by dr. Valentina Baro, MD, Department of Neuroscience, Padova

When: April 14th, 2022 – 3:00 pm

Where: in-person seminar, Sala Seminari, VIMM. Recording available on Mediaspace

Abstract: The clinical assessment of brain pathologies has been increasingly dependent on advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques in order to infer lesion pathophysiological characteristics, such as hemodynamics, metabolism, and microstructure. Advanced techniques in computed tomography, MRI and positron-emission tomography have further improved the visualisation and localisation of brain pathologies especially in neuro-oncology, providing target definition for various therapeutic modalities. Additional refinements of newer imaging methods, such as MR Spectroscopy, functional MRI, diffusion MRI and diffusion tensor imaging, have allowed a more detailed and accurate definition of tumour features and the relation with eloquent brain tissue. Nonetheless, these imaging methods have acquired a pivotal role in presurgical planning for brain surgery.

When: Apr 7th, 2022 – starting at 10:00 am

Where: Sala dei Giganti, Palazzo Liviano, Padova

Abstract: “Le stagioni del cervello” è il tema dell’edizione 2022 della Settimana mondiale del cervello: conoscere come funzione il cervello nelle varie fasi della vita, come proteggerlo fin dalla giovane età e come mantenerlo attivo nell’invecchiamento è una priorità di benessere e salute pubblica.

A Padova il 7 aprile presso la Sala dei Giganti si tiene una giornata dedicata a questi obiettivi: in mattinata viene dedicata attenzione alle fasi evolutive del cervello con interventi educativi sui tics e il loro stigma, sull’impatto della musica nell’allenamento del cervello; a seguire, un momento musicale con studenti, studentesse e docenti. Il pomeriggio è dedicato agli stimoli per mantenere il cervello attivo e sano il più a lungo possibile. Si tratta il tema dell’esercizio fisico, del benessere psicologico e dell’attivazione cognitiva con stimoli e proposte pratiche.

Coordinata dalla European Dana Alliance for the Brain in Europa e dalla Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives negli Stati Uniti, la Settimana del Cervello è il frutto di un enorme coordinamento internazionale cui partecipano le società neuroscientifiche di tutto il mondo e a cui la Società Italiana di Neurologia e la Clinica Neurologica di Padova aderisce da anni.

L ‘evento, gratuito ed aperto a tutti, si svolge esclusivamente in presenza presso l’Aula dei Giganti, Palazzo Liviano.

Link alla notizia su “ilbo live”

When: April 5th, 2022 – 6:30 pm

Where:

• In presence, Museo “Giovanni Poleni”.
  • Mandatory booking here: https://indico.dfa.unipd.it/event/428/
  • Green Pass required for all attendees
• Live on YouTube: https://unipd.link/AulaRostagniUniPadovaDFA

Abstract: ….da dove vengono i pensieri, le emozioni, e come prendiamo le decisioni che nel piccolo e nel grande determinano la nostra vita? Che cosa sono il senso morale e l’etica? Dove finisce la biologia e dove inizia la cultura?

Per quasi venti secoli i filosofi e gli scienziati localizzarono nel cuore la sede delle attività mentali superiori, ed è solo dalla metà del 1600 che il cervello è considerato il centro delle facoltà intellettive. Grazie allo sviluppo di nuove tecnologie negli ultimi 50 anni vi è stata un esplosione di conoscenze sull’organizzazione cerebrale che da un lato ci hanno fatto comprendere come il cervello umano non sia speciale, ma che la sua complessità non è altro che il prodotto di un evoluzione di meccanismi più semplici che sono presenti in tutte le specie dal nematode all’elefante. Dall’altro stanno emergendo risultati che indicano che alcune delle funzioni cosiddette umane non sono altro che il riciclo di meccanismi neuronali per funzioni sensori-motorie più semplici. Questo permette una nuova chiave interpretativa a fenomeni sociali che sono al momento principalmente oggetto di letture sociologiche, educative, o culturali, ad esempio il razzismo o la tossicodipendenza. Anche se la traduzione dal biologico al sociale è delicata e può essere banalizzata, non vi è dubbio che quello che è fuori di noi, cioè la società e la cultura non sono altro che il prodotto dei nostri cervelli e che molte risposte a problemi della società si potrebbero trovare nell’organizzazione e nella funzione delle reti neuronali.

