Emerging Concepts in Glial Cell Research

Organised by

Le Club des Cellules Gliales

Contacts :

brahim.nait_oumesnar@upmc.fr

thierry.amedee@u-bordeaux2.fr

Website

The ECNP Congress is Europe’s largest meeting on applied and translational neuroscience.
Annually it brings together between 4, 000 and 6, 000 psychiatrists, neuroscientists, neurologists
and psychologists from around the world to discuss the latest developments in the science and
treatment of disorders of the brain.

Spanning the spectrum of human mood, behaviour, cognition and emotion – from basic science
to clinical care – the ECNP Congress is Europe’s premier showcase for new research,
treatments and technologies in applied brain science.

Featured topics in 2016 include:
Sleep and depression
Role of mTOR in psychiatric disorders
Oxytocin in schizophrenia
Imaging markers for clinical use
New medications for autism
Medications for frontotemporal dementia

For further information, please visit the meeting website.

The Sixth International Symposium on Biology of Decision Making will take place on May 25-27, 2016 at the Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, Paris, France, with a satellite day at Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France. The objective of this three day symposium is to gather people from different research fields with different approaches (economics, ethology, psychiatry, neural and computational approaches) to decision-making.

The symposium will be a single-track, will last for 3 days and will include 6 sessions:
(#1) Cost of control, fatigue and decision-making;
(#2) Emotion, stress and decision-making;
(#3) Dynamics of decision-making;
(#4) Decision-making across primates;
(#5) Confidence, mood and decision-making;
(#6) Learning, memory and decision-making.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:
Sébastien Bouret (CNRS – ICM, France)
Michael Chee (Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore)
Anastasia Christakou (University of Reading, UK)
Anne Churchland (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA)
Stanislas Dehaene (Collège de France – INSERM – CEA, France)
Adele Diederich (Jacobs University, Germany)
Tobias H. Donner (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Valérie Dufour (CNRS, France)
Shelly Flagel (University of Michigan, USA)
Steve Fleming (University College London, UK)
Birte U. Forstmann (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Cendri Hutcherson (University of Toronto, Canada)
Veronika Job (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Mehdi Khamassi (CNRS – Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France)
Pascal Mamassian (Ecole Normale Supérieure – CNRS, France)
Florent Meyniel (Collège de France – INSERM – CEA, France)
Randall O’Reilly (University of Colorado Boulder, USA)
Mathias Pessiglione (INSERM – ICM, France)
Jonathan Pillow (Princeton University, USA)
Timothy J. Pleskac (Max Planck Institute, Germany)
Alexandra G. Rosati (Harvard University, USA)
Robb Rutledge (University College London, UK)
Jérôme Sallet (University of Oxford, UK)
Carmen Sandi (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland)
Daniela Schiller (Mount Sinaï University, USA)
Amitai Shenhav (Princeton University, USA)
Mark Sheskin (Yale University, USA)
Hiromu Tanimoto (Tohoku University, Japan)
Angela J. Yu (University of California San Diego, USA)
Alexandre Zenon (Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium)

IMPORTANT DATES:
April 30, 2016 Deadline for Poster Submission
May 7, 2016 Notification of Poster Acceptance
May 15, 2016 Deadline for Registration
May 25-27, 2016 Symposium

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:
Thomas Boraud (CNRS – IMN, Bordeaux, France)
Sacha Bourgeois-Gironde (La Sorbonne, Paris, France)
Kenji Doya (OIST, Okinawa, Japan)
Mehdi Khamassi (CNRS – UPMC, Paris, France)
Etienne Koechlin (CNRS – ENS, Paris, France)
Mathias Pessiglione (ICM – INSERM, Paris, France)

Website, registration, poster submission and detailed program.

Contact: sbdm2016@isir.upmc.fr / sbdm2016-registration@isir.upmc.fr

Call for Symposia

The Göttingen Meeting of the German Neuroscience Societies is one of the largest multi-disciplinary neuroscience meetings in Europe with around 1.700 participants. It covers a wide range of research fields in the neurosciences including vertebrate and invertebrate systems, molecular, cellular and systemic neurobiology, neuropharmacology, developmental, computational, behavioral, cognitive and clinical neuroscience.

The call for symposia for the 12th Göttingen Meeting of the German Neuroscience Society is open now. Symposia dealing with all areas of neuroscience research are invited. The application must be submitted via the meetings website. The meeting’s language is English.

The deadline for submissions is Monday, February 15, 2016.

36 symposia (i.e. six symposia in six parallel sessions) with will be accepted.

