Steve Ramirez

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Steve Ramirez (born 1988) is a neuroscientist whose professional career centers around the manipulation of the brain's physical properties. [1] [2] Through his work, Ramirez aims to find methods of relief for symptoms of mental health disorders through the use of optogenetics. [3] [4] He was born in Massachusetts to immigrant parents, where he attended high school. Ramirez's first interest in the brain developed when his cousin went into a coma due to "atrophy." Ramirez figured that it was caused through a physical reaction of tissue decay from a depleted amount of oxygen. He was curious how brains could be physically manipulated to understand their functions. [1]

Contents

He began his college education at Boston University, where he met his then girlfriend, who convinced Ramirez to try out Boston University's neuroscience program. While the pair eventually split, Ramirez developed a passion for neuroscience that sparked the beginning of his career. Although hurt, Ramirez's career was inspired by the grief of his break-up as he wondered if he could change the feelings behind those memories while keeping the memory intact. [5] [6]

After gaining inspiration, Ramirez graduated from Boston University in 2010 and later earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience for his work on memories in the lab of Susumu Tonegawa. [6] [7]

Early life

Steve Ramirez grew up in Everett, Massachusetts and is of El Salvadorian descent. His parents, older brother, and sister, escaped the wartimes of El Salvador towards the end of the 1970s and came to the United States. [2] In his early teens, Ramirez's cousin experienced atrophy and coma while birthing a child, which influenced Ramirez's curiosity on the topic of neuroscience, and the ability to physically manipulate brain chemistry. After, he attended high school in Massachusetts.

Ramirez attended college at Boston University in Massachusetts where he was trying to find an academic field that suited him. His girlfriend at the time suggested to Ramirez that he should seek guidance from the head of department of the neuroscience program at Boston University. Ramirez agreed, and began to be mentored by the head of department, where he developed a passion for the field of work and found a community among the members of the program. Throughout the rest of his education, Ramirez decided to focus his studies on the neuroscience of memory, which began the path of his career and achievements. [6] After graduating from college in 2010, Ramirez joined the lab of Susumu Tonegawa where he continued his studies, and eventually earned his Ph.D. in neuroscience. Ramirez's earliest scientific work occurred with the help of his mentor, Xu Liu, who Ramirez attributes much of his achievements to, and claims that Liu taught him many skills necessary for their work. [2]

Career

Steve Ramirez is known for his studies on memory where he went on to publish six research articles under Tonegawa Susumu's lab. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] Ramirez and Liu also did a TED Talk where they discussed their research. Ramirez expressed how he is currently manipulating the brain cells of mice to respond to pulses of light and manipulate their memories. He aims to make this process accessible to humans as well to treat mental illness. [5]

Awards

Selected publications

  1. Liu, Xu; Ramirez, Steve; Pang, Petti; Puryear, Cory; Govindarajan, Arvind; Deisseroth, Karl; Tonegawa, Susumu (19 April 2012). "Optogenetic stimulation of a hippocampal engram activates fear memory recall". Nature. 484 (7394): 381–385 – via EBSCOhost. [8]
  2. Ramirez, Steve; Liu, Xu; Lin, Pei-Ann; Suh, Junghyup; Pignatal, Michele; Redondo, Roger; Ryan, Tomas; Tonegaw, Susumu (26 July 2013). "Creating a False Memory in the Hippocampus". Science. 341 (6144): 387–391 – via EBSCOhost. [10]
  3. Redondo, Roger; Kim, Joshua; Arons, Autumn; Liu, Xu; Tonegawa, Susumu; Ramirez, Steve (18 September 2014). "Bidirectional switch of the valence associated with a hippocampal contextual memory engram". Nature. 513 (7518): 426–430 – via EBSCOhost. [9]
  4. Ramirez, Steve; Liu, Xu; Macdonald, Christopher; Moffa, Anthony; Zhou, Joanne; Redondo, Roger; Tonegawa, Susumu (18 June 2015). "Activating positive memory engrams suppresses depression-like behaviour". Nature. 522 (7556): 335–339 – via EBSCOhost. [11]
  5. Ramirez, Steve (15 June 2018). "Crystallizing a memory". Science. 360 (6394): 1182–1183 – via EBSCOhost. [12]
  6. Shpokayte, Monika; McKissick, Olivia; Guan, Xiaonan; Yuan, Bingbing; Rahsepar, Behar; Fernandez, Fernando; Ruesch, Evan; Grella, Stephanie; White, Jon; Liu, X; Ramirez, Steve (26 September 2022). "Hippocampal cells segregate positive and negative engrams". Nature. 5 (1): 1–15 – via EBSCOhost. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hippocampus</span> Vertebrate brain region involved in memory consolidation

The hippocampus is a major component of the brain of humans and other vertebrates. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. The hippocampus is part of the limbic system, and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, and in spatial memory that enables navigation. The hippocampus is located in the allocortex, with neural projections into the neocortex, in humans as well as other primates. The hippocampus, as the medial pallium, is a structure found in all vertebrates. In humans, it contains two main interlocking parts: the hippocampus proper, and the dentate gyrus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-term potentiation</span> Persistent strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity

In neuroscience, long-term potentiation (LTP) is a persistent strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity. These are patterns of synaptic activity that produce a long-lasting increase in signal transmission between two neurons. The opposite of LTP is long-term depression, which produces a long-lasting decrease in synaptic strength.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dentate gyrus</span> Region of the hippocampus in the brain

The dentate gyrus (DG) is part of the hippocampal formation in the temporal lobe of the brain, which also includes the hippocampus and the subiculum. The dentate gyrus is part of the hippocampal trisynaptic circuit and is thought to contribute to the formation of new episodic memories, the spontaneous exploration of novel environments and other functions.