by dr. Marco Mainardi, Istituto di Neuroscienze, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Pisa

When: March 24th, 2022 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting. Recording available on Mediaspace

Abstract: Plasticity of synaptic connections adjusts the signal flow across neural circuits to
support the acquisition and storage of information. Dendritic spines host most excitatory
synapses in the brain and incessantly remodel to meet the computational demands for
acquisition or recall of new episodic memories, or goal-oriented behavioral schemes.

Despite the obvious physiological importance of synaptic plasticity and its implications in
pathological contexts, appropriate tools for the specific analysis of potentiated synapses
are scarce. To fulfill this gap, Dr Mainardi has contributed to the creation of genetically
encoded tools allowing the expression of virtually every protein of interest specifically at
potentiated dendritic spines. This system has been applied to express (i) fluorescent
reporters and obtain maps of the distribution of potentiated dendritic spines along the
dendritic tree of hippocampal neurons or (ii) a FLAG-tagged version of the PSD-95
postsynaptic hub protein and isolate its potentiation-specific interactome. These data
provide a first cartography and molecular fingerprinting of synaptic potentiation triggered
by a specific learning task, in addition to paving the way for further studies in models of
neurological diseases characterized by impaired learning and memory.

When: March 17th, 2022 – 3:00 pm

Where: Sala Seminari at VIMM, Via Orus 2b, Padova, Zoom meeting (Recording available on Mediaspace)

Abstract: Robotic devices have seen an increasing uptake in neurorehabilitation, due to the higher intensity and larger therapeutic exercise doses they can provide. More recently, robots have also entered the market as assistive wearable devices – i.e. to enhance or integrate human body performance.

However, the human and the robot are usually considered as two separate entities interacting via a fixed and immutable interface and the robot is seen as a mere actuator of pre-designed motions.

For the effective exploitation of wearable robots as assistive and rehabilitative tools, we need to overcome these limitations aiming towards a synergistic integration of humans and robots. Advanced interfaces based on neuromuscular data and sophisticated mechanical structures are yet insufficient. We need to move in the direction of a reliable and continuous interaction, based on detailed knowledge of the neuromuscular responses to robotic training and the development of approaches in which two intelligent agents (i.e. the human and the robot) cooperate to achieve a common goal. Therefore, our Neuroscience and Robotics research groups at the University of Padova are collaborating on this challenging topic. We will first focus on the concepts supporting the use of robots in neurorehabilitation and healthy ageing, moving then to present novel Artificial Intelligence techniques to develop shared-intelligence architectures for wearable robots interfaced via the electroencephalographic (EEG) and electromyographic (EMG) signals.

When: March 10th, 2022 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting. Recording available on Mediaspace

Abstract: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a widely adopted non-invasive brain stimulation technique for the modulation of brain excitability. The direct neuromodulatory effects of tDCS beneath the electrode is considered to extend to nearby as well as distant brain areas, mainly depending on the activation state of the brain before and during stimulation. This is evident in physiological circumstances (e.g. during physical activity) but it is even more marked in pathological conditions (i.e. stroke).

My recent activity focuses on the study of tDCS aftereffects on direct and indirect modulation in the primary motor cortical area in mice while performing a motor task. We observed that unilateral stimulation is able to influence neural activity and plasticity in the contralateral hemisphere if applied during a simple motor task that activates motor areas bilaterally. This results could be of great relevance for the use of such technique in the chronic phase after brain ischemia. Moreover, in the photothrombotic mouse model of ischemia, the application of cathodal tDCS few hours after the stroke onset was observed to improve functional recovery and act on non-neural cells, by modulating microglia morphology.

When: March 3rd, 2022 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting. Recording available on Mediaspace

Abstract: A major goal of applied neuroscience is to understand how to achieve controlled perturbations of brain activity through stimulation or brain-computer interfaces with the aim of investigating brain mechanisms or restoring normal activity patterns in subjects affected by neuropathologies.