The symposium proposal must contain the following information:
• The title of the symposium
• The name of the organizer(s)
• A short description of the symposium
• The name and address of each of the four intended speakers
• The titles (tentative) of the talks

The organisers must adhere to the following rules:
• Organizers of a symposium in 2015 are not entitled to organize a symposium in 2017
• The title for the symposium should be succinctly worded and should not exceed 100 characters including spaces.
• The proposal should contain a short description in English not exceeding 5.000 characters including spaces.
• Members of the program committee can be invited speakers of a symposium but cannot be the sole organizer of a symposium.
• The duration of a symposium is 2 hours. The maximum number of speakers if four. The affiliation and the (tentative) title of each speaker must be provided.
• Two oral communications by young predoctoral students must be included in the symposium. These will be selected by the symposium organizer from the abstracts submitted in fall 2016.

Symposia are self-supporting, it is the obligation of the symposium organizer to raise the necessary funds for the symposium. The German Neuroscience Society cannot guarantee financial support. Both the organizers and the invited speakers of a symposium have to pay registration fee.

Conference website

Lake Como School of Advanced Studies, 5-9 June 2016

Amino acids are extremely important molecules in Nature by serving as metabolic intermediates or as building units for proteins synthesis. All common amino acids, except for glycine, exhibit a chiral center resulting theoretically in the occurrence of L- and D-amino acids. Despite almost identical chemical and physical properties, in the past it was assumed that only L-amino acids were selected during evolution for polypeptides and proteins formation. The selection of the L-form was generally thought to result from gambling. The consequent homochirality was considered to be essential to biology, as it dictates the spatial architecture of biological polymer and therefore plays a major role in enzymatic specificity and structural interaction: it generated distinct enzyme/receptors to cope with multiple isomers which would pose energetic burdens incompatible with life.

Since plants and bacteria were known to synthesize D-amino acids, the free D-isomers found in higher animals were assumed to be essentially the by-products of dietary consumption. Therefore, the presence of high levels of enzymes evolved specifically to catalyze the stereoselective degradation of D-amino acids (e.g., FAD-dependent D-amino acid oxidase and D-aspartate acid oxidase) and their significance in the brain, has long been a puzzling issue. Thank to the development of more sensitive analytical techniques, neurobiologists have now stepped “through the looking-glass” and several D-amino acids were detected in mammalian tissues and fluids. In particular, D-aspartate and D-serine have been shown to be endogenously synthesized by serine racemase and aspartate racemase, respectively, and to serve as important signaling molecules in the brain and endocrine glands.

Emerging unanticipated roles for the D-aspartate and D-serine challenged fundamental dogma about cell-to-cell signaling. They both appeared to fulfill the criteria of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor ligands (as a agonist and coagonist, respectively), regulating the receptor functionality. NMDA subtype of glutamate receptors mediates excitatory neurotransmission and cognitive functions, hence insight into D-serine and D-aspartate metabolism is relevant for physiological NMDA receptor activation and for all the disorders associated with the receptor dysfunction, such as schizophrenia, ischemia, epilepsy, chronic pain and neurodegenerative disorders. In particular, abnormal alterations in the cellular and extracellular concentrations of these two D-amino acids might be related to the pathogenesis of the aforementioned diseases. Accordingly, the detection of D-serine and D-aspartate in the brain and the elucidation of the mechanisms involved in the maintenance of their physiological levels (which might be up- or down-regulated in pathological condition) may not only help in the diagnostic process, but also provide novel therapeutic target.

We are just at the beginning to disclose the importance of this novel class of brain messengers that will soon include other candidates. The proposed Summer School will provide an overview of the current status of our understanding on D-amino acid neurobiology, collecting contributions from leaders in the field.

Invited speakers
BALU Darrick (Boston, USA)
BILLARD Jean-Marie (Paris, France)
BRUNO Stefano (Parma, Italy)
DI GIORGIO Annabella (Foggia, Italy)
ERRICO Francesco (Naples, Italy)
HERESCO-LEVY Uriel (Jerusalem, Israel)
MOLLA Gianluca (Varese, Italy)
MOTHET Jean-Pierre (Marseille, France)
POLLEGIONI Loredano (Varese, Italy)
SACCHI Silvia (Varese, Italy)
SASABE Jumpei (Tokyo, Japan)
SWEEDLER Jonathan (Urbana, USA)
USIELLO Alessandro (Naples, Italy)
WOLOSKER Herman (Haifa, Israel)

For further information, please visit the website.

This conference has been established as a high-quality meeting on contemporary neuroscience for many years. For the 18th conference we aim at topping previous programs by inviting most distinguished neuroscientists as keynote speakers and select high-quality symposia. Sölden is an Alpine village about 1 hr. drive from the city of Innsbruck in Austria. The venue is a 5-star SPA hotel in one of the largest ski resorts in Austria with a restaurant carrying prestigious awards by international restaurant guides. Normally 120 – 150 participants, among them a large number of recognized scientists share the opportunity to meet colleagues in a relaxed and cosy atmosphere. During the day, time for skiing in the high altitude ski resort is perfectly possible even in April.

