Discovering Curiosity: Brain Puzzles with UC Davis Center for Neuroscience Director Kimberley McAllister
Puzzles always fascinated UC Davis Center for Neuroscience Director Kimberley McAllister. They’re initially what attracted her to science.
Raised in rural northern Virginia, McAllister enjoyed exploring the woods with her sister and dogs. She developed an avid interest in botany and ornithology, intrigued by the complexities of the natural world. She wanted to figure out answers to nature’s mysteries. Eventually, McAllister’s ambition drew her to one of the most complex puzzles in the universe: the human brain.
“Why are we able to do the amazing things that we can as humans when we start out as just a couple of cells?” said McAllister, who holds appointments in the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior and the UC Davis School of Medicine. “How does our brain change so much during development to become such a complex, beautiful structure in adulthood?”