From mind reading to receptor ballet: IfADo scientists impress at science slam events in Dortmund

Two science slam events took place in Dortmund on April 27 and May 4, at which IfADo scientists Dr. Laura Klatt and Marie Beaupain delighted the audience with their entertaining and easy-to-understand presentations about their research.

Laura Klatt, a scientist from the Ergonomics department, spoke in her slam “On the trail of memory - can brain research read minds?” to the sold-out audience in the Dortmund Schauspielhaus. She explained how she can decode thought patterns in the brain's neuronal activities using machine learning. This involved categories such as colors and orientation, which test subjects had to classify in various tasks. However, Klatt emphasized that we are still a long way from reading complex thoughts in the way we imagine.

Marie Beaupain, a scientist from the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, illustrated her field of research at the Dortmunder city festival dortbunt with a ballet metaphor. Under the blue sky, she explained in her slam "Pas de deux(pamine): Receptor ballet in the brain?", how the different receptor types dopamine and NMDA dance with each other in the brain and how this can lead to neuroplasticity or a successful ballet performance. She introduced the interested audience to the method of non-invasive brain stimulation, which can be used to artificially trigger neuroplasticity in the brain - in other words, to make the receptors dance. By additionally altering dopamine and NMDA receptor activation, it is possible to investigate more precisely what role they play in neuroplasticity and in the ballet performance. Marie Beaupian could catch the attention of the audience and so she won the ScienceSlam at the city festival.