In recent years, several authors have proposed to frame this problem within control theory, a well established engineering paradigm to control dynamical systems. In this framework, a model of the autonomous (uncontrolled) dynamics of the system is used to precisely devise external interventions that, in combination with the autonomous dynamics, will steer the system towards desired targets. Three main obstacles, however, hinder the applicability of control theory to the brain: (1) a limited ability to measure or reconstruct intrinsic dynamics (2) a difficulty in realizing targeted perturbations (3) the complexity (high dimensionality) of the system. In this seminar, we shall illustrate these problems, focusing on our recent theoretical investigations of brain controllability in humans, where intrinsic brain dynamics can be characterized through neuroimaging (fMRI). We shall argue that achieving precise control of whole-brain activity by a naive application of standard control theory is currently unfeasible. Finally, we shall briefly discuss possible alternatives to realize controlled manipulations of global brain activity.

When: Feb 17th, 2022 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting. Recording available on Mediaspace

Abstract: Gaze direction results from the orientation of eyes in the head and the orientation and position of the head in space. Consequently, gaze direction controls the retinal image.

Eye movements can be substantially subdivided in two classes. Eye movements which stabilize gaze when animals move their body and head (or only the head) with respect to the surrounding environment. The goal of this response is to stabilize the image on the retina despite the head movement (substantially they prevent retinal slip). Stabilization mechanisms have evolved to solve this problem. They maintain visual acuity during self-motion by stabilizing the retinal image of the world with rotations of the eyes that exactly compensate for head and body movements. The neural mechanisms for gaze stabilization are highly conserved across vertebrates and invertebrates, reflecting the widespread need to stabilize visual inputs despite other sensory and motor differences between species.

The second class of eye movements are eye movements which redirect gaze. The goal of this response is to allow animals to inspect the visual field with the aim to actively select objects or features of particular interest. These last processes require cognitive mechanisms based on perception and selective attention, and on motor control based on both predictive and feedback mechanisms. An interesting point in this class of eye movements is the fact that gaze redirection at least theoretically implies to focus a limited part of the visual field on a region of the retina with a higher spatial resolution. Hence it was supposed that these mechanisms were only present in animals with a fovea. Today, on the contrary, these mechanisms were also found in animals in which a truly fovea was not present, opening interesting questions about the cognitive mechanisms regulating gaze redirection as well as the presence of high spatial resolution regions in the retina of afoveate animals.

When: February 3rd, 2022 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting

Abstract: Despite their general immaturity, human infants have sophisticated auditory and speech perception skills. This talk will present EEG and NIRS studies with newborns and older infants investigating the neural mechanisms underlying these abilities. The studies investigate how embedded neural oscillations, hypothesized to be crucial for speech processing in adults, emerge during early human development.

The talk will discuss the implications of these findings for language development.

Short bio: Judit Gervain is a Full Professor at the Department of Developmental and Social Psychology. She is trained as a theoretical linguistic, obtained a PhD in 2002 in Cognitive Neuroscience under the mentorship of Jacques Mehler from SISSA, Trieste, Italy. She then worked as a post doctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. In 2009, she took up a researcher position at the CNRS, in Paris, France, from which she moved to the University of Padua in 2020.

Her research focuses early speech perception and language acquisition in typically developing monolingual, bilingual infants as well as in infants with hearing difficulties. She uses behavioral as well as brain imaging techniques to explore the perceptual, linguistic and cognitive development of these infants and their underlying neural correlates. She has done pioneering work in newborn speech perception using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), revealing the impact of prenatal experience on early perceptual abilities, and has been one of the first to document the beginnings of the acquisition of grammar in newborns and preverbal infants.

Her work has been published in leading journals, such as Science Advances, Nature Communications, PNAS and Current Biology. She is an associate editor at Developmental Science and Neurophotonics, and a member of the Governing Board of the Society for Near-Infrared Spectroscopy.

