At the end of March, the Department of Biological Sciences had the opportunity to be part of the largest Brain Night yet. The event has been around for over a decade and attendance on March 26 hit 425, with the largest number of participating groups hitting a new high as well. 

During the evening, attendees were able to meet local neuroscientists and interact with hands-on brain and behavior-themed exhibits. Neuroscientists spoke in the NC Museum of Natural Sciences Daily Planet Theater, celebrating the brain and sharing what they have been discovering lately. 

Our very own Dr. Christa Baker, an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, spoke about the research being conducted in the Baker Lab during Brain Night. This specific presentation focused on Flies on the Brain: What can the humble fruit fly teach us about brains? Dr. Baker covered how local scientists are using flies to understand how brains detect communication signals. 

“Flies make sounds to communicate with one another. The results from fruit flies can provide hypotheses for how larger and more complex brains, such as humans’, solve similar sound recognition problems.” 

Dr. Baker teaches courses related to the neural basis of communication and the interdisciplinary physics and the brain at NC State. In her lab, students have the opportunity to study how brains recognize and produce communication signals. The lab uses fruit flies due to their small brains to study sound pattern recognition and communication signals. Research conducted on fruit flies thus far has won six Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine.

To learn more about Brain Night, see the NC Museum of Natural Sciences website. More information on the Baker Lab can be found at christabakerlab.com/.