Hello everyone,

The annual Bindra Lecture will take place Friday March 13th at 3:30 pm in Stewart Biology Building room S1/3 (1205 Ave du Docteur Penfield). Our invited speaker is Dr. Lynn Nadel, a McGill alumni, now a Regents' Professor of Psychology at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Nadel's research focuses on the hippocampus and memory formation. He has done groundbreaking work on the model of the hippocampus as a cognitive map, as well as multiple trace theory. Dr. Nadel's research has contributed greatly to our understanding of episodic memory, stress in memory function, and how dysfunction of the hippocampus affects mental retardation in Down Syndrome, just to name a few. Dr. Nadel and 2014 Nobel Prize winner Dr John O’Keefe have co-authored a book, The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map, for which they received the 2006 Grawemeyer Award.

The title of his talk is: "Episodic Memory: Why and How."

Abstract: Episodic memory has unique features, emerging late in phylogeny and developing late in ontogeny. It captures singular events, in contrast to most memory systems. This talk will consider why episodic memory evolved, and its cognitive and neural underpinnings.

In addition, there will be a morning seminar taking place at 10:30 - 12:00 pm in Stewart Biology N7/14. The title for this talk is: “A walk down the memory lane: On the ancient mnemonic arts, seahorses and maps".

A wine and cheese will follow the main talk at 5:00 pm.

Graduate students who would like to have lunch with Dr. Nadel should contact Jane (student host) at jie.zhang5@mail.mcgill.camailto:jie.zhang5@mail.mcgill.ca.

Please circulate this email to anyone interested in Dr. Nadel's work.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on March 13,

Karim