Conference Structure
Keynote Lectures
Symposia
Special Interest Sessions
Posters

Keynote lectures by invitation only. Symposia and special interest sessions are selected from complete applications according to the guidelines. All other registered participants may submit one abstract for poster presentation, which must be submitted before the abstract deadline. No short oral presentations will be scheduled.

Posters: Contributions from all fields of basic neuroscience are welcome; abstracts and registration to be submitted before the abstract deadline: Feb. 15th 2016

The conference will start on April 2nd 2016 in the late afternoon and end on April 6th 2016 in the afternoon.

Scientific Organizers
Alois Saria, chair (Austria)
Tobias Bonhoeffer (Germany)
Nils Brose (Germany)
Stephan Schwarzacher (Germany)

Organized by
Univ.Prof. Alois Saria
Brainplatform.net e.U.

Upcoming Deadlines
Abstracts: Feb.15, 2016
Online registration closes: Mar.21, 2016

Contact
Prof. Alois Saria (chair)
Medical University Innsbruck
Center of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Experimental Psychiatry Unit
Innrain 66a, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Phone: +43 512 504 23715 (secretariat)
E-mail
Visit the conference website

EUROGENESIS 3rd Conference will end the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of adult neurogenesis discovery by gathering worldwide leaders of this exciting field . The findings of neural stem cells in the adult mammalian central nervous system changed our perception of brain plasticity and function. For five decades, research on adult neurogenesis and neural stem cells has therefore been leading to an ever expanding field of discoveries that have influenced many domains of neuroscience and developmental biology.

Hosted in the historic heart of Bordeaux, the full of light and bewitching capital of wine, EUROGENESIS 3rd conference will cover several aspects of adult neurogenesis function and its related pathologies. It aims to highlight the benefits of interdisciplinary research for gathering innovative knowledge in adult neural stem cells biology, and will promote new opportunities for cross-border disciplines interactions.

Local organization: Nora Abrous – Sophie Tronel – Florence Béranger

For further information, please visit the conference website

Energy homeostasis, i.e. the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure is essential for animal survival. The failure in regulating these important physiological processes has major implications on human health, giving rise to disorders such as obesity and anorexia. A variety of research approaches has been used to identify molecular and neural networks underlying food intake and metabolic homeostasis. These approaches include human genetics to reveal the heritable basis of obesity, optogenetics and physiology in rodents to identify neural circuits that regulate eating behaviours and genetic screens in invertebrate model organism to investigate neuromodulatory pathways for metabolism and food intake.

The main goal of this EMBO Workshop is to bring together expertise from these different disciplines to discuss recent developments and landmark discoveries. We aim to foster a platform that will stimulate discussions between researchers and allow interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and research tools.

The session topics will cover neural control of weight homeostasis, nutrient sensing by the nervous system and molecular pathways for metabolic control and eating behaviour. We will give special attention to young scientists, such as students, postdocs and junior group leaders by creating a stimulating scientific atmosphere with talks, discussions, poster sessions and social events.

Registration fees:

Student: 320 EUR
Academic: 420 EUR
Industry: 520 EUR

For further information, please connect to the meeting website.

21st Biennial Meeting of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience
From stem cells to behaviour in the normal and diseased nervous system

Join us in Antibes, along the beautiful Mediterranean coast of Southern France, for an exciting and diverse scientific programme that will provide an opportunity to keep you informed about the most recent advances in fundamental and disease-focused developmental neuroscience.

Organised by the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience (ISDN), this meeting will include a balance of topics on human and animal models of neural development and disease:

• Pluripotent stem cell approaches in the normal and diseased brain
• Stem cells and psychiatric disorders
• Evolution of the mammalian cortex
• Autophagy in neurodegenerative diseases
• Generation of cell diversity in the developing brain
• Wnt signalling in neurodevelopment
• Hypothalamic cell fate specification and function
• From circuits to behaviour
• Control of neuronal morphology, from genes to activity
• Sensorimotor assembly and integration
• The role of microRNAs in neurogenesis
• Neurobiology of stress
• Sleep evolution in childhood and brain development
• Astrocyte development and function

As in previous years, ISDN will provide a number of travel and poster awards for trainees.

For further information, please connect to the meeting website.

La Société Française de Neuro-Vasculaire tiendra ses 20èmes Journées annuelles du 25 au 27 novembre 2015 à la Maison Internationale de Paris.

3 jours de conférences rythmées par des mises au point pédagogiques, des séances d’actualités thérapeutiques et des conférences.

Pour plus de renseignements, connectez-vous au site internet de la manifestation.