Webinar: Università di Padova, Ulster University, Harvard Medical School, University college Dublin

When: Dec 2nd, 2021 – 3:00 pm CET (9:00 am ET)

Where: Zoom Meeting (please enroll to receive the link)

Abstract: Rehabilitative and assistive robots are a rapidly emerging field. However, their efficacy is still hampered by the lack of adaptive interaction with the end user, disregarding ongoing changes in brain and muscle reactivity.

The collaborative, international research projects SOFTAct and PRO-GAIT are setting the foundation to revolutionize wearable robots: artificial intelligence techniques will provide the framework to use cerebro-muscular biosignals to control robots. This will allow wearable robots to become a natural extension of the human body in the near future.

When: June 17th, 2021 – 5:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting

Abstract: The core idea in this talk is that brain-wide, ongoing activity is essential for brain function and behavior. This activity accounts for 20% of the energy consumption of an adult human even though the brain contributes only 2% to the weight of the body. Brain activity associated with task performance is associated with surprisingly small regional changes in brain energy consumption. These changes are so small that they have no effect on the overall brain energy consumption. The emerging challenge for neuroscience is to understand the contribution this very high-energy consumption makes to brain function. What has been revealed over the past several decades as imaging of not only humans but also other mammals as well as flies and worms is a remarkable brain-wide, functional organization within this ongoing activity.

The objective of the talk is to provide an overview of this rapidly expanding body of work emerging from laboratories worldwide.

Short bio: Marcus E. Raichle, a neurologist, is the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor in Medicine with joint appointments in Radiology, Neurology, Neurobiology, Psychology and Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, USA. His research over the past 51years (first scientific paper published 1970) has focused on the relationship of brain circulation and metabolism to brain function. He was the member of the team that introduced the first tomographic images of brain blood flow and oxygen consumption with PET. Noteworthy accomplishments during this time have been the discovery of the relative independence of blood flow and oxygen consumption during spontaneous and evoked changes in brain activity which provided the physiological basis of fMRI; the discovery of a default mode of brain function (i.e., organized intrinsic activity) and its signature system, the brain’s default mode network; and that aerobic glycolysis contributes to ongoing brain function independent of oxidative phosphorylation. Current research focuses on the metabolic and neurophysiological organizing principles of the human brain’s intrinsic activity in health and disease. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, US National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

When: Apr 29th, 2021 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting

Abstract: Through the combination of in vivo optical imaging and chronic expression of genetically encoded calcium indicators it is now feasible to directly ‘watch’ brain activity patterns related to specific behaviors. I will introduce wide-field calcium imaging and multi-fiber photometry as two complementary methods that enable measurements across mouse neocortex and in large sets of subcortical regions, respectively. Specific patterns of brain-wide signal flow that occur in mice performing whisker-based or auditory sensory discrimination tasks will be discussed, highlighting salient patterns related to short-term memory. In addition, taking advantage of chronic measurements over weeks, I will present salient changes in brain dynamics that relate to task learning.

Short bio: Fritjof Helmchen received his Diploma in Physics from the University of Heidelberg. He completed his PhD thesis in Neuroscience at the May-Planck-Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg and received his doctorate from the University of Göttingen in 1996. As a postdoc, Dr. Helmchen worked at the Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, NJ, where he pioneered in vivo applications of two-photon microscopy. He then returned to the Max-Planck-Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg, heading a junior research group from 2000-2005. In 2005 Dr. Helmchen was appointed Professor of Neurophysiology and Co-Director at the Brain Research Institute of the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Dr. Helmchen’s research is centered on the further development and application of imaging techniques for the study of neural network dynamics and neural computations as the basis of animal perception and behaviour.

When: Mar 19th, 2021 – 6:00 pm

Where: Zoom Meeting and live on Facebook

Abstract: La “Brain awareness week” è una ricorrenza annuale dedicata a sollecitare la pubblica consapevolezza nei confronti della ricerca sul cervello. All’iniziativa, coordinata dalla Dana Foundation, partecipano società neuroscientifiche, università, istituti ed enti di ricerca di tutto il mondo.

