Brain plasticity -- the ability to change in response to environmental and genetic influences -- leads to the remarkable feats of learning and memory. This plasticity also holds hope for treating and curing neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Lou Gehrig's diseases. Ira Black, president of the Society for Neuroscience, will discuss cutting-edge work in this field at 4:10 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29, at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience. His seminar commemorates the opening of the center, directed by Michael Gazzaniga, a pioneer in the study of cognitive functioning in split-brain patients, and the opening of the School of Medicine Neurosciences Building. The center's open house begins at 2 p.m., with brief talks and laboratory tours of four of the center's leading research programs involving behavior, vision and attention.