Gene Sprouse was headed to a pre-concert lecture at Stony Brook University’s Staller Center for the Arts on March 26 around 7 p.m. when he snapped this colorful photo with his iPhone 13. He writes, ‘The sun was low and a shower just passed, and this is what I got!
Above, from left, CSHL Associate Professor Steven Shea, Yunyao Xie, a former postdoctoral researcher in Shea’s lab, and Roman Dvorkin at work. Photo from CSHL
By Daniel Dunaief
The black box has a blue spot.
Often considered so mysterious that it has been called “the black box,” the brain has a small cluster of cells called the locus coeruleus (LC), or blue spot because it appears blue.
The LC is the predominant source of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline, which plays numerous roles, including triggering the “fight or flight” response, sleep/wake regulation and memory.
Recently, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Associate Professor Stephen Shea and his post doctoral researcher Roman Dvorkin demonstrated that the LC was involved in normal maternal social behavior. In the publication Journal of Neuroscience, they demonstrated that surrogate mothers had a spike in this neurotransmitter just at the time when they retrieved young pups that had rolled out of the nest.
“Most of the research on noradrenaline and the LC has been involved in non-social behavior,” said Shea. Researchers have recorded it extensively during “cognitive tasks and memory formation.”
The evidence for its involvement in social behaviors has been more indirect. With the exception of a study 35 years ago that made a few recordings in cats, the current research is the “first time anyone has recorded” the LC during a more normal social behavior, Shea said.
Research on this blue spot could prove valuable in connection with understanding and treating a wide range of diseases and disorders. Noradrenaline (NA) is “one of the systems that is disturbed in anxiety and depression,” Dvorkin said. It also may be involved in other diseases, like autism. Scientists have conducted research on the LC and ADHD, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, Dvorkin explained.
Some studies have also linked Rett syndrome, for example, which is a rare inherited genetic disorder that affects mostly girls and can alter the ability to speak, walk and eat, to lower levels of noradrenaline.
“There’s evidence that the LC has pathology in Mecp2 mice,” said Shea, referring to a gene traced to Rett. “We are working on that directly.”
Researchers believe studying the structure of the LC could lead to diagnostics and therapeutics for some of these diseases. Dvorkin suggested that this kind of research is “important to see how it works under normal, awake conditions.”
Monitoring the release of this neurotransmitter during a typical social behavior among female mice provides a context-connected understanding of its potential role.
“When people are studying this, they often use investigator-contrived tasks,” Shea said. “This is the system that preexisted for mice to use for other purposes.”
Shea has done earlier work with the LC, particularly as the sense of smell is so prominent in social interactions for mice. He demonstrated that anesthetized mice exposed to the scent of an unfamiliar mouse react as if they have a familiarity with the mouse.
She believes the LC initiates sensory plasticity or sensory learning. NA can affect the sensory responses in parts of the brain that carry information, creating a stored memory. While his extensive work offers some clues about the role of the LC in mice, all vertebrates have the LC in their brain stems, including humans.
Shea said other research has demonstrated the involvement of the LC in cognitive tasks and memory formation, including during periods of sleep and wakefulness.
Blocking the release of noradrenaline is challenging in part because it is compact and the cells in the brain interact with so many of their neighbors, which makes turning on or off a specific signal from one region especially challenging.
At the University of Washington, Richard D. Palmiter and S.A. Thomas published a visible and definitive paper in 1997 in the journal Cell that brought the LC to other researcher’s attention.
These researchers created complete knockout mice, where they found that rodents lacking noradrenaline were “really bad mothers,” according to Shea.
In their research, Dvorkin and Shea used optogenetics and chemogenetics to inactivate the LC and the release of noradrenaline.
Future experiments
Below, a mouse retrieving a pup that has rolled out of its nest. Photo by Roman Dvorkin
The next step in this research could involve understanding the relative importance of the signal from the LC and noradrenaline.
In typical life settings, mice and other vertebrates confront competing signals, in which a pup rolls out of the nest at the same time that one of their many predators, like a hawk or other bird is circling overhead.
“That could be a next step” in this research, said Dvorkin.
Dvorkin believes it is possible to increase or decrease the threat level for mice gradually, in part because mice learn quickly when the threat is not real or what to avoid if the threat is too risky.
Shea is also looking more closely at courtship behavior.
The LC could be involved in sexual selection and in dominance hierarchies, enhancing the aggressive behavior of alpha males towards less dominant males.
“We see big signals associated with events in courtship, including when the female and male begin to mate,” said Shea.
A resident of East Northport, Dvorkin lives with his wife Paolina and their nine year-old son Adam, who is in third grade at Pulaski Road School.