L’Università di Padova in occasione della Brain Awareness Week, la settimana internazionale di divulgazione delle neuroscienze, propone una serie di incontri online: gli interventi sono tenuti da giovani ricercatori e ricercatrici dell’Università di Padova, appartenenti a diversi dipartimenti e accomunati dallo studio del cervello. I relatori accompagnano dunque nell’affascinante mondo dei neuroni, nelle loro interazioni sino ai processi cognitivi alla base del nostro pensiero.

Link alla notizia su “ilbo live”

When: Mar 18th, 2021 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting

Abstract: In the last 30 years blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) fMRI has taught us a great detail about human brain organisation. However, it only tells us where brain activity is changing without telling us by how much or what the baseline level of activity is. We and others are working on fMRI methods to map the absolute rate of cerebral metabolic oxygen consumption as a marker of the physiological state of brain tissue in health and disease. Development of these methods has resulted in a toolkit for assessing oxygen consumption and cerebrovascular function (including vascular reactivity and arterial compliance) that is yielding interesting results in our pilot clinical studies in epilepsy and multiple sclerosis and in the study of the healthy brain. These approaches have the potential to take fMRI to a new level of quantification of brain function required for experimental medicine and future clinical application.

Short bio: Richard is a physicist who has always worked at the interface of physics and physiology. He specialised in cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging for his PhD at Cambridge University. In 2000 he changed from imaging the heart to the brain with a move to Oxford University as a post-doctoral research fellow, (Wellcome and MRC research fellowships). From 2006 he developed his research group at Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre with a focus on understanding drug effects on human brain function and looking for ways to quantify brain function using functional MRI approaches, based on sensitivity to blood oxygenation in the human brain. This has led recently to a new magnetic resonance imaging toolkit with the possibility to interrogate, in detail, the function of brain blood vessels and to measure the amount of oxygen fuel that the human brain is using in health and disease. At the end of 2019 he moved to ITAB (Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies) and the Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences at the University of Chieti-Pescara in Italy, as full professor of applied physics (Professore Ordinario – chiamata diretta).

When: Mar 5th, 2021 – 9:00 am

Where: Zoom meeting (will be published on Mar 5th). Also live on the Accademia’s channel

Abstract: L’Intelligenza Artificiale è una delle tecnologie che sta trasformando la nostra società e molti aspetti della nostra vita quotidiana. Ha già prodotto molti effetti benefici e può essere sorgente di considerevole prosperità economica. Tuttavia, pone problemi riguardanti, in varia misura, l’occupazione, la riservatezza dei dati, la “privacy”, la violazione di valori etici e la fiducia nei risultati. Problematiche simili, con riferimento a problemi occupazionali, di sicurezza e di possibile violazione di valori etici, si pongono anche per quanto riguarda le trasformazioni che avvengono nella società a seguito dello sviluppo, intimamente connesso a quello dell’AI, dei metodi della robotica e dell’automazione della produzione industriale.

In programma l’intervento del prof. Corbetta dal titolo “Il ruolo dell’attività spontanea nell’ architettura funzionale del cervello e nella cognizione”.

Link alla notizia nel sito dell’Accademia.

When: March 2nd, 2021 – 5:30 pm

Where: Zoom meeting

PLEASE NOTE. Mandatory enrollment:

To attend the seminar and get the ECM credits you must:

• enroll by sending an email to cl.neurologica@aopd.veneto.it
• have your webcam turned on throughout the whole meeting

Short bio: Professore di parassitologia molecolare all’Imperial College dal 2000, Andrea Crisanti è attualmente Direttore del Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e del Servizio di Microbiologia e Virologia, Azienda Ospedale – Università Padova.

Dopo la laurea in Medicina all’Università di Roma La Sapienza e un dottorato presso l’Istituto di Immunologia di Basilea, Andrea Crisanti ha aperto la strada alla biologia molecolare del vettore della malaria umana Anopheles gambiae contribuendo alla conoscenza genetica e molecolare del parassita della malaria e del suo vettore. Ha ricevuto numerosi riconoscimenti e finanziamenti nazionali e internazionali tra cui Wellcome Trust, BBSRC, la Commissione Europea e NIH.

