Topic spotlight
TopicWorld Wide

art

Discover seminars, jobs, and research tagged with art across World Wide.
103 curated items60 Seminars40 ePosters2 Positions1 Conference
Updated in 2 months
103 items · art
103 results
SeminarNeuroscience

Decoding stress vulnerability

Stamatina Tzanoulinou
University of Lausanne, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences
Feb 19, 2026

Although stress can be considered as an ongoing process that helps an organism to cope with present and future challenges, when it is too intense or uncontrollable, it can lead to adverse consequences for physical and mental health. Social stress specifically, is a highly prevalent traumatic experience, present in multiple contexts, such as war, bullying and interpersonal violence, and it has been linked with increased risk for major depression and anxiety disorders. Nevertheless, not all individuals exposed to strong stressful events develop psychopathology, with the mechanisms of resilience and vulnerability being still under investigation. During this talk, I will identify key gaps in our knowledge about stress vulnerability and I will present our recent data from our contextual fear learning protocol based on social defeat stress in mice.

SeminarNeuroscience

sensorimotor control, mouvement, touch, EEG

Marieva Vlachou
Institut des Sciences du Mouvement Etienne Jules Marey, Aix-Marseille Université/CNRS, France
Dec 18, 2025

Traditionally, touch is associated with exteroception and is rarely considered a relevant sensory cue for controlling movements in space, unlike vision. We developed a technique to isolate and measure tactile involvement in controlling sliding finger movements over a surface. Young adults traced a 2D shape with their index finger under direct or mirror-reversed visual feedback to create a conflict between visual and somatosensory inputs. In this context, increased reliance on somatosensory input compromises movement accuracy. Based on the hypothesis that tactile cues contribute to guiding hand movements when in contact with a surface, we predicted poorer performance when the participants traced with their bare finger compared to when their tactile sensation was dampened by a smooth, rigid finger splint. The results supported this prediction. EEG source analyses revealed smaller current in the source-localized somatosensory cortex during sensory conflict when the finger directly touched the surface. This finding supports the hypothesis that, in response to mirror-reversed visual feedback, the central nervous system selectively gated task-irrelevant somatosensory inputs, thereby mitigating, though not entirely resolving, the visuo-somatosensory conflict. Together, our results emphasize touch’s involvement in movement control over a surface, challenging the notion that vision predominantly governs goal-directed hand or finger movements.

SeminarNeuroscience

Consciousness at the edge of chaos

Martin Monti
University of California Los Angeles
Dec 11, 2025

Over the last 20 years, neuroimaging and electrophysiology techniques have become central to understanding the mechanisms that accompany loss and recovery of consciousness. Much of this research is performed in the context of healthy individuals with neurotypical brain dynamics. Yet, a true understanding of how consciousness emerges from the joint action of neurons has to account for how severely pathological brains, often showing phenotypes typical of unconsciousness, can nonetheless generate a subjective viewpoint. In this presentation, I will start from the context of Disorders of Consciousness and will discuss recent work aimed at finding generalizable signatures of consciousness that are reliable across a spectrum of brain electrophysiological phenotypes focusing in particular on the notion of edge-of-chaos criticality.

SeminarNeuroscience

Computational Mechanisms of Predictive Processing in Brains and Machines

Dr. Antonino Greco
Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Germany
Dec 9, 2025

Predictive processing offers a unifying view of neural computation, proposing that brains continuously anticipate sensory input and update internal models based on prediction errors. In this talk, I will present converging evidence for the computational mechanisms underlying this framework across human neuroscience and deep neural networks. I will begin with recent work showing that large-scale distributed prediction-error encoding in the human brain directly predicts how sensory representations reorganize through predictive learning. I will then turn to PredNet, a popular predictive coding inspired deep network that has been widely used to model real-world biological vision systems. Using dynamic stimuli generated with our Spatiotemporal Style Transfer algorithm, we demonstrate that PredNet relies primarily on low-level spatiotemporal structure and remains insensitive to high-level content, revealing limits in its generalization capacity. Finally, I will discuss new recurrent vision models that integrate top-down feedback connections with intrinsic neural variability, uncovering a dual mechanism for robust sensory coding in which neural variability decorrelates unit responses, while top-down feedback stabilizes network dynamics. Together, these results outline how prediction error signaling and top-down feedback pathways shape adaptive sensory processing in biological and artificial systems.

Position

N/A

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT)
Genova, Italy
Dec 5, 2025

The successful candidate will work to develop specific solutions within the European project XTREME for: Mapping multichannel sound to an acoustic image stream with beamforming; Multimodal audio-visual detection and fusion for scene representation; Integration of 2D audio-visual reconstructed scene with 3D representations.

SeminarOpen Source

Introduction to protocols.io: Scientific collaboration through open protocols

Lenny Teytelman
Founder & President of protocols.io
Nov 17, 2025

Research articles and laboratory protocol organization often lack detailed instructions for replicating experiments. protocols.io is an open-access platform where researchers collaboratively create dynamic, interactive, step-by-step protocols that can be executed on mobile devices or the web. Researchers can easily and efficiently share protocols with colleagues, collaborators, the scientific community, or make them public. Real-time communication and interaction keep protocols up to date. Public protocols receive a DOI and enable open communication with authors and researchers to foster efficient experimentation and reproducibility.

SeminarNeuroscience

Biomolecular condensates as drivers of neuroinflammation

Steven Boeynaems
Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine Duncan Neurological Research Institute, Texas Children's Hospital, USA
Nov 3, 2025
SeminarNeuroscience

Spike train structure of cortical transcriptomic populations in vivo

Kenneth Harris
UCL, UK
Oct 28, 2025

The cortex comprises many neuronal types, which can be distinguished by their transcriptomes: the sets of genes they express. Little is known about the in vivo activity of these cell types, particularly as regards the structure of their spike trains, which might provide clues to cortical circuit function. To address this question, we used Neuropixels electrodes to record layer 5 excitatory populations in mouse V1, then transcriptomically identified the recorded cell types. To do so, we performed a subsequent recording of the same cells using 2-photon (2p) calcium imaging, identifying neurons between the two recording modalities by fingerprinting their responses to a “zebra noise” stimulus and estimating the path of the electrode through the 2p stack with a probabilistic method. We then cut brain slices and performed in situ transcriptomics to localize ~300 genes using coppaFISH3d, a new open source method, and aligned the transcriptomic data to the 2p stack. Analysis of the data is ongoing, and suggests substantial differences in spike time coordination between ET and IT neurons, as well as between transcriptomic subtypes of both these excitatory types.

