Life of a Neuron: The Mentor–Mentee Backstage Story
- 1Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 10132
- 2University of California, Davis, CA 95616
Introduction
In early 2019, a groundbreaking collaboration between Society for Neuroscience (SfN), ARTECHOUSE, and a team of neurobiologists was launched, culminating in the opening of Life of a Neuron in Washington, DC, Fall 2021 and New York City, Spring 2022, a digital art installation providing an immersive experience of an actual human neuron (Fig. 1). Life of a Neuron holds many stories. At a fundamental level, it is the story of a neuron's life—from birth, through development, adulthood, aging, and ultimately death. But its creation involves other stories. Here, we tell the story of the mentor–mentee relationship and the decade and a half of co-creative growth that gave rise to the science behind Life of a Neuron.
Left, J.H.M. speaking at the opening of Life of a Neuron Spring 2022 in New York City against a close-up view of the human PFC neuron in its original form. Top right, D.D. and J.H.M. talking inside the Life of a Neuron art installation at its opening in Washington, DC, Fall 2021 during a portion of the 20 min loop in which the neuron is copied and rendered at various developmental stages. Bottom right, D.D. microinjecting human tissue that would ultimately provide the neuron serving as blueprint for the entire Life of a Neuron exhibit on the microinjection station originally used by J.H.M. in the 1980s and gifted to D.D. after her thesis defense.
The Early Days
D.D.: I have to be honest with you, John: when I first joined your lab a decade and a half ago, it wasn't because I liked your science. It was because no other lab would take me.
J.H.M.: I should be honest with you too, Dani: my lab told me not to accept you. They said you'd be trouble.
D.D.: You should have listened to them! I was not …
Correspondence should be addressed to John H. Morrison at jhmorrison{at}ucdavis.edu
