André A. Fenton
Born1967 (age 56–57)
Georgetown, Guyana
Alma materState University of New York
Scientific career
InstitutionsNew York University
Czech Academy of Sciences
ThesisHow two cues conjointly control hippocampal place fields (1992)

André A. Fenton (born 1967) is a Guyanese-Canadian-American neuroscientist who is a Professor of Neural Science at New York University. He studies how brains store and experience memories. He has been co-host of the television show NOVA Wonders.

Early life and education

Fenton was born in Georgetown, Guyana.[1][2] He lived there until he was seven years old, when his mother was recruited to join IBM in Toronto.[1][2] As a high school student, Fenton was interested in literature.[1] Whilst he had originally planned to study English at university, he accidentally took a biology course, where he first came across neural communication.[1] He eventually majored in biology at McGill University in Canada.[1] His undergraduate dissertation considered the neurobiology of crickets.[3] After graduating, Fenton joined the Institute of Physiology at the Czech Academy of Sciences. Here he worked in the research group of Jan Bures, where he specialised in the hippocampus.[1] He created a spinning platform that allowed investigations of how long rats can stay on track of their location, a neuroscientific device which became known as a rotating arena.[1] Fenton earned his doctoral degree at the State University of New York.[4] His research considered how cues impact hippocampal place fields.[4]

Research and career

Fenton was appointed Professor of Neural Science at New York University in 2010.[5] Fenton is interested in how brains create, store and experience memories.[6][7] His research makes use of molecular and electrophysiological experimental techniques in combination with theoretical analysis.[8] Working with Todd Sacktor, Fenton identified PKMzeta (protein kinase C zeta type) as an essential component of long-term memory. To achieve this, Fenton and Sacktor made use of his rotating arena and the ζ (Z) inhibitory peptide (ZIP) in specific parts of the brain, showing that ZIP-infusion into the hippocampus could erase long-term memory for a particular location. The discovery was selected by Science as one of the Breakthroughs of the Year.[1][9][10]

To understand how the hippocampus is involved with information processing, Fenton studied the impact of formation and recollection of memories across a range of different timescales.[5] He identified that information processing requires exquisite neural coordination, requiring synchronous neural discharge, with desynchronisation occurring when information is conflicting. This neural coordination can be disturbed in certain neurological disorders, including epilepsy, autism and traumatic brain injury.[1]

Fenton studies brain activity using a low-cost, wireless digital device called the microEEG, which allows long-term recording of neural function via electroencephalography. He founded the spin-out company Bio-Signal Group Corp, which manufacture the microEEG device.[11] It was approved for use in clinical and research settings by the Food and Drug Administration in 2012.[1]

Awards and honours

Fenton is co-host of the NOVA television programme Wonders.[12][13] He was awarded the 2019 Caribbean American Heritage Award for Excellence in Science and Technology.[14] In 2020 Fenton was announced by Cell Press as one of the Top 100 Black Scientists in America.[15]

Selected publications

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Rising Star: André Fenton, playful problem-solver". Spectrum | Autism Research News. 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  2. 1 2 "Secret Life Snap Shots #18-19". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  3. ↑ "Andre Fenton • iBiology". iBiology. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  4. 1 2 Fenton, Andre (1998). How two cues conjointly control hippocampal place fields (Thesis). OCLC 436233413.
  5. 1 2 "Guest Speaker: André Fenton". The Rockefeller Inclusive Science Initiative. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  6. ↑ "Andre Fenton, PhD". Black in Neuro. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  7. ↑ "What is real?". Scienceline. 2014-03-07. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  8. ↑ "Andre Fenton, Professor Of Neural Science". New York University. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  9. ↑ "Breakthrough of the Year 2006: Science Online Special Collection". www.sciencemag.org. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  10. ↑ Carey, Benedict (2009-04-06). "Brain Researchers Open Door to Editing Memory (Published 2009)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  11. ↑ "Meet NYU faculty, neurobiologist and entrepreneur, André A. Fenton". NYU Entrepreneurship. 2017-10-06. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  12. ↑ "Meet André Fenton". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  13. ↑ "Profile: Andre Fenton". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  14. ↑ "Andre Fenton". caribbeanheritageawards.org. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  15. ↑ Scholars, The Community of. "1,000 inspiring Black scientists in America". crosstalk.cell.com. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
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