SeminarNeuroscience

Astrocytes: From Metabolism to Cognition

Juan P. Bolanos
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Salamanca
Oct 2, 2025

Different brain cell types exhibit distinct metabolic signatures that link energy economy to cellular function. Astrocytes and neurons, for instance, diverge dramatically in their reliance on glycolysis versus oxidative phosphorylation, underscoring that metabolic fuel efficiency is not uniform across cell types. A key factor shaping this divergence is the structural organization of the mitochondrial respiratory chain into supercomplexes. Specifically, complexes I (CI) and III (CIII) form a CI–CIII supercomplex, but the degree of this assembly varies by cell type. In neurons, CI is predominantly integrated into supercomplexes, resulting in highly efficient mitochondrial respiration and minimal reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Conversely, in astrocytes, a larger fraction of CI remains unassembled, freely existing apart from CIII, leading to reduced respiratory efficiency and elevated mitochondrial ROS production. Despite this apparent inefficiency, astrocytes boast a highly adaptable metabolism capable of responding to diverse stressors. Their looser CI–CIII organization allows for flexible ROS signaling, which activates antioxidant programs via transcription factors like Nrf2. This modular architecture enables astrocytes not only to balance energy production but also to support neuronal health and influence complex organismal behaviors.

SeminarOpen Source

Introduction to protocols.io: Scientific collaboration through open protocols

Lenny Teytelman
Founder & President of protocols.io
Sep 24, 2025

Research articles and laboratory protocol organization often lack detailed instructions for replicating experiments. protocols.io is an open-access platform where researchers collaboratively create dynamic, interactive, step-by-step protocols that can be executed on mobile devices or the web. Researchers can easily and efficiently share protocols with colleagues, collaborators, the scientific community, or make them public. Real-time communication and interaction keep protocols up to date. Public protocols receive a DOI and enable open communication with authors and researchers to foster efficient experimentation and reproducibility.

SeminarNeuroscienceRecording

Memory Decoding Journal Club: Distinct synaptic plasticity rules operate across dendritic compartments in vivo during learning

Ken Hayworth
Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, Carboncopies
Sep 22, 2025

Distinct synaptic plasticity rules operate across dendritic compartments in vivo during learning

SeminarOpen Source

Scaling Up Bioimaging with Microfluidic Chips

Tobias Wenzel
Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering (IIBM), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Sep 4, 2025

Explore how microfluidic chips can enhance your imaging experiments by increasing control, throughput, or flexibility. In this remote, personalized workshop, participants will receive expert guidance, support and chips to run tests on their own microscopes.

SeminarNeuroscience

How the presynapse forms and functions”

Volker Haucke
Department of Molecular Pharmacology & Cell Biology, Leibniz Institute, Berlin, Germany
Aug 27, 2025

Nervous system function relies on the polarized architecture of neurons, established by directional transport of pre- and postsynaptic cargoes. While delivery of postsynaptic components depends on the secretory pathway, the identity of the membrane compartment(s) that supply presynaptic active zone (AZ) and synaptic vesicle (SV) proteins is largely unknown. I will discuss our recent advances in our understanding of how key components of the presynaptic machinery for neurotransmitter release are transported and assembled focussing on our studies in genome-engineered human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons. Specifically, I will focus on the composition and cell biological identity of the axonal transport vesicles that shuttle key components of neurotransmission to nascent synapses and on machinery for axonal transport and its control by signaling lipids. Our studies identify a crucial mechanism mediating the delivery of SV and active zone proteins to developing synapses and reveal connections to neurological disorders. In the second part of my talk, I will discuss how exocytosis and endocytosis are coupled to maintain presynaptic membrane homeostasis. I will present unpublished data regarding the role of membrane tension in the coupling of exocytosis and endocytosis at synapses. We have identified an endocytic BAR domain protein that is capable of sensing alterations in membrane tension caused by the exocytotic fusion of SVs to initiate compensatory endocytosis to restore plasma membrane area. Interference with this mechanism results in defects in the coupling of presynaptic exocytosis and SV recycling at human synapses.

SeminarNeuroscience

The Systems Vision Science Summer School & Symposium, August 11 – 22, 2025, Tuebingen, Germany

Marco Bertamini, David Brainard, Peter Dayan, Andrea van Doorn, Roland Fleming, Pascal Fries, Wilson S Geisler, Robbe Goris, Sheng He, Tadashi Isa, Tomas Knapen, Jan Koenderink, Larry Maloney, Keith May, Marcello Rosa, Jonathan Victor
Aug 21, 2025

Applications are invited for our third edition of Systems Vision Science (SVS) summer school since 2023, designed for everyone interested in gaining a systems level understanding of biological vision. We plan a coherent, graduate-level, syllabus on the integration of experimental data with theory and models, featuring lectures, guided exercises and discussion sessions. The summer school will end with a Systems Vision Science symposium on frontier topics on August 20-22, with additional invited and contributed presentations and posters. Call for contributions and participations to the symposium will be sent out spring of 2025. All summer school participants are invited to attend, and welcome to submit contributions to the symposium.

SeminarNeuroscience

The Systems Vision Science Summer School & Symposium, August 11 – 22, 2025, Tuebingen, Germany

Marco Bertamini, David Brainard, Peter Dayan, Andrea van Doorn, Roland Fleming, Pascal Fries, Wilson S Geisler, Robbe Goris, Sheng He, Tadashi Isa, Tomas Knapen, Jan Koenderink, Larry Maloney, Keith May, Marcello Rosa, Jonathan Victor
Aug 20, 2025

Applications are invited for our third edition of Systems Vision Science (SVS) summer school since 2023, designed for everyone interested in gaining a systems level understanding of biological vision. We plan a coherent, graduate-level, syllabus on the integration of experimental data with theory and models, featuring lectures, guided exercises and discussion sessions. The summer school will end with a Systems Vision Science symposium on frontier topics on August 20-22, with additional invited and contributed presentations and posters. Call for contributions and participations to the symposium will be sent out spring of 2025. All summer school participants are invited to attend, and welcome to submit contributions to the symposium.

SeminarNeuroscience

The Systems Vision Science Summer School & Symposium, August 11 – 22, 2025, Tuebingen, Germany

Marco Bertamini, David Brainard, Peter Dayan, Andrea van Doorn, Roland Fleming, Pascal Fries, Wilson S Geisler, Robbe Goris, Sheng He, Tadashi Isa, Tomas Knapen, Jan Koenderink, Larry Maloney, Keith May, Marcello Rosa, Jonathan Victor
Aug 19, 2025

Applications are invited for our third edition of Systems Vision Science (SVS) summer school since 2023, designed for everyone interested in gaining a systems level understanding of biological vision. We plan a coherent, graduate-level, syllabus on the integration of experimental data with theory and models, featuring lectures, guided exercises and discussion sessions. The summer school will end with a Systems Vision Science symposium on frontier topics on August 20-22, with additional invited and contributed presentations and posters. Call for contributions and participations to the symposium will be sent out spring of 2025. All summer school participants are invited to attend, and welcome to submit contributions to the symposium.

