How do you feel? Molecules that sense touch and other pressures

The inner workings of the brain have eluded neuroscientists for ages—including how we perceive sensations such as touch, pain, sound and even blood flow. In this free in-person Front Row lecture, Scripps Research professor and Nobel laureate Ardem Patapoutian discussed the molecular sensors that enable the mind to interpret different physical and chemical stimuli. These discoveries—which Patapoutian was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for—are helping answer long-standing questions in neuroscience, such as how cells communicate with each other, how we sense our body in time and space, how these sensors impact different diseases and more.