Programme

We would like to alert you to the European Population Neuroscience symposium, a Satellite Event of FENS Forum 2016. The symposium is organized by the Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance (DRCMR) in collaboration with CreoDK and the European Brain Council (EBC).

Date and venue: July 1st 2016, 8.30 AM-4.30 PM. DGI-byen, Tietgensgade 65, 1704 Copenhagen V, Denmark.

Participation is free of charge, but registration is mandatory. Please visit our FENS Forum satellite symposium webpage for the program and registration.
Of note, there is a limited amount of seats, so please register in good time!!

The symposium addresses key scientific challenges of a European Population Neuroscience Strategy. The main goal of such a strategy is to model the often subtle but decisive interplay of multidimensional factors across the life span in large European cohorts representative of general populations, thereby capturing differences in e.g. genetic makeup, age and sex distributions, social-economic and health status, and culture, in order to predict physical (i.e. body) and mental and cognitive (i.e. brain) health and illness, resilience and potential.
Central topics include: (1) the relationship between genes (Genome) and exposures (Envirome; e.g. body and environment) shaping brain outcomes (Phenome; e.g. cognition, behavior and structural and functional in vivo brain measures), (2) strategies to ensure that cohorts are representative of populations, (3) mobile sensing technologies for an ecological sampling of physical and environmental variables, (4) large-scale infrastructures for integrating, sharing and exploiting huge amounts of prospective multidimensional data in a secure manner, and (5) analytical and modeling strategies and approaches to analyze and exploit complex multimodal, multidimensional and multisite prospective data.
The Organizing Committee: Hartwig Siebner (DRCMR), Tomas Paus (Rotman Research Institute and University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada) and Thomas Werge (Mental Health Centre Sct. Hans, Capital Region of Denmark, Denmark)

Dear colleagues,

You are cordially invited to attend the satellite event « Molecular Regulation of Depressive Disorders; from Mouse to Human ». July 1st, Bella Sky Hotel, Comwell Conference Center – Room 173, (next door to COPENHAGEN). Starts 14:00.

Anxiety and depression are complex disorders involving multiple brain regions. They account for the second largest number of years lost due to disability (YLD) worldwide. Yet, they are widely undiagnosed and untreated due to lack of effective therapies or resources. r’BIRTH is a Marie Curie ITN consortium that studies impaired adaptive responses that may contribute to depressive and anxiety-related behavior.

During this satellite event, work will be presented from consortium groups studying molecular mechanism in cell cultures and mice, and clinical biomarker imaging (MRI/MRS).

The program can be found here.

Please register soon as places are limited.

We would like to thank the European Commission (FP7), Lundbeck, ApDia and Immunovia for financial support.

Warmly welcome!

Eleanor Coffey, r’BIRTH Coordinator

Research Director, Turku Centre for Biotechnology
University of Turku and Åbo Akademi University
Turku FIN-20520, Finland

Organisée sous la tutelle du CNRS par le laboratoire STIM de l’université de Poitiers.
L’école se déroulera à Poitiers du 28 juin 2016 au 1 juillet 2016 sur une durée totale de 3,5 jours.
Trois grands axes seront développés d’un point de vue théorique et pratique au cours de cette période :
Axe 1 : «le canal dans son environnement membranaire : Courants ioniques, flux et criblage»
Axe 2 : «le canal dans son environnement cellulaire : marquage, localisation et tri cellulaire»
Axe 3 : «le canal et ses impacts : motilité/mobilité cellulaire et communication intercellulaire»
Pour toute question complémentaire relative au fonctionnement de notre école, à sa logistique ou à son contenu, contacter le Pr Jean-François Faivre (ou 05 49 45 36 72).

Plus d’informations

Le Labex Bio-Psy organise, en collaboration avec l’Institut Pasteur, un Cours d’une semaine, du 27 Juin au 1er juillet prochain, intitulé « Frontiers in Biological Psychiatry ».

Le Cours est destiné aux jeunes chercheurs et cliniciens et réunit des experts internationaux en psychiatrie clinique ainsi que des neurobiologistes, généticiens et biologistes du développement.

Consulter le programme

La date limite d’inscription est le 2 Mai 2016.