Autore di numerose pubblicazioni scientifiche di rilievo (oltre 10,000 citazioni, H index 57).

Recentemente parte di una task force scientifica per la gestione dell’emergenza Covid-19 in Veneto.

When: Feb 18th, 2021 – 4:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting. Recording available on Mediaspace

Abstract: Mediation analysis is an important tool in the behavioral sciences for investigating the role of intermediate variables that lie in the path between a randomized treatment/exposure and an outcome variable. The influence of the intermediate variable on the outcome is often explored using structural equation models (SEMs), with model coefficients interpreted as possible effects. While there has been significant research on the topic in recent years, little work has been done on mediation analysis when the intermediate variable (mediator) is a high-dimensional vector. In this work we introduce a novel method for mediation analysis in this setting called the principal directions of mediation (PDMs). We demonstrate the method using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of thermal pain where we are interested in determining which brain locations mediate the relationship between the application of a thermal stimulus and self-reported pain.

Short bio: Martin Lindquist is a Professor of Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on mathematical and statistical problems relating to functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Dr. Lindquist is actively involved in developing new analysis methods to enhance our ability to understand brain function using human neuroimaging. He has published over 70 articles, and serves on the editorial boards of several scientific journals both in statistics and neuroimaging. He is a fellow of the American Statistical Association.

In 2018 he was awarded the the Organization for Human Brain Mapping’s ‘Education in Neuroimaging Award’ for teaching statistical issues to the neuroimaging community and the development of online classes that have taught fMRI methods to more than 80,000 students world-wide.

When: Jan 28th, 2021 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting. Recording available on Mediaspace

Abstract: It is said that complexity lies between order and disorder. In physiology, complexity issues are being considered with increased emphasis. Of crucial importance in the medical setting, pathological activity has been associated with low variability/complexity. In the case of the nervous system, it is well known that excessive synchronization is connected with pathologies such as epilepsy and Parkinson disease. However, brain rhythms and neural synchronization are also crucial for perception and cognition, so it is clear that either too much or not enough synchronization can lead to dysfunctional brain states.

Short bio: After receiving an undergraduate degree in biochemistry, Olaf Sporns earned a PhD in Neuroscience at Rockefeller University and conducted postdoctoral work at The Neurosciences Institute in New York and San Diego. Currently he is the Robert H. Shaffer Chair, a Distinguished Professor, and a Provost Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University in Bloomington. Sporns holds adjunct appointments in the School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, and in the School of Medicine. His main research area is theoretical and computational neuroscience, with a focus on complex brain networks. In addition to over 250 peer-reviewed publications he has written two books, “Networks of the Brain” and “Discovering the Human Connectome”. He is the Founding Editor of “Network Neuroscience”, a journal published by MIT Press. Sporns received a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship in 2011, and the Patrick Suppes Prize in Psychology/Neuroscience, awarded by the American Philosophical Society, in 2017. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Society of Experimental Psychologists and of the Society of Experimental Psychologists.

Brainhack Global “in Padova” 2020

Title: Brainhack Diversity. Inter-individual variability in cognitive and clinical neuroscience: signal or noise?

When: December 14th to 16th, 2020
Where: the internet, wherever it lies

Organizers: Patrizia Bisiacchi, Giorgia Cona, Davide Poggiali, Antonino Vallesi.

 Brainhack events bring together brain enthusiasts from a variety of backgrounds to build relationships, learn from one another, and collaborate on projects related to the neurosciences [1].
Participants can bring their own dataset, propose a project, and recruit a team of collaborators on site. Access to open online databases of MRI images will be also available during the three days, for new creative ideas to be tested.
This workshop integrates all levels of expertise and is also an opportunity to learn methods, develop skills, and collaborate with other participants in an international and multidisciplinary environment.

Registration

Registration is free but mandatory.
All the links for participating the venue will be given privately via mail to the registered participants only.

Limited seats available, so don’t hesitate to register! The current maximum number of participants is 90.

Edit: Registrations are now closed!