Originally from Afula in northern Israel, Dvorkin has been working in Shea’s lab for over five years. Outside the lab, he enjoys spending time with his family, taking pictures, and swimming at the JCC.
Dvorkin has enjoyed his work at CSHL, which he described as a “great experience in a beautiful place,” where he can appreciate the quiet and where he has received considerable support.
In the future, he’d like to apply his expertise in working on neuronal cell cultures and behaving animals to address translative questions, such as neurodegeneration.
The Stony Brook baseball team entered the day down a game in its weekend set with Hartford on April 2. They finished the day with a pair of wins and a series victory, winning 9-5 and 7-5 to sweep Saturday’s double dip at Dunkin’ Donuts Park.
Shane Paradine finished the day 4-for-7, hitting .571 with a pair of doubles and a home run, leading the Seawolves in all three categories. Colton Book earned the win in game number one, throwing two scoreless in relief while striking out three. Devin Sharkey received the win in game two, a 2.1 inning relief effort.
The big blow for Stony Brook in the opener was a four-run ninth in a seven-inning contest, as Matt Brown-Eiring’s fielder’s choice allowed the go-ahead run to score. He would then score on an error by the third baseman that plated two.
In game two, the Seawolves scored in four of the seven frames, including a pair of runs in three innings. A RBI groundout and wild pitch gave Stony Brook the lead in the fifth before a two-run double in the sixth from Evan Giordano gave the Seawolves much-needed insurance.
“I’m very proud of the guys. The last two weekends, we’ve dropped that first game but we have been able to lock back in and battle back to win the series. Today specifically… it is not easy to sweep doubleheaders but we were able to be physically and mentally tough. We had some guys sick and then some guys get hurt but everybody stepped up and we were able to get the win,” said head coach Matt Senk. ‘Today was a total team effort and I couldn’t be more proud of our team.”
The team returns home for a three-game set with UAlbany. First pitch on Friday is slated for 3 p.m., at Joe Nathan Field.
#12 Elli Masera scored 6 points during Friday's game.
Photo from Stony Brook Athletics
Sophomore midfielder Ellie Masera and junior attacker Kailyn Hart each tallied six points, leading the No. 5 Stony Brook women’s lacrosse program to a 16-4 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils on April 1 at LaValle Stadium.
Masera recorded a five-spot in the goal column, adding 11 draw controls on the day. Hart had four goals and two assists, leading her squad in the facilitation department.
10 different players recorded an assist on the afternoon, with four different players recording multiple goals. Hart started the scoring as the Seawolves raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.
The home team used a 5-0 run in the second quarter to pull away, establishing a six-goal advantage with 2:45 in the second frame. They went two better in the second half, rattling off the first eight goals.
“You know, Friday night, our team was excited to be out here. We had a lot of Long Island youth teams here and their [Arizona State] assistant is an alum. They brought a lot of intensity early on and we were a little rattled,” said head coach Joe Spallina after the game.
“I didn’t want to call timeout. I wanted to see how they would handle adversity and handle the situation and I thought they did a good job of getting through. Once we got that first goal, it calmed us down. This is the formula for us right now: getting stops defensively and play smart and efficiently on offense. Sometimes that means putting the ball in the corner and living to fight another day. … I’m proud of our kids. We’re playing really good lacrosse. We’ve learned a lot as the season has gone on but we are making major strides,” he added.
In 1997 I sent Leah Dunaief several essays that I called Life Lines and I asked her if she thought these might be of interest to the readers of her new newspaper, the Village Times.
About a month later she replied and said she retrieved my packet from her pile of correspondence and liked my essays and thus began a 25 year association and more than 400 columns of Life Lines as her newspaper chain grew in number across the North Shore of Long Island.
My aim was to inform my readers of the importance of science in our lives. I am a professor, now retired, who taught in Canada (Queen’s University), UCLA, and Stony Brook University as well as holding visiting professorships over the years in San Diego State University, the University of Utah, the University of Minnesota, and Tugaloo Collegein Mississippi.
I have also taught twice on Semester at Sea a floating campus that sales eastward or westward around the world for a semester with 500 students. I have taught also in programs for a federal program to raise science literacy in former USSR republics, including Samara —on the Volga River, and Tbilisi in former Soviet Georgia. I have mentored 6 students through their PhDs in my laboratories and have published 15 books on genetics, the history of genetics, the eugenics controversy, and science and society conflicts. I love to teach and have taught thousands of students at UCLA and Stony Brook University in a course titled Biology 101-102 Biology – A Humanities Approach.
