magnetic resonance imaging can be used to study the brains of marine mammals, with a particular focus on cetaceans and pinnipeds. MRI allows non-destructive examination of valuable specimens and provides access to internal brain organization, ventricular morphology, major fibre systems and volumetric relationships. It is especially useful for large or rare brains, where conventional histological processing of the entire specimen is difficult or impossible.

I will present examples from post-mortem MRI studies of marine mammal brains and discuss the methodological decisions involved, including specimen handling, fixation, segmentation and anatomical interpretation.

By combining MRI with classical neuroanatomical approaches, these studies can provide new insights into the organization of marine mammal brains and their adaptations to aquatic life. More broadly, they highlight the value of including non-traditional and large-brained species in neuroscience, not as direct models of humans, but as comparative systems that broaden our understanding of mammalian brain diversity and evolution.