SeminarNeuroscience

The Systems Vision Science Summer School & Symposium, August 11 – 22, 2025, Tuebingen, Germany

Marco Bertamini, David Brainard, Peter Dayan, Andrea van Doorn, Roland Fleming, Pascal Fries, Wilson S Geisler, Robbe Goris, Sheng He, Tadashi Isa, Tomas Knapen, Jan Koenderink, Larry Maloney, Keith May, Marcello Rosa, Jonathan Victor
Aug 18, 2025

Applications are invited for our third edition of Systems Vision Science (SVS) summer school since 2023, designed for everyone interested in gaining a systems level understanding of biological vision. We plan a coherent, graduate-level, syllabus on the integration of experimental data with theory and models, featuring lectures, guided exercises and discussion sessions. The summer school will end with a Systems Vision Science symposium on frontier topics on August 20-22, with additional invited and contributed presentations and posters. Call for contributions and participations to the symposium will be sent out spring of 2025. All summer school participants are invited to attend, and welcome to submit contributions to the symposium.

SeminarNeuroscience

The Systems Vision Science Summer School & Symposium, August 11 – 22, 2025, Tuebingen, Germany

Marco Bertamini, David Brainard, Peter Dayan, Andrea van Doorn, Roland Fleming, Pascal Fries, Wilson S Geisler, Robbe Goris, Sheng He, Tadashi Isa, Tomas Knapen, Jan Koenderink, Larry Maloney, Keith May, Marcello Rosa, Jonathan Victor
Aug 17, 2025

Applications are invited for our third edition of Systems Vision Science (SVS) summer school since 2023, designed for everyone interested in gaining a systems level understanding of biological vision. We plan a coherent, graduate-level, syllabus on the integration of experimental data with theory and models, featuring lectures, guided exercises and discussion sessions. The summer school will end with a Systems Vision Science symposium on frontier topics on August 20-22, with additional invited and contributed presentations and posters. Call for contributions and participations to the symposium will be sent out spring of 2025. All summer school participants are invited to attend, and welcome to submit contributions to the symposium.

SeminarNeuroscience

The Systems Vision Science Summer School & Symposium, August 11 – 22, 2025, Tuebingen, Germany

Marco Bertamini, David Brainard, Peter Dayan, Andrea van Doorn, Roland Fleming, Pascal Fries, Wilson S Geisler, Robbe Goris, Sheng He, Tadashi Isa, Tomas Knapen, Jan Koenderink, Larry Maloney, Keith May, Marcello Rosa, Jonathan Victor
Aug 14, 2025

Applications are invited for our third edition of Systems Vision Science (SVS) summer school since 2023, designed for everyone interested in gaining a systems level understanding of biological vision. We plan a coherent, graduate-level, syllabus on the integration of experimental data with theory and models, featuring lectures, guided exercises and discussion sessions. The summer school will end with a Systems Vision Science symposium on frontier topics on August 20-22, with additional invited and contributed presentations and posters. Call for contributions and participations to the symposium will be sent out spring of 2025. All summer school participants are invited to attend, and welcome to submit contributions to the symposium.

SeminarNeuroscience

The Systems Vision Science Summer School & Symposium, August 11 – 22, 2025, Tuebingen, Germany

Marco Bertamini, David Brainard, Peter Dayan, Andrea van Doorn, Roland Fleming, Pascal Fries, Wilson S Geisler, Robbe Goris, Sheng He, Tadashi Isa, Tomas Knapen, Jan Koenderink, Larry Maloney, Keith May, Marcello Rosa, Jonathan Victor
Aug 13, 2025

Applications are invited for our third edition of Systems Vision Science (SVS) summer school since 2023, designed for everyone interested in gaining a systems level understanding of biological vision. We plan a coherent, graduate-level, syllabus on the integration of experimental data with theory and models, featuring lectures, guided exercises and discussion sessions. The summer school will end with a Systems Vision Science symposium on frontier topics on August 20-22, with additional invited and contributed presentations and posters. Call for contributions and participations to the symposium will be sent out spring of 2025. All summer school participants are invited to attend, and welcome to submit contributions to the symposium.

SeminarNeuroscience

The Systems Vision Science Summer School & Symposium, August 11 – 22, 2025, Tuebingen, Germany

Marco Bertamini, David Brainard, Peter Dayan, Andrea van Doorn, Roland Fleming, Pascal Fries, Wilson S Geisler, Robbe Goris, Sheng He, Tadashi Isa, Tomas Knapen, Jan Koenderink, Larry Maloney, Keith May, Marcello Rosa, Jonathan Victor
Aug 12, 2025

Applications are invited for our third edition of Systems Vision Science (SVS) summer school since 2023, designed for everyone interested in gaining a systems level understanding of biological vision. We plan a coherent, graduate-level, syllabus on the integration of experimental data with theory and models, featuring lectures, guided exercises and discussion sessions. The summer school will end with a Systems Vision Science symposium on frontier topics on August 20-22, with additional invited and contributed presentations and posters. Call for contributions and participations to the symposium will be sent out spring of 2025. All summer school participants are invited to attend, and welcome to submit contributions to the symposium.

SeminarNeuroscience

The Systems Vision Science Summer School & Symposium, August 11 – 22, 2025, Tuebingen, Germany

Marco Bertamini, David Brainard, Peter Dayan, Andrea van Doorn, Roland Fleming, Pascal Fries, Wilson S Geisler, Robbe Goris, Sheng He, Tadashi Isa, Tomas Knapen, Jan Koenderink, Larry Maloney, Keith May, Marcello Rosa, Jonathan Victor
Aug 11, 2025

Applications are invited for our third edition of Systems Vision Science (SVS) summer school since 2023, designed for everyone interested in gaining a systems level understanding of biological vision. We plan a coherent, graduate-level, syllabus on the integration of experimental data with theory and models, featuring lectures, guided exercises and discussion sessions. The summer school will end with a Systems Vision Science symposium on frontier topics on August 20-22, with additional invited and contributed presentations and posters. Call for contributions and participations to the symposium will be sent out spring of 2025. All summer school participants are invited to attend, and welcome to submit contributions to the symposium.

SeminarNeuroscience

The Systems Vision Science Summer School & Symposium, August 11 – 22, 2025, Tuebingen, Germany

Marco Bertamini, David Brainard, Peter Dayan, Andrea van Doorn, Roland Fleming, Pascal Fries, Wilson S Geisler, Robbe Goris, Sheng He, Tadashi Isa, Tomas Knapen, Jan Koenderink, Larry Maloney, Keith May, Marcello Rosa, Jonathan Victor
Aug 10, 2025

Applications are invited for our third edition of Systems Vision Science (SVS) summer school since 2023, designed for everyone interested in gaining a systems level understanding of biological vision. We plan a coherent, graduate-level, syllabus on the integration of experimental data with theory and models, featuring lectures, guided exercises and discussion sessions. The summer school will end with a Systems Vision Science symposium on frontier topics on August 20-22, with additional invited and contributed presentations and posters. Call for contributions and participations to the symposium will be sent out spring of 2025. All summer school participants are invited to attend, and welcome to submit contributions to the symposium.