I argued that a knowledge of science and its history and its application to society is important in showing how science has greatly reduced infant mortality, greatly increased life expectancy, eliminated most communicable disease, and restored health to millions of people through its applications to our food industries, pharmaceutical industries, and public health programs.
It gives us greater control over our lives and allows a person like me to live more than 90 years. I will be celebrating my 91st birthday in July and I am grateful that I have lived an examined life, avoided alcohol and other harmful agents in my life and have insights into how life works that are worth sharing.
I read widely, love the arts and humanities, consider science to be part of the liberal arts education we should extend past K-12 to college level programs that make us informed citizens in a democracy and parents able to make informed decisions about their children’s well-being rather than relying on political ideologies or religious traditions first introduced two or three thousand years ago as guides for how to protect ourselves and our families.
Science allowed me to understand how life works. I can follow it from atoms to molecules, macromolecules, cell organelles, cells, tissues, and organs. From there I can extend it to the population, the diversity of life on earth, and the importance of human stewardship of that life by informed ways using the earth’s bounty, protecting it from pollution, avoiding erosion, preventing desert formation, and preventing discharges of carbon dioxide from the fuels we use that lead to climate change that can flood our coastal cities and bring chaotic weather patterns around the world.
I thank Leah Dunaief and her son Daniel for the many articles on science that inform North Shore readers of what is going on in our universities, research institute, and industries on Long Island. I thank you readers who have written to me, stopped me when I shopped in the local stores, or offered different points of view to which I would respond.
I have lived an examined life, selected, as an Epicurean, from the best minds and writing of Western civilization. I am grateful for the gift of life to have lived this long. But now in my 90s I lack the energy I had ten years ago and have decided to use the time remaining in my life to work on my unpublished manuscripts and get them published or place them to print-on-demand programs on the internet. I much appreciate you, my reader, for the pleasure of having this opportunity,
Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich, Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn and members of the Three Village Chamber of Commerce attended the grand opening of “Mondays at Racine” at Gypsy Hair Lounge in the Three Village Shopping Center, 1389 Route 25A in Setauket on March 28.
“Mondays at Racine” is a not-for-profit organization that strives to increase a sense of control with wellness, beauty and therapeutic services for anyone experiencing the side effects of cancer. When patients go through chemotherapy treatment, they look in the mirror and are reminded every day of their medical condition. The physical effects, such as hair loss, nail discoloration and weight loss, take a toll both physically and internally. The program is open to anyone regardless of age or gender.
“Last week, I had the honor of attending the official opening of ‘Mondays at Racine’ at Gypsy Hair Lounge in Setauket. It was a beautiful event supported by many members of our community. Cancer has touched almost every family in our community in one way or another, and we know all too well the impact it can have on a patient’s physical appearance and emotional well-being. ‘Mondays at Racine’ partners with charter programs like Gypsy Hair Lounge all throughout Long Island to offer free services that help remind those with cancer of how beautiful they are,” said Councilmember Kornreich.
Clockwise from back row left, Ginger Dalton, Stephanie Moreau, Christine N. Boehm, Marci Bing, Linda May and Michelle LaBozzetta. Photo by Steven Uihlein/Theatre Three Productions, Inc.
By Tara Mae
“Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.”
This famous line from Robert Harling’s Steel Magnolias embodies the ethos of the comedy-drama, which is Theatre Three’s next Mainstage production, opening on April 9.
Spanning three years in the lives of a group of Southern women, the play explores how the depth of their bonds sustain them through triumphs and tragedies. Harling wrote the play in 1985 as a way of processing his sister’s death and paying homage to the women from his childhood. It was later adapted into an award-winning film starring Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Dolly Parton, Olympia Dukakis and Daryl Hannah.
Unlike the film version, the play exists strictly in the world of women, featuring female characters with the male characters only referenced through dialogue.
“Working with an all-female cast was absolutely wonderful, and we all talked about how we connected to material both as mothers and daughters. I love that in this show every single person is integral to the play, and it really celebrates the strengths of these women and the beauty of their souls and personalities,” said director Mary Powers.
Starring Stephanie Moreau (Truvy), Christine N. Boehm (Annelle), Marci Bing (Clairee), Michelle LaBozzetta (Shelby), Linda May (M’Lynn), and Ginger Dalton (Ouiser), Steel Magnolias is a personal favorite of Artistic Director Jeffrey Sanzel, who first saw the play when it debuted off-Broadway in 1987.
“I believe it is an absolutely perfect play. Very few plays are as well constructed as Steel Magnolias. It is one of the top ten theater experiences of my life. I do not think there is one moment that is false or one moment that does not work. This is the second time we have done it…and we felt it was time to bring it back for our 50th season,” Sanzel said.
