Colloquium on the Brain and Cognition with Mriganka Sur, PhD, MIT "The Functional Logic of Cortical Astrocyte-Neuron Circuits"

Colloquium on the Brain and Cognition with Mriganka Sur, PhD, MIT 

• Thursday, March 19, 2026
• 4:00pm
• Singleton Auditorium (46-3002, Third Floor of MIT Building 46)
• In-person only

Talk Title: The Functional Logic of Cortical Astrocyte-Neuron Circuits

Abstract: The human brain has 80 billion neurons, and an equal number of non-neuronal cells, especially astrocytes. Formerly considered support cells for neurons, new findings are transforming our understanding of the role of astrocytes - not only in development and disease but as partners with neurons in circuits that mediate cognition, including those underlying information processing, learning and decision-making. This shift is driven by new technologies for measuring astrocyte signals and manipulating astrocyte-specific genes, and computational algorithms that fully include astrocytic and neuronal contributions to functional circuits. I will describe studies that demonstrate the multiple roles of specific astrocyte mechanisms, including glutamate and GABA transporters at synapses that shape information processing and plasticity, and noradrenergic mechanisms that signal prediction error and generate prolonged signals critical for learned behavior. Astrocyte-neuron circuits are thus essential for understanding multiple time-scale computations required for next-generation AI.