SeminarPsychology

A personal journey on understanding intelligence

Li Yang Ku
Google DeepMind
Jul 15, 2025

The focus of this talk is not about my research in AI or Robotics but my own journey on trying to do research and understand intelligence in a rapidly evolving research landscape. I will trace my path from conducting early-stage research during graduate school, to working on practical solutions within a startup environment, and finally to my current role where I participate in more structured research at a major tech company. Through these varied experiences, I will provide different perspectives on research and talk about how my core beliefs on intelligence have changed and sometimes even been compromised. There are no lessons to be learned from my stories, but hopefully they will be entertaining.

SeminarNeuroscience

Understanding reward-guided learning using large-scale datasets

Kim Stachenfeld
DeepMind, Columbia U
Jul 8, 2025

Understanding the neural mechanisms of reward-guided learning is a long-standing goal of computational neuroscience. Recent methodological innovations enable us to collect ever larger neural and behavioral datasets. This presents opportunities to achieve greater understanding of learning in the brain at scale, as well as methodological challenges. In the first part of the talk, I will discuss our recent insights into the mechanisms by which zebra finch songbirds learn to sing. Dopamine has been long thought to guide reward-based trial-and-error learning by encoding reward prediction errors. However, it is unknown whether the learning of natural behaviours, such as developmental vocal learning, occurs through dopamine-based reinforcement. Longitudinal recordings of dopamine and bird songs reveal that dopamine activity is indeed consistent with encoding a reward prediction error during naturalistic learning. In the second part of the talk, I will talk about recent work we are doing at DeepMind to develop tools for automatically discovering interpretable models of behavior directly from animal choice data. Our method, dubbed CogFunSearch, uses LLMs within an evolutionary search process in order to "discover" novel models in the form of Python programs that excel at accurately predicting animal behavior during reward-guided learning. The discovered programs reveal novel patterns of learning and choice behavior that update our understanding of how the brain solves reinforcement learning problems.

SeminarNeuroscience

“Brain theory, what is it or what should it be?”

Prof. Guenther Palm
University of Ulm
Jun 26, 2025

n the neurosciences the need for some 'overarching' theory is sometimes expressed, but it is not always obvious what is meant by this. One can perhaps agree that in modern science observation and experimentation is normally complemented by 'theory', i.e. the development of theoretical concepts that help guiding and evaluating experiments and measurements. A deeper discussion of 'brain theory' will require the clarification of some further distictions, in particular: theory vs. model and brain research (and its theory) vs. neuroscience. Other questions are: Does a theory require mathematics? Or even differential equations? Today it is often taken for granted that the whole universe including everything in it, for example humans, animals, and plants, can be adequately treated by physics and therefore theoretical physics is the overarching theory. Even if this is the case, it has turned out that in some particular parts of physics (the historical example is thermodynamics) it may be useful to simplify the theory by introducing additional theoretical concepts that can in principle be 'reduced' to more complex descriptions on the 'microscopic' level of basic physical particals and forces. In this sense, brain theory may be regarded as part of theoretical neuroscience, which is inside biophysics and therefore inside physics, or theoretical physics. Still, in neuroscience and brain research, additional concepts are typically used to describe results and help guiding experimentation that are 'outside' physics, beginning with neurons and synapses, names of brain parts and areas, up to concepts like 'learning', 'motivation', 'attention'. Certainly, we do not yet have one theory that includes all these concepts. So 'brain theory' is still in a 'pre-newtonian' state. However, it may still be useful to understand in general the relations between a larger theory and its 'parts', or between microscopic and macroscopic theories, or between theories at different 'levels' of description. This is what I plan to do.

SeminarOpen Source

Open SPM: A Modular Framework for Scanning Probe Microscopy

Marcos Penedo Garcia
Senior scientist, LBNI-IBI, EPFL Lausanne, Switzerland
Jun 23, 2025

OpenSPM aims to democratize innovation in the field of scanning probe microscopy (SPM), which is currently dominated by a few proprietary, closed systems that limit user-driven development. Our platform includes a high-speed OpenAFM head and base optimized for small cantilevers, an OpenAFM controller, a high-voltage amplifier, and interfaces compatible with several commercial AFM systems such as the Bruker Multimode, Nanosurf DriveAFM, Witec Alpha SNOM, Zeiss FIB-SEM XB550, and Nenovision Litescope. We have created a fully documented and community-driven OpenSPM platform, with training resources and sourcing information, which has already enabled the construction of more than 15 systems outside our lab. The controller is integrated with open-source tools like Gwyddion, HDF5, and Pycroscopy. We have also engaged external companies, two of which are integrating our controller into their products or interfaces. We see growing interest in applying parts of the OpenSPM platform to related techniques such as correlated microscopy, nanoindentation, and scanning electron/confocal microscopy. To support this, we are developing more generic and modular software, alongside a structured development workflow. A key feature of the OpenSPM system is its Python-based API, which makes the platform fully scriptable and ideal for AI and machine learning applications. This enables, for instance, automatic control and optimization of PID parameters, setpoints, and experiment workflows. With a growing contributor base and industry involvement, OpenSPM is well positioned to become a global, open platform for next-generation SPM innovation.

SeminarNeuroscience

Neural circuits underlying sleep structure and functions

Antoine Adamantidis
University of Bern
Jun 12, 2025

Sleep is an active state critical for processing emotional memories encoded during waking in both humans and animals. There is a remarkable overlap between the brain structures and circuits active during sleep, particularly rapid eye-movement (REM) sleep, and the those encoding emotions. Accordingly, disruptions in sleep quality or quantity, including REM sleep, are often associated with, and precede the onset of, nearly all affective psychiatric and mood disorders. In this context, a major biomedical challenge is to better understand the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between (REM) sleep and emotion encoding to improve treatments for mental health. This lecture will summarize our investigation of the cellular and circuit mechanisms underlying sleep architecture, sleep oscillations, and local brain dynamics across sleep-wake states using electrophysiological recordings combined with single-cell calcium imaging or optogenetics. The presentation will detail the discovery of a 'somato-dendritic decoupling'in prefrontal cortex pyramidal neurons underlying REM sleep-dependent stabilization of optimal emotional memory traces. This decoupling reflects a tonic inhibition at the somas of pyramidal cells, occurring simultaneously with a selective disinhibition of their dendritic arbors selectively during REM sleep. Recent findings on REM sleep-dependent subcortical inputs and neuromodulation of this decoupling will be discussed in the context of synaptic plasticity and the optimization of emotional responses in the maintenance of mental health.