You can email us at brainhackpd<at>gmail<dot>com for any information, or to propose a project for a working group.

Streaming channel for the whole common portions (talks and group reports)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6HD3i5FGZLmvWySwHhfQgQ

Confirmed speakers

(by speaker’s surname)

• Maurizio Corbetta
• Stephanie Forkel
• Emma Karoune
• Daniel Margulies
• Emiliano Santarnecchi
• Cristina Scarpazza
• Michel Thiebaut de Schotten
• Sebastian Urchs

Proposed working groups

(by proponent’s surname)

Propose your own!

• Mohammad Hadi Aarabi, Benedetta Mariani, Andrea Buccellato and Valentina Meregalli:  Association of Microstructural white matter and personality traits based on Human connectome project dataset
• Patrick Friedrich: Phenotypes in brain anatomy: Asymmetries of the motor cortex 
• Umberto Granziol: Human connectome project dataset analysis
• Marco Marino: Heart-brain interactions: does cardiac activity affect large-scale brain networks?
• Arianna Menardi: Interindividual difference analysis: are graph properties enough to explain behavior?
• Lorenzo Pini, The association between interindividual variability in atrophy and connectivity in Alzheimer’s disease
• Cristina Scarpazza Enrico Toffalini and Massimo Grassi: PRICANS: Preferred Reporting Items for Cognitive and NeuroPsychological Studies.
• Nicolò Trevisan: Brain morphometry in chess players: what do you need to be a grandmaster?

Schedule (draft)

Timetable is in CET (UTC+1)

Day 1: Monday, December 14, 2020

• 10:00-10:30 Introduction to brainhack
• 10:30-11:30 Ignite talks
  • Daniel Margulies Exploring cortical gradients across individuals 
  • Emma Karoune Reproducibility and collaborative working.
• 11:30-12:30 Project pitches
• 12:30-13:30 Lunch break
• 13:30-16:00 Team organization & open hacking
• 16:00-17:00 Ignite talks:
  • Cristina Scarpazza Psychopathology or normal variant in neuroanatomy? The interpretation of neuroimaging findings at the level of the single individual. Proposed guidelines.
  • Stephanie Forkel, variability maps in human and monkeys and its relationship to evolution.

Day 2: Tuesday, December 15, 2020

• 10:00-10:30 Quick Project report: need for help? 
• 10:30-12:30 Open hacking
• 12:30-13:30 Lunch break
• 13:30-15:30 Open hacking
• 15:30-16:30 Ignite talks:
  • Emiliano Santarnecchi, Cognitive Fingerprinting and the Human Brain: Opportunities and Challenges
  • Sebastian Urchs, Plotly Express & Dash

Social event: game night!

• 18:00-18:15 Virtual, async concert by Dr Marianna Kapsetaki
• 18:15 – 18:30 explaining the games and teams organization (4 by 4)
• 18:30 – ??  passionate online gaming

Day 3: Wednesday, December 16, 2020

• 10:00-10:30 Ignite talks:
  • Michel Thiebaut de Schotten, Is a Single Brain sufficient?
• 10:30-12:30 Open hacking
• 12:30-13:30 Lunch break
• 13:30-15:00 Open hacking
• 15-00:16:00 Project wrap-ups + conclusion
• 16:00-16:30 Ignite talks
  • Maurizio Corbetta The secret life of predictive brains: what’s spontaneous activity for?
• 17:00-17:30 Fare thee well and conclusions

Supporting institutions:

[1] http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13742-016-0121-x
[2] The logo is modified from the template found at https://pixabay.com/vectors/brain-cognition-design-art-2029391/, whose license is open https://pixabay.com/service/license/.

When: Nov 17th, 2020 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting

Abstract: It is said that complexity lies between order and disorder. In physiology, complexity issues are being considered with increased emphasis. Of crucial importance in the medical setting, pathological activity has been associated with low variability/complexity. In the case of the nervous system, it is well known that excessive synchronization is connected with pathologies such as epilepsy and Parkinson disease. However, brain rhythms and neural synchronization are also crucial for perception and cognition, so it is clear that either too much or not enough synchronization can lead to dysfunctional brain states.

