The Mobility Forum with Prof. Jinhua Zhao showcases transportation research and innovation across the globe. The Forum is online and open to the public.

Date: Friday, December 5, 2025 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm Location: Simons Center Conference room 46-6011 + Zoom [https://mit.zoom.us/j/95992863075]Speakers: Haoran Xu, Ph.D., Research Scientist & Beizhen Zhang, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow Affiliation: Desimone Lab, McGovern Institute, MITTalk title: Investigating Neural Circuit Abnormalities in SHANK3 Mutant MarmosetsAbstract: Phelan-McDermid Syndrome (PMS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations or deletions in the SHANK3 gene, a key component for maintaining synaptic structure and neural circuit integrity. Individuals with PMS exhibit profound social communication deficits, intellectual disability, and sensory abnormalities, yet the neural circuit mechanisms underlying these symptoms remain elusive. In this talk, I will present our ongoing work using SHANK3 mutant marmosets as a primate model to probe these circuit dysfunctions. We implanted four 64-channel ECoG arrays across temporal and prefrontal regions in mutant and wild-type animals and examined their neural dynamics during social perception, cognitive, and auditory tasks. Despite showing normal gaze patterns while viewing faces or movies, SHANK3 mutants exhibited reduced high-gamma activity in face-selective regions and weakened social representations in both the prefrontal (PFC) and inferotemporal (IT) cortices. During working memory tasks, mutants performed more poorly, with their deficits linked to elevated alpha and high-gamma power in the PFC during the delay period. In the auditory domain, they showed hypoactivity in auditory cortical areas but paradoxical hyper-responsivity to noise-like sounds in the PFC and visual regions, suggesting impaired inhibition. Together, these findings reveal how SHANK3 disruption alters distributed neural circuits underlying social, cognitive, and sensory processing, offering a window into the circuit-level basis of PMS and related neurodevelopmental disorders.

Ten minutes for your mind@2:50 every day at 2:50 pm in multiple time zones:Europa@2:50, EET, Athens, Helsinki (UTC+2) (7:50 am EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88298032734Atlantica@2:50, EST, New York, Toronto (UTC-4) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85349851047Pacifica@2:50, PST, Los Angeles, Vancouver (UTC=7) (5:50 pm EST) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85743543699Almost everything works better again if you unplug it for a bit, including your mind. Stop by and unplug. Get the benefits of mindfulness without the fuss.@2:50 meets at the same time every single day for ten minutes of quiet together.No pre-requisite, no registration needed.Visit the website to view all @2:50 time zones each day.at250.org or at250.mit.edu

Free and open to all!Join us for a relaxing afternoon of cozy card making! All supplies included (except stamps) – but feel free to bring materials of your own to add to the fun.If you’d like, feel free to bring a book to add to the book swap table.Early donation drop off begins in the MIT Welcome Center on Monday, December 1st from 9:00am-4:00pm.This event is presented in collaboration with MIT’s Office of Sustainability, Choose to Reuse, and MIT Facilities.

MCN Seminar