SeminarNeuroscience

From Spiking Predictive Coding to Learning Abstract Object Representation

Prof. Jochen Triesch
Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies
Jun 11, 2025

In a first part of the talk, I will present Predictive Coding Light (PCL), a novel unsupervised learning architecture for spiking neural networks. In contrast to conventional predictive coding approaches, which only transmit prediction errors to higher processing stages, PCL learns inhibitory lateral and top-down connectivity to suppress the most predictable spikes and passes a compressed representation of the input to higher processing stages. We show that PCL reproduces a range of biological findings and exhibits a favorable tradeoff between energy consumption and downstream classification performance on challenging benchmarks. A second part of the talk will feature our lab’s efforts to explain how infants and toddlers might learn abstract object representations without supervision. I will present deep learning models that exploit the temporal and multimodal structure of their sensory inputs to learn representations of individual objects, object categories, or abstract super-categories such as „kitchen object“ in a fully unsupervised fashion. These models offer a parsimonious account of how abstract semantic knowledge may be rooted in children's embodied first-person experiences.

SeminarNeuroscience

“Development and application of gaze control models for active perception”

Prof. Bert Shi
Professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)
Jun 11, 2025

Gaze shifts in humans serve to direct high-resolution vision provided by the fovea towards areas in the environment. Gaze can be considered a proxy for attention or indicator of the relative importance of different parts of the environment. In this talk, we discuss the development of generative models of human gaze in response to visual input. We discuss how such models can be learned, both using supervised learning and using implicit feedback as an agent interacts with the environment, the latter being more plausible in biological agents. We also discuss two ways such models can be used. First, they can be used to improve the performance of artificial autonomous systems, in applications such as autonomous navigation. Second, because these models are contingent on the human’s task, goals, and/or state in the context of the environment, observations of gaze can be used to infer information about user intent. This information can be used to improve human-machine and human robot interaction, by making interfaces more anticipative. We discuss example applications in gaze-typing, robotic tele-operation and human-robot interaction.

SeminarNeuroscience

Neurobiological constraints on learning: bug or feature?

Cian O’Donell
Ulster University
Jun 10, 2025

Understanding how brains learn requires bridging evidence across scales—from behaviour and neural circuits to cells, synapses, and molecules. In our work, we use computational modelling and data analysis to explore how the physical properties of neurons and neural circuits constrain learning. These include limits imposed by brain wiring, energy availability, molecular noise, and the 3D structure of dendritic spines. In this talk I will describe one such project testing if wiring motifs from fly brain connectomes can improve performance of reservoir computers, a type of recurrent neural network. The hope is that these insights into brain learning will lead to improved learning algorithms for artificial systems.

SeminarPsychology

An Ecological and Objective Neural Marker of Implicit Unfamiliar Identity Recognition

Tram Nguyen
University of Malta
Jun 10, 2025

We developed a novel paradigm measuring implicit identity recognition using Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation (FPVS) with EEG among 16 students and 12 police officers with normal face processing abilities. Participants' neural responses to a 1-Hz tagged oddball identity embedded within a 6-Hz image stream revealed implicit recognition with high-quality mugshots but not CCTV-like images, suggesting optimal resolution requirements. Our findings extend previous research by demonstrating that even unfamiliar identities can elicit robust neural recognition signatures through brief, repeated passive exposure. This approach offers potential for objective validation of face processing abilities in forensic applications, including assessment of facial examiners, Super-Recognisers, and eyewitnesses, potentially overcoming limitations of traditional behavioral assessment methods.

SeminarNeuroscience

Immune and metabolic regulation of sensorimotor physiology and repair

Simone Di Giovanni
Department of Brain Sciences - Imperial College London, UK
Jun 4, 2025
SeminarNeuroscience

Expanding mechanisms and therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative disease

Aaron D. Gitler
Department of Genetics, Stanford University
Jun 4, 2025

A hallmark pathological feature of the neurodegenerative diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the depletion of RNA-binding protein TDP-43 from the nucleus of neurons in the brain and spinal cord. A major function of TDP-43 is as a repressor of cryptic exon inclusion during RNA splicing. By re-analyzing RNA-sequencing datasets from human FTD/ALS brains, we discovered dozens of novel cryptic splicing events in important neuronal genes. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in UNC13A are among the strongest hits associated with FTD and ALS in human genome-wide association studies, but how those variants increase risk for disease is unknown. We discovered that TDP-43 represses a cryptic exon-splicing event in UNC13A. Loss of TDP-43 from the nucleus in human brain, neuronal cell lines and motor neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells resulted in the inclusion of a cryptic exon in UNC13A mRNA and reduced UNC13A protein expression. The top variants associated with FTD or ALS risk in humans are located in the intron harboring the cryptic exon, and we show that they increase UNC13A cryptic exon splicing in the face of TDP-43 dysfunction. Together, our data provide a direct functional link between one of the strongest genetic risk factors for FTD and ALS (UNC13A genetic variants), and loss of TDP-43 function. Recent analyses have revealed even further changes in TDP-43 target genes, including widespread changes in alternative polyadenylation, impacting expression of disease-relevant genes (e.g., ELP1, NEFL, and TMEM106B) and providing evidence that alternative polyadenylation is a new facet of TDP-43 pathology.

SeminarPsychology

Short and Synthetically Distort: Investor Reactions to Deepfake Financial News

Marc Eulerich
Universität Duisburg-Essen
May 27, 2025

Recent advances in artificial intelligence have led to new forms of misinformation, including highly realistic “deepfake” synthetic media. We conduct three experiments to investigate how and why retail investors react to deepfake financial news. Results from the first two experiments provide evidence that investors use a “realism heuristic,” responding more intensely to audio and video deepfakes as their perceptual realism increases. In the third experiment, we introduce an intervention to prompt analytical thinking, varying whether participants make analytical judgments about credibility or intuitive investment judgments. When making intuitive investment judgments, investors are strongly influenced by both more and less realistic deepfakes. When making analytical credibility judgments, investors are able to discern the non-credibility of less realistic deepfakes but struggle with more realistic deepfakes. Thus, while analytical thinking can reduce the impact of less realistic deepfakes, highly realistic deepfakes are able to overcome this analytical scrutiny. Our results suggest that deepfake financial news poses novel threats to investors.

SeminarNeuroscienceRecording

Restoring Sight to the Blind: Effects of Structural and Functional Plasticity

Noelle Stiles
Rutgers University
May 21, 2025

Visual restoration after decades of blindness is now becoming possible by means of retinal and cortical prostheses, as well as emerging stem cell and gene therapeutic approaches. After restoring visual perception, however, a key question remains. Are there optimal means and methods for retraining the visual cortex to process visual inputs, and for learning or relearning to “see”? Up to this point, it has been largely assumed that if the sensory loss is visual, then the rehabilitation focus should also be primarily visual. However, the other senses play a key role in visual rehabilitation due to the plastic repurposing of visual cortex during blindness by audition and somatosensation, and also to the reintegration of restored vision with the other senses. I will present multisensory neuroimaging results, cortical thickness changes, as well as behavioral outcomes for patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), which causes blindness by destroying photoreceptors in the retina. These patients have had their vision partially restored by the implantation of a retinal prosthesis, which electrically stimulates still viable retinal ganglion cells in the eye. Our multisensory and structural neuroimaging and behavioral results suggest a new, holistic concept of visual rehabilitation that leverages rather than neglects audition, somatosensation, and other sensory modalities.

