Optical imaging of brain connectivity : from synapses to networks in action

Chairperson: Christophe MULLE

CNRS UMR 5297, Université de Bordeaux, 146, rue Léo-Saignat, 33077 Bordeaux cedex, France
Phone: +33 (0) 5 57 57 40 80 – Fax: +33 33 (0) 5 57 57 40 82
Email

Vice-chairperson: Frijhof HELMCHEN

Brain Research Institute, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
Phone: +41 44 63 53 340 – Fax: +41 44 63 53 303
Email

Discovering how neural circuits process information requires measurement of neural activity on many different scales, ranging from single synapses to large assemblies of neurons, best in the brain of behaving animals. The study of brain function at the microscopic and mesoscopic scale has been revolutionized by novel approaches combining the development of molecular tools and gene transfer methods with newly designed instruments that use light to visualize and manipulate the activity of synapses, neural cells and neural ensembles. This international symposium will bring together world experts to present their latest discoveries and technological developments regarding brain connectivity, focusing on studies of synaptic, neuronal and network structure and function using microscopic imaging, connectomics, and optogenetics.

Improved technologies in the field of neuroscience are particularly important to tackle the great challenges in mapping the connections and interactions within and between highly complex neuronal networks. For example, super-resolution light microscopy now enables the visualization of individual molecules within a synapse; novel 3D imaging approaches enable the mapping of synaptic inputs onto dendritic trees and signalling within neuronal populations to be ‘read out’ at millisecond time scales; new viral tracing methods and novel instruments based on automated electron microscopy, optical microscopy and image reconstruction methods assist comprehensive connectomic approaches towards full reconstruction and analysis of synaptic circuits in 3D; furthermore, fast two-photon imaging makes it possible to monitor neural network activity deep in tissue in behaving animals; and recent advances in optogenetic and pharmacogenetic methods are complementing structural and functional imaging by allowing specific manipulations of the activity of particular cell types or neural pathways.

These multidisciplinary challenges and many others will be addressed at this meeting. It will be a great opportunity to foster new collaborations to undertake novel challenges that will push further our ability to detect, measure, manipulate and follow the intricate components of neuronal and network function.
Invited speakers
(provisional titles)

BAILLY-CUIF Laure (Gif sur Yvette, France)
Imaging neural progenitor cells dynamics during behavior

BITO Haruhiko (Tokyo, Japan)
Labeling, monitoring and manipulating active ensembles

CHEDOTAL Alain (Paris, France)
Development of new imaging methods to study the organization of sensory systems

CHOQUET Daniel (Bordeaux, France)
Nanoscopic organization of synapses

COSSART Rosa (Marseille, France)
Imaging ripple events in the awake mouse hippocampus

EMILIANI Valentina (Paris, France)
Two-photon optogenetics by spatio-temporal shaping of ultrafast pulse

FRICK Andreas (Bordeaux, France)
Neuronal circuits probed with recombinant rabies virus technology

GRADINARU Viviana (Pasadena, USA)
Brain control with light; development and application to mental disorders

HELMCHEN Fritjof (Zürich, Switzerland)
Imaging cortical circuit dynamics in behaving mice

HOFER Sonja (Bazel, Switzerland)
Imaging function and structure of the visual system

HOLTMAAT Anthony (Geneva, Switzerland)
Neural circuits in the mammalian neocortex

ISACOFF Ehud Y. (Berkeley, USA)
Design of novel probes for the optical detection and manipulation of neuronal signaling

KIM Jinny (Seoul, South Corea)
mGRASP for mapping connectivity at multiple scales

KONNERTH Arthur (Tum, Germany)
Impaired neuronal network function in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease

MARGRIE Troy (London, United Kingdom)
Sensory processing in single cells, circuits and behavior

MONYER Hannah (Heidelberg, Germany)
Connectivity in the entorhinal cortex

NÄGERL Valentin (Bordeaux, France)
Super-resolution imaging of spine plasticity

NEVIDI Elly (Cambridge, USA)
Visualization of synapse assembly and disassembly in vivo: multispectral tracking of distinct circuit elements
OERTNER Thomas (London, United Kingdom)
Controlling the strength and lifetime of synapses with light

PERROY Julie (Montpellier, France)
Imaging plasticity at synapses

RUSAKOV Dmitri (London,United Kingdom)
Mapping  nanomolar calcium landscapes inside neurons and astroglia with FLIM

SILVER Angus (London, United Kingdom)
Investigating the role of temporal coding using high speed 3D 2-photon imaging

SNITZER Mark (Stanford, USA)
Development of fiber-optic fluorescence microendoscopy for studies of learning and memory

STERNSON Scott (Ashburn, USA)
Neural processes that underlie hunger studied with reverse engineering of neural circuits

WILLIG Katrin (Göttingen, Germany)
In vivo STED microscopy of the living mouse brain

WYART Claire (Paris, France)
Investigation of a novel sensory interface relaying information from the cerebrospinal fluid to motor circuits

ZENG Hongkui (Seattle, USA)
Large scale analysis of mouse brain connectivity

 

Deadline for application: March 7, 2016
Registration fee (including board and lodging)

430 € for PhD students
650 € for other participants

 

Application for registration
The total number of participants is limited to 115 and all participants are expected to attend for the whole duration of the conference. Selection is made on the basis of the affinity of potential participants with the topics of the conference. Scientists and PhD Students interested in the meeting should send:

– their curriculum vitae
– the list of their main publications for the 3 last years
– the abstract of their presentation

to the Chairperson of the conference (christophe.mulle@u-bordeaux.fr) before the deadline. After it, the organizers will select the participants. Except in some particular cases approved by the Chairperson, it is recommended that all selected participants present their work during the conference, either in poster form or by a brief in- session talk.The organizers choose the form in which the presentations are made. Up to 6 participants will be selected, based on their abstracts, for a short talk. No payment will be sent with application. Information on how and when to pay will be mailed in due time to those selected.

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Informations pratiques

Lieu

Roscoff (Brittany), France