Short bio: Ramon Guevara is a physicist at the Department of Physics of the University of Padova. His main interest lies in the interface between biophysics and neuroscience. He has been a research fellow at several institutions, universities and hospitals around the world, including the University Paris Descartes, the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and the neuroimage center Neurospin, at Saclay, France. His research focuses on the coordination of neural activity, both in the normal and the pathological brain, and in particular on the search of principles underlying synchronization phenomena in the brain, and their physiological and cognitive implications.

When: December 3rd, 2020 – 3:00 – 5:00 PM CET ( 09:00 – 11:00 AM ET )

Where: Zoom Webinar

Webinar by NEUROMOVE-Rehab Lab, IAS Lab and MAL Lab

Please fill the form to subscribe and receive the link to connect a few days before the Webinar.

When: September 25th, 2020

Where: Aula Ippolito Nievo – Cortile Antico, Palazzo del Bo – Padova

The Padua Neuroscience Center is a unique multidisciplinary environment that integrates many different scientific backgrounds with the common effort to understand the brain mechanisms. In this scenario, sharing scientific ideas and technical expertise represents a crucial and fundamental step to establish collaborative networks and to draft powerful scientific plans.

The PNC Brain Day 2020 is the opportunity for the PIs:

1. To get to know each other in a series of short seminars and round tables;
2. To contribute to the identification of cross-platform research lines characterizing the PNC scientific plan;
3. To render PNC a unique and competitive research unit.

When: June 18th, 2020 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting

Abstract: Over the past decade we have demonstrated that the fusion of subject-specific structural information of the human brain with mathematical dynamic models allows building biologically realistic brain network models, which have a predictive value, beyond the explanatory power of each approach independently. Here we illustrate the workflow along the example of epilepsy: we reconstruct personalized connectivity matrices of human epileptic patients using Diffusion Tensor weighted Imaging (DTI).

When: June 4th, 2020 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting

Abstract: Mutations of connexin 32 (Cx32) protein cause the X-linked form of Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease (CMT1X), a demyelinating peripheral neuropathy for which there is no cure. A growing body of evidence indicates that ATP release through Cx32 hemichannels in Schwann cells could be critical for nerve myelination, but it is unknown if CMT1X mutations alter the physiological mechanism that controls Cx32 hemichannel opening and ATP release.

Our study uncovered a link between CMT1X and Cx32 hemichannel dysfunction, suggesting a candidate peptide for treating the disease caused by the R220X mutation of Cx32. The investigation was carried out by a combination of in vitro fluorescence optical microscopy combined with patch clamp and in silico numerical simulations.

When: May 28th, 2020 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting

Abstract: Navigation plays a key role in organisms adaptive behavior. An adequate response to environmental stimuli, is fundamental for supporting food search, social interactions and mating, all of them step physiological mechanisms from the evolutionary point of view.

The lecture will talk about visuomotor responses and place learning studies in flies made in our and other laboratories combining sophisticated quantitative behavioral techniques, fly genetic tools and optogenetics.

When: May 21th, 2020 – 2:30 pm

Where: Zoom meeting

Abstract: Stroke is the most common cause of neurological disability in the world. In the UK alone, there are more people living with the consequences of stroke than with dementia (1.2M vs 0.85M) with an estimated annual cost of £26B. Stroke is still considered a single incident disease with most resources targeted to the first few hours, days or weeks after onset.

When: May 14th, 2020 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting

Abstract: In everyday life contexts sometimes we manage to attend multiple sources of information without particular effort. Sometimes, however, performing two or more tasks together becomes very difficult, like for instance if we have to drive a car in a foggy day while paying attention to a debate on the radio. In these conditions our attention is loaded and we perform what is called “multitasking”.

When: May 7th, 2020 – 3:00 pm

Where: Zoom meeting

Abstract: New approaches to real-time assessment and closed-loop feedback based on behavioral features or brain activity will be discussed in the lecture that are designed to optimize stroke recovery interventions in mice for insight into better approaches for human recovery.