First Fridays - March 5, 2010 | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
Once a month, the Museum stays open late, and the adults come out to play.
First Fridays January 2010 Gallery
Spiders was the theme for this month. Take a look at some of our favorites of the tour, art, music, discussion, and crowds.
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Pedro's Picks for February 2009
Pedro, our USC Work-Study student, has selected some of his favorite pictures from the February 2009 First Friday event. We call them Pedro's Picks. Take a look! The new season is starting soon.
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Friday, March 5, 2010
Tour and Discussion (5:30 pm - 7:30 pm)
Tour (5:30 pm): Flies: They're Everything You Think They're Not with Dr. Brian Brown, Curator of Entomology
Discussion (6:00 pm and 7:00 pm): Emotion Circuits in Model Organisms, or Do Flies Have Feelings? with Dr. David J. Anderson
David Anderson is using molecular genetic techniques to map and probe neural circuits that underlie innate behaviors in both mice and fruit flies. These behavioral responses, and associated internal states (such as arousal), form the evolutionary underpinnings of emotional behavior in higher organisms.
In recent years, he has turned his attention to deciphering the neural circuits that underlie fear, anxiety, pain, and other instinctive behaviors. Disruptions in neural circuits are known to underlie psychiatric disorders like anxiety and depression. As he puts it, "Elucidating these neural circuits is an important first step to understanding how genes, drugs, and experience act on and modify these circuits, in both normal behavior and in disorders such as anxiety and depression. Our hope is that this work will eventually improve the diagnosis of these conditions and lead to new, improved treatments."
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Hear all of the First Fridays discussions on 
Performances (8:30 pm - 10:30 pm)
In the diorama hall is Deer Tick and Everest
Labeled as one of Rolling Stone's Top 5 Bands from SXSW in 2009, Deer Tick, will be kicking off their US tour this month at First Fridays. Don't miss their country-rock must-see show. Los Angeles based Everest, who have opened for the likes of Neil Young and Wilco, have been hailed as the new face of American rock-and-roll.
DJs (5:30 pm - 10:30 pm)
Resident DJ, Them Jeans (a.k.a. Jason Stewart) and headliner, DJ Shortee
Hailed as #1 female scratch DJ in the world and a pioneer of the turntablist movement, Shortee crosses genres spinning an eclectic mix from hip hop to electro to drum and bass.
With musical tastes spanning from hardcore punk to dancefloor-friendly hip-hop, post-rock to ambient electronic, Them Jeans never fails to deliver a set with the perfect mood for the gathering.
Tour (5:30 pm): Flies: They're Everything You Think They're Not with Dr. Brian Brown, Curator of Entomology
Discussion (6:00 pm and 7:00 pm): Emotion Circuits in Model Organisms, or Do Flies Have Feelings? with Dr. David J. Anderson
David Anderson is using molecular genetic techniques to map and probe neural circuits that underlie innate behaviors in both mice and fruit flies. These behavioral responses, and associated internal states (such as arousal), form the evolutionary underpinnings of emotional behavior in higher organisms.
In recent years, he has turned his attention to deciphering the neural circuits that underlie fear, anxiety, pain, and other instinctive behaviors. Disruptions in neural circuits are known to underlie psychiatric disorders like anxiety and depression. As he puts it, "Elucidating these neural circuits is an important first step to understanding how genes, drugs, and experience act on and modify these circuits, in both normal behavior and in disorders such as anxiety and depression. Our hope is that this work will eventually improve the diagnosis of these conditions and lead to new, improved treatments."
[In the diorama hall is Deer Tick and Everest
Labeled as one of Rolling Stone's Top 5 Bands from SXSW in 2009, Deer Tick, will be kicking off their US tour this month at First Fridays. Don't miss their country-rock must-see show. Los Angeles based Everest, who have opened for the likes of Neil Young and Wilco, have been hailed as the new face of American rock-and-roll.
Resident DJ, Them Jeans (a.k.a. Jason Stewart) and headliner, DJ Shortee
Hailed as #1 female scratch DJ in the world and a pioneer of the turntablist movement, Shortee crosses genres spinning an eclectic mix from hip hop to electro to drum and bass.
With musical tastes spanning from hardcore punk to dancefloor-friendly hip-hop, post-rock to ambient electronic, Them Jeans never fails to deliver a set with the perfect mood for the gathering.