Unfortunately, the 50th anniversary season (2019-2020), designed to showcase some of the of the theater’s most revered productions, was cut short due to the pandemic lockdown.The cast was completing the rehearsal process and preparing to open the show when the world around it abruptly shut down, andthe show was postponed. After a two-year delay, rehearsals resumed in February of 2022.
“We were very committed to the project. We thoroughly enjoyed the rehearsal process the first time around and were all very invested in coming back, which everyone did,” Powers said. “We kept our schedules clear for that time. It was like riding a bike; one rehearsal and we were back to where we had been with the exact same casting, exact same roles. Nothing changed at all. We all had our scripts and got to work. We get along so well, and the cast and crew are a delight to work with.”
Interpersonal, emotional connections onstage are reflected in the dynamic between the actresses, who also kept in touch with Powers and Sanzel during the hiatus.
“One of the best feelings I’ve had thus far was at our read through this year. Finally being together again, hearing everyone’s voices, laughing and crying as we read was such a unique experience and I’ll cherish it forever,” said LaBozzetta.
The dedication to the material, its message, and each other are highlights of the process, according to Bing, who played the role of M’Lynn in Theatre Three’s production in the 1990s. “We have a strong connection onstage as well as offstage. I love the whole group, which makes it easy to connect,” she said.
For LaBozzetta, after the interrupted pre-production process, opening the show is a relief. “I am most looking forward to finally having an audience! We’ve been having so much fun in rehearsals and I just cannot wait to share what we’ve created.”
Theatre Three, 412 Main Street, Port Jefferson presents Steel Magnolias from April 7 to May 9. Tickets are $35 adults, $28 seniors and students, $20 for children ages 5 and up. For more information, call 631-928-9100 or visit www.theatrethree.com.
Artist Keith Lewis in his studio. Photo from Reboli Center
During the month of April, the Reboli Center for Art and History in Stony Brook will showcase the art of jeweler Keith Lewis.
Lewis was not like your average six year old. At that age, he began collecting corn silk from the family garden and bits of broken glass. He imagined them to be like gold and diamonds. Growing up in Europe and Asia, he continued to be enthralled by jewelry, so much so that at 12 years old, he learned to cut gems in South Korea at a lapidary shop and to cast and construct jewelry shortly afterwards.
Heart Earrings by Keith Lewis
Lewis studied art at several universities and graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts in Goldsmithing from SUNY New Paltz in New York. Shortly after graduation, he participated in his first craft show and hasn’t stopped. In fact, Lewis has had the opportunity to show his work in nearly every major craft exhibition in the United States. His Mica Pod earrings were chosen to be the logo for the 2010 Smithsonian Craft2Wear exhibition.
According to Lewis, his process for creating jewelry entails incorporating, “the materials, textures and surprises found in nature. I am currently using amber Mica which I layer with 23K gold-leaf, carving volcanic stone and Anthracite, which I inset with natural pearls and precious stones.
Recycled earrings by Keith Lewis
“In addition,I create my copper finishes using a Japanese technique called Hiirodo where I heat the finished copper shape until brightly glowing, then plunge it into boiling water to achieve a plum red appearance. In what I call the ‘Raku’ version of this patina, variations in the surface coloration are created by pressing the white-hot copper onto wood, causing flames and smoke which change what would have been an even, plum red finish into more organic tan and dark brown colors. The diverse materials I work with require a combination of goldsmithing techniques to turn them into a piece of finished jewelry.”
“At the Reboli Center, we not only admire Keith’s beautiful designs and unique materials, but also that for more than 20 years he has been donating a portion of the sales for his ‘heart’ earrings to the Family of Woodstock. This organization provides shelter and services for victims of domestic violence. At shows, buyers of ‘heart’ earrings are given a SASE to send the full cost of the earrings directly to the shelter. He truly is a gem,” said Lois Reboli, founder and president of The Reboli Center.
The Reboli Center is located at 64 Main Street in Stony Brook. Operating hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.Admission is free, and for more information, call 631-751-7707.
Amy Hirsch, founder and owner of Precision Pilates and Wellness, LLC, a boutique Pilates Studio, invites the community to celebrate the grand opening of their new location at 110 Lake Avenue South, Suite #45, Nesconset on April 9 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The newly renovated Precision Pilates and Wellness is located in the Lake Industrial Park at 110 Lake Ave South, Suite #45, Nesconset.
The studio will be offering tours, unveiling new equipment and fitness amenities. Attendees will enjoy refreshments and nibbles, along with raffles, giveaways, and sale of up to 20% off fitness wear and more. Special discounts on intro packages and individual Pilates sessions will also be offered at the event.