Pour toute information, consulter le site internet.

Organizer: Etienne Challet

Location: Collège Doctoral Européen
Address: 46 Boulevard de la Victoire, 67000 Strasbourg, France

Scientific programme

Website

We are happy to announce the 15th edition of the Brain Connectivity Workshop (BCW) to take place in Marseille from the 22nd to the 24th of June 2016.

The Brain Connectivity Workshop (BCW) is a well-established workshop series, which has been held annually in Europe, USA, Australia and Asia for the last 14 years. BCW is an official satellite of the annual meeting of OHBM, which is held in Geneva, Switzerland in 2016. BCW attracts every year a public of 100-200 participants working in cognitive, computational and clinical neurosciences. The discussions are centered on all themes around brain connectivity including structural and functional imaging, modeling, brain function and clinics. BCW is highly influential in the field due to the traditionally high quality of speakers and a long track record of innovation. For instance, both, the Connectome and The Virtual Brain have been born within the BCW community.

The typical BCW format —a first educational day of lectures held by international authorities in their fields, followed by two days of shorter talks with ample time for discussion provides a unique forum for creativity, controversy and brainstorming. BCW 2016, introduced by a first day of tutorials by experts in their field, will feature focused sessions on themes such as perturbing the brain, mapping the brain, and brain dynamics in function (cognition) and dysfunction (epilepsy).

Registration will open soon.

NB: Please note that European Cup of Football will be held in France during this period and hotels are going to be booked fast!

Confirmed educational lecturers (day 1) and workshop speakers (days 2-3) include:

• Fabrice Bartolomei (Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France)
• Michael Breakspear (QIMR, Brisbane, Australia)
• Vince Calhoun (University Of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM)
• Karl Friston (UCL, London, UK)
• Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez (Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH)
• Marc Goodfellow (University of Exeter, Exeter, UK)
• Charles Gray (Montana State University, Bozeman, MT)
• Claudius Gros (Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
• Sean Hill (EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland)
• Martin Hoffman-Apitius (Fraunhofer Institute SCAI, St Augustin, Germany)
• Esther Krook-Magnuson (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN)
• Pierre Luppi (Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, Lyon, France)
• Randy McIntosh (Baycrest Research Center, Toronto, ON)
• Lionel Naccache (ICM, Paris, France)
• Ivan Soltesz (UC Irvine, CA)
• Olaf Sporns (Indiana University, Bloomington, IN)
• William Stacey (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI)
• Gregor Thut (University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK)
• Stephan Van Gils (University of Twente, Ae Enschede, The Netherlands)
• Michael Wibral (Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

A special evening lecture will be delivered by Patrick Chauvel (Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France). A detailed program is coming soon.

Organizing committee
Viktor Jirsa, Chair (INS, Aix-Marseille University, UMR 1106 INSERM)
Demian Battaglia, Christian Bénar, Mireille Bonnard, Monique Esclapez (INS, Aix-Marseille University)
Andrea Brovelli (INT, Aix-Marseille University),
Maxime Guye (CRMBM, Aix-Marseille University, UMR 7339 CNRS & APHM)
Ingo Bojak (University of Reading, UK).

An event sponsored by:
University Aix-Marseille, Brain Products, Bionics, Springer EPJ Nonlinear Biomedical Physics Journal, Codebox, Institute of System Neuroscience Inserm, Institute of Neuroscience Timone, Center for Magnetic Resonance in Biology and Medicine, Mediterranean Society of Neuroscience (IBRO member).

If your research or clinical activity drives you into the field of CHANNELOPATHIES, don’t miss the unique international event « Channelopathy 2016 » that will take place in Paris:  World-renowned speakers, pioneers in the field of channelopathies, will present their latest discoveries (check the online program: Program)!
Because the meeting is limited to 180 attendees, registrations will be taken on a first-come first-served basis. So we strongly recommend to register as early as possible! (Online registration: Registration) Registration fees include the get-together party on Wednesday evening, as well as Thursday and Friday breaks and lunches.
Key dates at-a-glance:
Early-bird registration deadline: April 30, 2016
Late registration deadline: June 13, 2016
Meeting: June 15-17, 2016

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.

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.