Biography:

Prof. Shubha Tole obtained her BSc in Life Sciences and Biochemistry from St. Xavier's College (1987). Her MSc and PhD are from Caltech, USA. She worked at the University of Chicago as a post-doctoral fellow, and then joined TIFR as a faculty member in the Department of Biological Sciences in 1999.

Prof. Tole has been awarded the Research Award for Innovation in Neurosciences (Society for Neuroscience, USA), the Swarnajayanti Fellowship by the Dept. of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, and the Wellcome Trust Senior International Fellowship, for her research in the area of Neurosciences. She was also selected for the National Woman Bioscientist award in 2008 by the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India. She has several publications in leading international journals, including Science, Nature Neuroscience, and the Journal of Neuroscience. Besides research and teaching, Dr. Tole actively engages in Public Outreach, and has done workshops in schools, in colleges, and also participated as a speaker and as a chairperson at Caf Scientifiques organized by the British Council.

Abstract:

The Blueprint for Building the Brain

The brain, a complex, powerful organ, arises from a simple sheet of tissue in the embryo. Exciting findings have emerged about the genetic mechanisms which bring about the development of the brain and create a highly evolved, complex structure. The embryo faces an extraordinary challenge: starting from a set of simple precursor cells, it has to form a brain with upto 10 (11) neurons. Neurons come in a variety of different flavors, and the correct types of neurons have to be generated for use in a diverse array of brain structures. Then, these have to be wired up with extreme precision to ensure normal brain functions. We have uncovered a fundamental mechanism that acts to create the cerebral cortex, the seat of our highest cognitive and perceptual functions such as sensory perception, language, learning and memory. A single protein, Lhx2, serves as a master regulator of the switch that makes the cerebral cortex form. Cells which do not turn on this switch have an equally important role: they produce signals that act on naive cerebral cortical cells, shaping them to become the hippocampus, a cortical structure that is critical for learning and memory.