An engram is a unit of cognitive information imprinted in a physical substance, theorized to be the means by which memories are stored as biophysical or biochemical changes in the brain or other biological tissue, in response to external stimuli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adult neurogenesis</span> Generating of neurons from neural stem cells in adults

Adult neurogenesis is the process in which neurons are generated from neural stem cells in the adult. This process differs from prenatal neurogenesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Place cell</span> Place-activated hippocampus cells found in some mammals

A place cell is a kind of pyramidal neuron in the hippocampus that becomes active when an animal enters a particular place in its environment, which is known as the place field. Place cells are thought to act collectively as a cognitive representation of a specific location in space, known as a cognitive map. Place cells work with other types of neurons in the hippocampus and surrounding regions to perform this kind of spatial processing. They have been found in a variety of animals, including rodents, bats, monkeys and humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susumu Tonegawa</span> Japanese scientist (born 1939)

Susumu Tonegawa is a Japanese scientist who was the sole recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for his discovery of V(D)J recombination, the genetic mechanism which produces antibody diversity. Although he won the Nobel Prize for his work in immunology, Tonegawa is a molecular biologist by training and he again changed fields following his Nobel Prize win; he now studies neuroscience, examining the molecular, cellular and neuronal basis of memory formation and retrieval.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Septal area</span> Area in the lower, posterior part of the medial surface of the frontal lobe

The septal area, consisting of the lateral septum and medial septum, is an area in the lower, posterior part of the medial surface of the frontal lobe, and refers to the nearby septum pellucidum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Picower Institute for Learning and Memory</span>

The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory is, along with the McGovern Institute for Brain Research and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, one of the three neuroscience groups at MIT. The institute is focused on studying all aspects of learning and memory; specifically, it has received over US$50 million to study Alzheimer's, schizophrenia and similar diseases.

Ca<sup>2+</sup>/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II Class of enzymes

Ca2+
/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II is a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase that is regulated by the Ca2+
/calmodulin complex. CaMKII is involved in many signaling cascades and is thought to be an important mediator of learning and memory. CaMKII is also necessary for Ca2+
 homeostasis and reuptake in cardiomyocytes, chloride transport in epithelia, positive T-cell selection, and CD8 T-cell activation.

Memory consolidation is a category of processes that stabilize a memory trace after its initial acquisition. A memory trace is a change in the nervous system caused by memorizing something. Consolidation is distinguished into two specific processes. The first, synaptic consolidation, which is thought to correspond to late-phase long-term potentiation, occurs on a small scale in the synaptic connections and neural circuits within the first few hours after learning. The second process is systems consolidation, occurring on a much larger scale in the brain, rendering hippocampus-dependent memories independent of the hippocampus over a period of weeks to years. Recently, a third process has become the focus of research, reconsolidation, in which previously consolidated memories can be made labile again through reactivation of the memory trace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nucleus reuniens</span>

The nucleus reuniens is a region of the thalamic midline nuclear group. In the human brain, it is located in the interthalamic adhesion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcino J. Silva</span> American neuroscientist (born 1961)

Alcino J. Silva is a Portuguese-American neuroscientist who was the recipient of the 2008 Order of Prince Henry and elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2013 for his contributions to the molecular cellular cognition of memory, a field he pioneered with the publication of two articles in Science in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TetTag</span> Mouse line used in memory research

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">John O'Keefe (neuroscientist)</span> American–British neuroscientist

John O'Keefe, is an American-British neuroscientist, psychologist and a professor at the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour and the Research Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at University College London. He discovered place cells in the hippocampus, and that they show a specific kind of temporal coding in the form of theta phase precession. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2014, together with May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser; he has received several other awards. He has worked at University College London for his entire career, but also held a part-time chair at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology at the behest of his Norwegian collaborators, the Mosers.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Steve Ramirez". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
  2. 1 2 3 "The 30 Top Thinkers Under 30: Steve Ramirez, 26, Neuroscience". Pacific Standard. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  3. ↑ "Steve Ramirez". explorer-directory.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  4. ↑ "Steve Ramirez, Ph.D." Steve Ramirez, Ph.D. | Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. 2023-05-20. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  5. 1 2 "Steve Ramirez: If We Could Erase Memories ... Should We?". TED RADIO HOUR. NPR. October 13, 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 "Steve Ramirez Reshapes Memories in the Brains of Mice". The Scientist Magazine®. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  7. ↑ "Emerging Scholar Profile: Ramirez Finds That Relationships Remain Key in Psychological and Brain Sciences". Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. 2018-02-04. Retrieved 2023-11-09.
  8. 1 2 "Shibboleth Authentication Request". cloviscc.idm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  9. 1 2 "Shibboleth Authentication Request". cloviscc.idm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  10. 1 2 "Shibboleth Authentication Request". login.cloviscc.idm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  11. 1 2 "Shibboleth Authentication Request". cloviscc.idm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  12. 1 2 "Shibboleth Authentication Request". cloviscc.idm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  13. 1 2 "Shibboleth Authentication Request". cloviscc.idm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2023-11-06.
  14. ↑ "Xu Liu and Steve Ramirez win 2014 American Ingenuity Award". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2014-10-27. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  15. ↑ "Steve Ramirez". explorer-directory.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
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