“We are thrilled to introduce and share our new state of the art Pilates Health and Wellness Facility,” said Hirsch.
“For the past 9 years, we have truly enjoyed helping our clients energize their lives and improve their overall health and wellness, strength, posture, and flexibility by offering affordable, personalized Classical Pilates instruction. Now with our expansion and the opening of Precision Pilates, we are excited to offer many mor class options, beyond Reformer Pilates, including Tower, Equipment, Mat and Privates based on the original work of Joseph Pilates.”
The event is FREE to the public and all ages and fitness levels are welcome. Attendees are encouraged to wear fitness attire and be ready to try out the new space. RSVP via email at [email protected] or visit https://smithtownpilates.com/open-house/ to schedule a tour. For more information, class schedules, or to reserve classes online visit www.SmithtownPilates.com.
Children ages 3 to 5 can sign up for a six-week gardening class at the Holtsville Ecology Site starting next week.
Programs
Fairy Garden Workshop
Benner’s Farm, 56 Gnarled Hollow Road, East Setauket will present a Fairy Garden Workshop for children ages 4 to 10 on April 9 from 10 a.m. to noon and again from 12:45 to 2:45 p.m. Take a tour around the farm to find all the natural materials to build your very own fairy garden. Come find some plants, flowers, dirt, stones, moss, fairies, gnomes and more! $40 per child. Advance registration is required by calling 689-8172.
Pancakes with the Easter Bunny
The Mount Sinai Fire Department, 746 Mount Sinai Coram Rd, Mount Sinai invites the community to a Pancake Breakfast with the Easter Bunny on April 10 from 8 a.m. to noon. Don’t forget to bring your camera for pictures with the Easter Bunny! Admission at the door is $10 adults, $8 seniors, $5 children, under age 4 free. For more information, call 473-2418.
Pee Wee Gardening
The Holtsville Ecology Site & Animal Preserve, Buckley Road, Holtsville offers Spring Pee Wee Gardening Classes for ages 3 to 5 years. Children will learn about the environment, animals and plants through crafts and stories. Classes are Tuesdays on April 12, 26, May 3, 10, 17 and 24 from 10 to 11 a.m. or Wednesdays on April 13, 27, May 4, 11, 18 and 25 from 1 to 2 p.m. Fee is $50 per child. Call 451-5330 to register.
Theater
‘Madagascar’
The John W. Engeman Theater, 250 Main St., Northport presents Dreamworks’ Madagascar: A Musical Adventure from April 2 to May 8. Join Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the hip hip Hippo and, of course, those hilarious, plotting penguins as they escape from their home in New York’s Central Park Zoo and find themselves on an unexpected journey to the madcap world of King Julien’s Madagascar. Filled with outlandish characters, adventure galore and an upbeat score, Madagascar will leave audiences with no choice but to “Move It, Move It!” All seats are $20. To order, call 261-2900 or visit www.engemantheater.com.
Disney’s ‘High School Musical Jr.’
We’re all in this together! Disney Channel’s smash hit musical comes to life at the Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. Main St., Smithtown in Disney’s High School Musical Jr. from April 15 to May 15. Troy, Gabriella and the students of East High must deal with issues of love, friends and family while balancing their classes and extra curricular activities. The show’s infectious, danceable songs will have you dancing in your seats! All seats are $25. To order, call 724-3700 or visit www.smithtownpac.org.
‘The Adventures of Peter Rabbit’
The Adventures of Peter Rabbit hops over toTheatre Three, 412 Main St., Port Jefferson from April 16 to May 7 (sensory sensitive performance on April 24). Peter, Flopsy, Mopsy, Cotton-Tail, Benjamin Bunny, the McGregors and all their friends come to life in this delightful musical adaption suggested by the characters created by Beatrix Potter. Fun for the entire family and a Theatre Three tradition for spring break! $10 per person. To order, call 928-9100 or visit www.theatrethree.com.
Royal Princess Party
Come one, come all to a Royal Princess Party at the Smithtown Center for the Performing Arts, 2 E. Main St., Smithtown from April 18 to 22 at 11 a.m. Everyone’s favorite princesses return to the Royal Kingdom of Smithtown to get together and celebrate their stories. Join Royal Historians as they guide you through meeting each of the princesses, teaching the morals behind each of their stories and singing along to their favorite songs in this immersive play. Princesses, princes, and royal families of all ages are welcome to attend but must be with an adult at all times. The special surprises and magical touches make this show a royal treat! All seats are $16. To order, call 724-3700 or visit www.smithtownpac.org.