SeminarNeuroscience

Neural mechanisms of rhythmic motor control in Drosophila

John Tuthill
University of Washington, Seattle, USA
May 15, 2025

All animal locomotion is rhythmic,whether it is achieved through undulatory movement of the whole body or the coordination of articulated limbs. Neurobiologists have long studied locomotor circuits that produce rhythmic activity with non-rhythmic input, also called central pattern generators (CPGs). However, the cellular and microcircuit implementation of a walking CPG has not been described for any limbed animal. New comprehensive connectomes of the fruit fly ventral nerve cord (VNC) provide an opportunity to study rhythmogenic walking circuits at a synaptic scale.We use a data-driven network modeling approach to identify and characterize a putative walking CPG in the Drosophila leg motor system.

SeminarNeuroscience

Understanding reward-guided learning using large-scale datasets

Kim Stachenfeld
DeepMind, Columbia U
May 13, 2025

Understanding the neural mechanisms of reward-guided learning is a long-standing goal of computational neuroscience. Recent methodological innovations enable us to collect ever larger neural and behavioral datasets. This presents opportunities to achieve greater understanding of learning in the brain at scale, as well as methodological challenges. In the first part of the talk, I will discuss our recent insights into the mechanisms by which zebra finch songbirds learn to sing. Dopamine has been long thought to guide reward-based trial-and-error learning by encoding reward prediction errors. However, it is unknown whether the learning of natural behaviours, such as developmental vocal learning, occurs through dopamine-based reinforcement. Longitudinal recordings of dopamine and bird songs reveal that dopamine activity is indeed consistent with encoding a reward prediction error during naturalistic learning. In the second part of the talk, I will talk about recent work we are doing at DeepMind to develop tools for automatically discovering interpretable models of behavior directly from animal choice data. Our method, dubbed CogFunSearch, uses LLMs within an evolutionary search process in order to "discover" novel models in the form of Python programs that excel at accurately predicting animal behavior during reward-guided learning. The discovered programs reveal novel patterns of learning and choice behavior that update our understanding of how the brain solves reinforcement learning problems.

SeminarPsychology

Using Fast Periodic Visual Stimulation to measure cognitive function in dementia

George Stothart
University of Bath & Cumulus Neuroscience Ltd
May 13, 2025

Fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) has emerged as a promising tool for assessing cognitive function in individuals with dementia. This technique leverages electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain responses to rapidly presented visual stimuli, offering a non-invasive and objective method for evaluating a range of cognitive functions. Unlike traditional cognitive assessments, FPVS does not rely on behavioural responses, making it particularly suitable for individuals with cognitive impairment. In this talk I will highlight a series of studies that have demonstrated its ability to detect subtle deficits in recognition memory, visual processing and attention in dementia patients using EEG in the lab, at home and in clinic. The method is quick, cost-effective, and scalable, utilizing widely available EEG technology. FPVS holds significant potential as a functional biomarker for early diagnosis and monitoring of dementia, paving the way for timely interventions and improved patient outcomes.

SeminarNeuroscience

Recent views on pre-registration

Andy Jahn
University of Michigan
May 1, 2025

A discussion on some recent perspectives on pre-registration, which has become a growing trend in the past few years. This is not just limited to neuroimaging, and it applies to most scientific fields. We will start with this overview editorial by Simmons et al. (2021): https://faculty.wharton.upenn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/34-Simmons-Nelson-Simonsohn-2021a.pdf, and also talk about a more critical perspective by Pham & Oh (2021): https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michel-Pham/publication/349545600_Preregistration_Is_Neither_Sufficient_nor_Necessary_for_Good_Science/links/60fb311e2bf3553b29096aa7/Preregistration-Is-Neither-Sufficient-nor-Necessary-for-Good-Science.pdf. I would like us to discuss the pros and cons of pre-registration, and if we have time, I may do a demonstration of how to perform a pre-registration through the Open Science Framework.

SeminarNeuroscience

Relating circuit dynamics to computation: robustness and dimension-specific computation in cortical dynamics

Shaul Druckmann
Stanford department of Neurobiology and department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Apr 22, 2025

Neural dynamics represent the hard-to-interpret substrate of circuit computations. Advances in large-scale recordings have highlighted the sheer spatiotemporal complexity of circuit dynamics within and across circuits, portraying in detail the difficulty of interpreting such dynamics and relating it to computation. Indeed, even in extremely simplified experimental conditions, one observes high-dimensional temporal dynamics in the relevant circuits. This complexity can be potentially addressed by the notion that not all changes in population activity have equal meaning, i.e., a small change in the evolution of activity along a particular dimension may have a bigger effect on a given computation than a large change in another. We term such conditions dimension-specific computation. Considering motor preparatory activity in a delayed response task we utilized neural recordings performed simultaneously with optogenetic perturbations to probe circuit dynamics. First, we revealed a remarkable robustness in the detailed evolution of certain dimensions of the population activity, beyond what was thought to be the case experimentally and theoretically. Second, the robust dimension in activity space carries nearly all of the decodable behavioral information whereas other non-robust dimensions contained nearly no decodable information, as if the circuit was setup to make informative dimensions stiff, i.e., resistive to perturbations, leaving uninformative dimensions sloppy, i.e., sensitive to perturbations. Third, we show that this robustness can be achieved by a modular organization of circuitry, whereby modules whose dynamics normally evolve independently can correct each other’s dynamics when an individual module is perturbed, a common design feature in robust systems engineering. Finally, we will recent work extending this framework to understanding the neural dynamics underlying preparation of speech.

SeminarArtificial IntelligenceRecording

Computational modelling of ocular pharmacokinetics

Arto Urtti
School of Pharmacy, University of Eastern Finland
Apr 21, 2025

Pharmacokinetics in the eye is an important factor for the success of ocular drug delivery and treatment. Pharmacokinetic features determine the feasible routes of drug administration, dosing levels and intervals, and it has impact on eventual drug responses. Several physical, biochemical, and flow-related barriers limit drug exposure of anterior and posterior ocular target tissues during treatment during local (topical, subconjunctival, intravitreal) and systemic administration (intravenous, per oral). Mathematical models integrate joint impact of various barriers on ocular pharmacokinetics (PKs) thereby helping drug development. The models are useful in describing (top-down) and predicting (bottom-up) pharmacokinetics of ocular drugs. This is useful also in the design and development of new drug molecules and drug delivery systems. Furthermore, the models can be used for interspecies translation and probing of disease effects on pharmacokinetics. In this lecture, ocular pharmacokinetics and current modelling methods (noncompartmental analyses, compartmental, physiologically based, and finite element models) are introduced. Future challenges are also highlighted (e.g. intra-tissue distribution, prediction of drug responses, active transport).

