Jena – Our knowledge of how the human brain works has grown enormously over the past few decades. However, how exactly the dynamic network of around 100 billion nerve cells works and how the brain areas work together remains one of the greatest mysteries in brain research. The latest findings from network neurosciences will be discussed by physicians and scientists from various disciplines, including experts from medical technology, IT and engineering, from March 2nd to 4th at the congress of the German Society for Clinical Neurophysiology and Functional Imaging. V. (DGKN23) in Hamburg. Numerous internationally renowned keynote speakers enrich the congress with their lectures.
Press folder with specialist texts and video recording of the online press conference on Tuesday, February 28th, 2023: https://dgkn.de/dgkn/presse. Journalists can attend the DGKN Congress free of charge Participate.
The main topic at the DGKN23 is the “dynamics of brain networks”. Dynamic couplings of neuronal signals are found throughout the brain. Their existence was discovered more than 30 years ago, but it is still not clear what their exact functional importance is. “We can only develop innovative therapies for neurological and psychiatric diseases if we understand neuronal functions in an interdisciplinary manner at all levels of complexity,” says Prof. Dr. Andreas K. Engel, President and Congress President of the DGKN. In the Presidential Symposium “Dynamic Functional Connectivity – Causally Effective or Epiphenomenal?” on March 3 at 2:45 p.m. he will discuss with four luminaries in the field of network neuroscience. Present your current work and your perspective on this topic Prof. Pascal FriesDirector at the Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Society, Prof. Olaf Sporns vom Department of Psychological and Brain Science an der Indiana University Bloomington, Prof. Stefano PanzeriDirector of the Excellence Department for Neural Information Processing at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, and Prof. Ileana Hanganu-OpatzDirector of the Institute for Developmental Neurophysiology at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf.
How computers help to understand the brain
“The Thermodynamics of Mind” is the subject of a lecture on March 2, 8:45-9:30 a.m. by Prof. Gustavo Deco, Head of the Computational Neuroscience Group at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. Using experiments and simulating neuronal functions on the computer, he decodes how the brain processes information. The computer models can help to understand brain malfunctions and the cause of diseases, and inspire artificial intelligence applications.
Motor circuits in vertebrate evolution
Over “The brain in action – through the lens of evolution” speaks on March 2 from 6:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m Prof. Sten Grillner, neurophysiologist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and one of the world‘s leading experts on the cellular basis of the vertebrate motor repertoire. He has shown how motor circuits in the midbrain, brainstem and spinal cord help control movement, and will explain why the basic structure of these circuits evolved early in vertebrate evolution and has remained partially unchanged.
Brain networks in health and society
Is one of the world‘s leading experts in the field of neuroscience and mental health Prof. Edward T. Bullmore, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. On March 3rd from 8:45-9:30 am he talks about “Brain Connectivity and Schizophrenia”. Prof. Maurizio Corbetta reports on research into changes in neural networks on March 3 from 6:45 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.: “Stroke: Brain Networks and Behavior”. The professor of neurology in the Department of Neurosciences at the University of Padua, Italy, is founding director of the new Padua Neuroscience Center, an interdisciplinary research program dedicated to the study of brain networks in health and disease.
What brain research learns from primates
Prof. Sabine KastnerProfessor of Psychology at the Neuroscience Institute at Princeton University in New Jersey, USA, will speak on March 4 from 10:45 – 11:30 a.m. about the “Neural Dynamics of the Primate Attention Network”. The neuroscientist compares the brains of humans and primates by combining functional imaging and intracranial electrophysiology with the aim of identifying functional principles that underlie cognition and can be linked to behavior at the level of large cognitive networks.
Neuroscience and Clinical Neurophysiology: Update in three days
The scientific program of the DGKN Congress covers the entire spectrum of current developments and innovative methods in clinical neurophysiology. Among other things, it offers symposia on improving non-invasive and deep brain stimulation, on the use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in psychiatry or on mechanism-based biomarkers in schizophrenia. The role of artificial intelligence in imaging in neurodegenerative diseases or new insights into the mechanisms of epilepsy will also be discussed.
In the advanced training academy of the DGKN there are exciting courses on the entire range of methods in neurophysiology. Young clinical neuroscientists are the focus of the symposia of young clinical neurophysiologists (JKN).
Scientific program, online registration and newsletter: www.dgkn-kongress.de
Die German Society for Clinical Neurophysiology and Functional Imaging (DGKN) eV represents the interests of physicians and scientists working in the field of clinical and experimental neurophysiology. The scientific and medical specialist society with over 4,000 members promotes research into the brain and nerves, ensures the quality of diagnostics and therapy for neurological diseases and drives innovation in this field. It emerged from the “German EEG Society” founded in 1950. www.dgkn.de