From layers to loops: aging across sensory, timing, and memory circuits

We tend to think of aging as a story of loss — dimmer senses, slower responses, fading memories. But when you look at the circuits themselves, what often turns up is the opposite: neurons firing more, not less. This talk follows that puzzle across three scales. We start in sensory cortex, where layer-specific imaging in both mice and humans shows that aging does not touch all parts of a cortical column equally. From there we move to timing — how the brain exploits the temporal structure of the world to prepare for what happens next, what circuits seem to be important for this, and what might shift in that ability as animals get older. Finally, what makes networks hyperactive during aging? Is it an early sign of something going wrong, or an attempt to keep things going right? Expect two-photon imaging, comparisons with MRI functional networks, mice doing unexpected things, and more questions than answers.