SeminarNeuroscience

Neurosurgery & Consciousness: Bridging Science and Philosophy in the Age of AI

Isaakidis Dimitrios
Mediterranean Hospital of Cyprus
Apr 10, 2025

Overview of neurosurgery specialty interplay between neurology, psychiatry and neurosurgery. Discussion on benefits and disadvantages of classifications. Presentation of sub-specialties: trauma, oncology, functional, pediatric, vascular and spine. How does an ordinary day of a neurosurgeon look like; outpatient clinic, emergencies, pre/intra/post operative patient care. An ordinary operation. Myth-busting and practical insights of every day practice. An ordinary operation. Hint for research on clinical problems to be solved. The coming ethical frontiers of neuroprosthetics. In part two we will explore the explanatory gap and its significance. We will review the more than 200 theories of the hard problem of consciousness, from the prevailing to the unconventional. Finally, we are going to reflect on the AI advancements and the claims of LLMs becoming conscious

SeminarNeuroscienceRecording

Memory Decoding Journal Club: Reconstructing a new hippocampal engram for systems reconsolidation and remote memory updating

Randal A. Koene
Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, Carboncopies
Apr 7, 2025

Join us for the Memory Decoding Journal Club, a collaboration between the Carboncopies Foundation and BPF Aspirational Neuroscience. This month, we're diving into a groundbreaking paper: 'Reconstructing a new hippocampal engram for systems reconsolidation and remote memory updating' by Bo Lei, Bilin Kang, Yuejun Hao, Haoyu Yang, Zihan Zhong, Zihan Zhai, and Yi Zhong from Tsinghua University, Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence, IDG/McGovern Institute of Brain Research, and Peking Union Medical College. Dr. Randal Koene will guide us through an engaging discussion on these exciting findings and their implications for neuroscience and memory research.

SeminarNeuroscience

Active Predictive Coding and the Primacy of Actions in Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Rajesh Rao
University of Washington
Apr 6, 2025
SeminarNeuroscience

Decoding ketamine: Neurobiological mechanisms underlying its rapid antidepressant efficacy

Zanos Panos
Translational Neuropharmacology Lab, University of Cyprus, Center for Applied Neurosience & Department of Psychology, Nicosia, Cyprus
Apr 3, 2025

Unlike traditional monoamine-based antidepressants that require weeks to exert effects, ketamine alleviates depression within hours, though its clinical use is limited by side effects. While ketamine was initially thought to work primarily through NMDA receptor (NMDAR) inhibition, our research reveals a more complex mechanism. We demonstrate that NMDAR inhibition alone cannot explain ketamine's sustained antidepressant effects, as other NMDAR antagonists like MK-801 lack similar efficacy. Instead, the (2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine (HNK) metabolite appears critical, exhibiting antidepressant effects without ketamine's side effects. Paradoxically, our findings suggest an inverted U-shaped dose-response relationship where excessive NMDAR inhibition may actually impede antidepressant efficacy, while some level of NMDAR activation is necessary. The antidepressant actions of ketamine and (2R,6R)-HNK require AMPA receptor activation, leading to synaptic potentiation and upregulation of AMPA receptor subunits GluA1 and GluA2. Furthermore, NMDAR subunit GluN2A appears necessary and possibly sufficient for these effects. This research establishes NMDAR-GluN2A activation as a common downstream effector for rapid-acting antidepressants, regardless of their initial targets, offering promising directions for developing next-generation antidepressants with improved efficacy and reduced side effects.

SeminarNeuroscience

Pain in the Brain: A Drink a Day Could Bring More Than You Bargain

Michael Burton
Department of Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Dallas
Mar 17, 2025
SeminarNeuroscience

Cognitive maps as expectations learned across episodes – a model of the two dentate gyrus blades

Andrej Bicanski
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Mar 11, 2025

How can the hippocampal system transition from episodic one-shot learning to a multi-shot learning regime and what is the utility of the resultant neural representations? This talk will explore the role of the dentate gyrus (DG) anatomy in this context. The canonical DG model suggests it performs pattern separation. More recent experimental results challenge this standard model, suggesting DG function is more complex and also supports the precise binding of objects and events to space and the integration of information across episodes. Very recent studies attribute pattern separation and pattern integration to anatomically distinct parts of the DG (the suprapyramidal blade vs the infrapyramidal blade). We propose a computational model that investigates this distinction. In the model the two processing streams (potentially localized in separate blades) contribute to the storage of distinct episodic memories, and the integration of information across episodes, respectively. The latter forms generalized expectations across episodes, eventually forming a cognitive map. We train the model with two data sets, MNIST and plausible entorhinal cortex inputs. The comparison between the two streams allows for the calculation of a prediction error, which can drive the storage of poorly predicted memories and the forgetting of well-predicted memories. We suggest that differential processing across the DG aids in the iterative construction of spatial cognitive maps to serve the generation of location-dependent expectations, while at the same time preserving episodic memory traces of idiosyncratic events.

SeminarPsychology

PhenoSign - Molecular Dynamic Insights

Andreas Häberli
PhenoSign
Feb 25, 2025

Do You Know Your Blood Glucose Level? You Probably Should! A single measurement is not enough to truly understand your metabolic health. Blood glucose levels fluctuate dynamically, and meaningful insights require continuous monitoring over time. But glucose is just one example. Many other molecular concentrations in the body are not static. Their variations are influenced by individual physiology and overall health. PhenoSign, a Swiss MedTech startup, is on a mission to become the leader in real-time molecular analysis of complex fluids, supporting clinical decision-making and life sciences applications. By providing real-time, in-situ molecular insights, we aim to advance medicine and transform life sciences research. This talk will provide an overview of PhenoSign’s journey since its inception in 2022—our achievements, challenges, and the strategic roadmap we are executing to shape the future of real-time molecular diagnostics.

SeminarNeuroscience

Learning Representations of Complex Meaning in the Human Brain

Leila Wehbe
Associate Professor, Machine Learning Department, Carnegie Mellon University
Feb 23, 2025
SeminarNeuroscienceRecording

Brain Emulation Challenge Workshop

Konrad Kording
Professor,University of Pennsylvania, Department of Neuroscience and Department of Bioengineering
Feb 21, 2025

Brain Emulation Challenge workshop will tackle cutting-edge topics such as ground-truthing for validation, leveraging artificial datasets generated from virtual brain tissue, and the transformative potential of virtual brain platforms, such as applied to the forthcoming Brain Emulation Challenge.

SeminarNeuroscienceRecording

Brain Emulation Challenge Workshop

Philip Shiu
Neuroscientist at A.I., Cognitive Science and Neurobiology Company, EON Systems
Feb 21, 2025

Brain Emulation Challenge workshop will tackle cutting-edge topics such as ground-truthing for validation, leveraging artificial datasets generated from virtual brain tissue, and the transformative potential of virtual brain platforms, such as applied to the forthcoming Brain Emulation Challenge.

