News & Events (133)

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Events (126) News and Press release (99)

Searching for low-dimensional neural manifolds

Speaker: Dr. Michele Allegra (Padova Neuroscience Center, “Galileo Galilei” Physics and Astronomy Department)

When: 25 January 2024, h. 5:00 pm

Where: 1C150, Torre Archimede

Abstract: Traditionally, the relation between cognition and the brain was understood in terms of neurons performing a sequence of operations on input signals. In recent years, the advent of large-scale neuronal recordings has shifted the focus on movement within representational spaces collectively implemented by neural populations. Geometrically, we can picture these spaces, termed “neural manifolds”, as low-dimensional surfaces in a neural population state space in which each axis represents the activity of one neuron. Modelling movement along the manifold provides a dynamical-system description of neural computation.

La diagnosi e la terapia della malattia di Parkinson nel terzo millennio

Relatore: Prof. Angelo Antonini, Professore ordinario di Neurologia presso il Dipartimento di Neuroscienze dell’Università di Padova

Quando: 23 gennaio 2024 dalle ore 16:00

Dove: Aula Magna della Clinica Neurologica

Informazioni utili: L’incontro si articolerà in due parti. Nella prima, dalle ore 16:00 alle 17:00, ci sarà la discussione di casi clinici. Nella seconda, dalle ore 17.30 alle 18.30, ci sarà il seminario.

Ci sarà anche la possibilità di seguire i seminari in streaming (https://unipd.zoom.us/j/88959319767).

2024-01-23 – Angelo AntoniniDownload

Physiological and Rehabilitation Outcomes: Gains from Automated Interventions in stroke Therapy (PRO GAIT): Dissemination & Closing event

When: January 26, 2024, 9:30 am – 12:00 pm

Where: Aula Nievo, Palazzo Bo (Via VIII Febbraio, Padova)

Developments in robotics allow people with profound neuromuscular deficits after stroke to walk with assistance (during the gait cycle) using an exoskeleton robot. Integrating a robotic device with individualised user electroencephalography (EEG /electrical activity in the motor areas in the brain) and EMG (muscle) feedback would allow more physiological and targeted gait parameters in response to effort and confer neuroplastic training effects including neuromodulation of temporal and spatial features of gait.

PRO GAIT is funded by Horizon 2020 programme of the European Union

PRO GAIT FlyerDownload

Intelligenza Artificiale (IA), Etica e Cybersecurity: un sistema di IA può essere etico e sicuro?

Relatori: Massimo Cacciari, Professore Emerito di Filosofia all’Università San Raffaele di Milano; Maurizio Corbetta, Professore Ordinario di Neurologia al Dipartimento di Neuroscience dell’Università di Padova e Direttore della Clinica Neurologica; Mauro Conti, Professore di Informatica al Dipartimento di Matematica dell’Università di Padova e Coordinatore locale del Laboratorio Nazionale di cybersecurity

Quando: 16 gennaio 2024 dalle ore 17:30

Dove: Aula Magna della Clinica Neurologica

Informazioni utili: Un dialogo tra filosofia, neuroscienze e matematica con Massimo Cacciari, Maurizio Corbetta e Mauro Conti. Qual è l’impatto dell’AI, non soltanto nella sanità? Come si governa l’intreccio fra umanità e macchine? Dov’è il confine fra etica, sicurezza e “liberazione dal lavoro”?

Integrating Neurobiology, Cognition, and Behavior in Anorexia Nervosa: A Comprehensive Perspective in Clinical and Research Contexts

by Dr Enrico Collantoni (Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova)

When: December 14, 2023, at 3:00 pm

Where: Sala Seminari VIMM (Building A, Ground Floor, Via Orus 2, Padova)

Anorexia nervosa is a severe psychiatric disorder that involves a complex interplay between neurodevelopment and neuroprogression. In recent years, many efforts have been made to disentangle these mechanisms within a neurobiological realm. Here, I will aim to provide an overview of these aspects, focusing on the advancements in structural neuroimaging and connectomic studies. Furthermore, I will endeavor to elucidate some specific experimental approaches to elucidate two nuclear symptomatic dimensions of this disorder – caloric restriction and body image distortion – employing cognitive and behavioral assessment methodologies, including app-based tools and virtual reality technology.

Modelling of brain stimulation to unveil signal propagation and network dynamics

by Dr Davide Momi (Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, Toronto, Canada)

When: December 13, 2023, at 2:45 pm

Where: Sala Seminari VIMM (Building A, Ground Floor, Via Orus 2, Padova)

The human brain comprises distinct resting-state networks (RSNs) characterized by spontaneous activity patterns. Despite this highly structured functional pattern, its laws of motion and principles of organization have proven challenging to understand with currently available measurement techniques. In such epistemic circumstances, an extremely elegant modus operandi to investigate brain complexity with high spatial and temporal resolution entails the administration of precise and synchronized external stimulation, followed by a meticulous examination of the resulting induced propagation dynamics that emerge in response to these perturbations.

Measuring synergistic and redundant interactions among functionally connected neurons in the mouse auditory cortex during a sound discrimination task

by Dr Loren Koçillari (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia – IIT, Trento, and Universitätsklinikum Hamburg Eppendorf)

When: November 6, 2023, at 4:30 pm

Where: Sala Seminari VIMM (Building A, Ground Floor, Via Orus 2, Padova)

Functional connectivity (FC) plays a crucial role in understanding how correlated activity between brain regions supports neural information processing and communication. Previous research has primarily focused on redundant FC, typically using Pearson correlations to examine the similarity of activity across pairs of regions. However, recent studies have started exploring synergistic FC, which refers to the information that arises when two regions are considered together. In this presentation, I report our work [doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-43075-6_5] focalizes on the interplay between synergy and redundancy at the individual neuron level within the mouse’s primary auditory cortex during a sound discrimination task.

Symposium “Music: Origin, the Brain, and Evolution”

When: November 10, 2023 – starting at 9:00 am

Where: Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello (Sestiere San Marco, Campiello Pisani 2810, Venice)

Abstract: Partendo dal ritrovamento nella Germania sud-occidentale di “flauti” risalenti a circa 40 000 anni fa, ottenuti in generale dalle ossa lunghe delle ali di rapaci, il simposio verterà sulle ragioni che hanno spinto il genere Homo a creare sistemi musicali prima dei graffiti e delle piccole sculture del neolitico. Questo ha dato origine alla cultura musicale, facendone forse la forma più primigenia del pensiero simbolico: il tema dominante è quindi il legame tra il cervello e la musica. Altri due temi d’intervento, altrettanto cruciali, sono: da un lato, stabilire quale delle due specie del genere Homo – i Sapiens e i Neanderthal – abbiano prodotto gli strumenti; dall’altro, identificare le ragioni alla base dell’origine della musica, che è legata all’evoluzione del pensiero: se si correlavano allo sviluppo di specifiche aree cerebrali implicate nella creazione dei suoni, e/o alla sfera emozionale, e/o al progresso del linguaggio.

Precision rehabilitation interventions in neurological patients undergoing robot-assisted motor training

by Prof. Paolo Bonato (Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston MA)

When: November 2, 2023, at 3:00 pm

Where: Sala Seminari VIMM (Building A, Ground Floor, Via Orus 2, Padova)

In this talk, we will review the use of robotics in rehabilitation medicine with a focus on retraining motor function in patients with neurological conditions ranging from stroke to cerebral palsy. We will argue that the prediction of patients’ response to robot-assisted motor training should account for the mechanisms underlying the short-term and long-term response of each patient to the forces generated by the robot.