SeminarNeuroscienceRecording

Brain Emulation Challenge Workshop

Razvan Marinescu
Assistant Professor, UC Santa Cruz, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Feb 21, 2025

Brain Emulation Challenge workshop will tackle cutting-edge topics such as ground-truthing for validation, leveraging artificial datasets generated from virtual brain tissue, and the transformative potential of virtual brain platforms, such as applied to the forthcoming Brain Emulation Challenge.

SeminarNeuroscienceRecording

Brain Emulation Challenge Workshop

Randal A. Koene
Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, Carboncopies
Feb 21, 2025

Brain Emulation Challenge workshop will tackle cutting-edge topics such as ground-truthing for validation, leveraging artificial datasets generated from virtual brain tissue, and the transformative potential of virtual brain platforms, such as applied to the forthcoming Brain Emulation Challenge.

SeminarNeuroscienceRecording

Brain Emulation Challenge Workshop

Janne K. Lappalainen
University of Tübingen and Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems
Feb 21, 2025

Brain Emulation Challenge workshop will tackle cutting-edge topics such as ground-truthing for validation, leveraging artificial datasets generated from virtual brain tissue, and the transformative potential of virtual brain platforms, such as applied to the forthcoming Brain Emulation Challenge.

SeminarNeuroscience

Structural & Functional Neuroplasticity in Children with Hemiplegia

Christos Papadelis
University of Texas at Arlington
Feb 20, 2025

About 30% of children with cerebral palsy have congenital hemiplegia, resulting from periventricular white matter injury, which impairs the use of one hand and disrupts bimanual co-ordination. Congenital hemiplegia has a profound effect on each child's life and, thus, is of great importance to the public health. Changes in brain organization (neuroplasticity) often occur following periventricular white matter injury. These changes vary widely depending on the timing, location, and extent of the injury, as well as the functional system involved. Currently, we have limited knowledge of neuroplasticity in children with congenital hemiplegia. As a result, we provide rehabilitation treatment to these children almost blindly based exclusively on behavioral data. In this talk, I will present recent research evidence of my team on understanding neuroplasticity in children with congenital hemiplegia by using a multimodal neuroimaging approach that combines data from structural and functional neuroimaging methods. I will further present preliminary data regarding functional improvements of upper extremities motor and sensory functions as a result of rehabilitation with a robotic system that involves active participation of the child in a video-game setup. Our research is essential for the development of novel or improved neurological rehabilitation strategies for children with congenital hemiplegia.

SeminarNeuroscience

Vision for perception versus vision for action: dissociable contributions of visual sensory drives from primary visual cortex and superior colliculus neurons to orienting behaviors

Prof. Dr. Ziad M. Hafed
Werner Reichardt Center for Integrative Neuroscience, and Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research University of Tübingen
Feb 11, 2025

The primary visual cortex (V1) directly projects to the superior colliculus (SC) and is believed to provide sensory drive for eye movements. Consistent with this, a majority of saccade-related SC neurons also exhibit short-latency, stimulus-driven visual responses, which are additionally feature-tuned. However, direct neurophysiological comparisons of the visual response properties of the two anatomically-connected brain areas are surprisingly lacking, especially with respect to active looking behaviors. I will describe a series of experiments characterizing visual response properties in primate V1 and SC neurons, exploring feature dimensions like visual field location, spatial frequency, orientation, contrast, and luminance polarity. The results suggest a substantial, qualitative reformatting of SC visual responses when compared to V1. For example, SC visual response latencies are actively delayed, independent of individual neuron tuning preferences, as a function of increasing spatial frequency, and this phenomenon is directly correlated with saccadic reaction times. Such “coarse-to-fine” rank ordering of SC visual response latencies as a function of spatial frequency is much weaker in V1, suggesting a dissociation of V1 responses from saccade timing. Consistent with this, when we next explored trial-by-trial correlations of individual neurons’ visual response strengths and visual response latencies with saccadic reaction times, we found that most SC neurons exhibited, on a trial-by-trial basis, stronger and earlier visual responses for faster saccadic reaction times. Moreover, these correlations were substantially higher for visual-motor neurons in the intermediate and deep layers than for more superficial visual-only neurons. No such correlations existed systematically in V1. Thus, visual responses in SC and V1 serve fundamentally different roles in active vision: V1 jumpstarts sensing and image analysis, but SC jumpstarts moving. I will finish by demonstrating, using V1 reversible inactivation, that, despite reformatting of signals from V1 to the brainstem, V1 is still a necessary gateway for visually-driven oculomotor responses to occur, even for the most reflexive of eye movement phenomena. This is a fundamental difference from rodent studies demonstrating clear V1-independent processing in afferent visual pathways bypassing the geniculostriate one, and it demonstrates the importance of multi-species comparisons in the study of oculomotor control.

SeminarNeuroscience

Neural architectures: what are they good for anyway?

Dan Goodman
Imperial College London
Feb 11, 2025

The brain has a highly complex structure in terms of cell types and wiring between different regions. What is it for, if anything? I'll start this talk by asking what might an answer to this question even look like given that we can't run an alternative universe where our brains are structured differently. (Preview: we can do this with models!) I'll then talk about some of our work in two areas: (1) does the modular structure of the brain contribute to specialisation of function? (2) how do different cell types and architectures contribute to multimodal sensory processing?

SeminarNeuroscience

Circuit Mechanisms of Remote Memory

Lauren DeNardo, PhD
Department of Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
Feb 10, 2025

Memories of emotionally-salient events are long-lasting, guiding behavior from minutes to years after learning. The prelimbic cortex (PL) is required for fear memory retrieval across time and is densely interconnected with many subcortical and cortical areas involved in recent and remote memory recall, including the temporal association area (TeA). While the behavioral expression of a memory may remain constant over time, the neural activity mediating memory-guided behavior is dynamic. In PL, different neurons underlie recent and remote memory retrieval and remote memory-encoding neurons have preferential functional connectivity with cortical association areas, including TeA. TeA plays a preferential role in remote compared to recent memory retrieval, yet how TeA circuits drive remote memory retrieval remains poorly understood. Here we used a combination of activity-dependent neuronal tagging, viral circuit mapping and miniscope imaging to investigate the role of the PL-TeA circuit in fear memory retrieval across time in mice. We show that PL memory ensembles recruit PL-TeA neurons across time, and that PL-TeA neurons have enhanced encoding of salient cues and behaviors at remote timepoints. This recruitment depends upon ongoing synaptic activity in the learning-activated PL ensemble. Our results reveal a novel circuit encoding remote memory and provide insight into the principles of memory circuit reorganization across time.

SeminarNeuroscience

Analyzing Network-Level Brain Processing and Plasticity Using Molecular Neuroimaging

Alan Jasanoff
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jan 27, 2025

Behavior and cognition depend on the integrated action of neural structures and populations distributed throughout the brain. We recently developed a set of molecular imaging tools that enable multiregional processing and plasticity in neural networks to be studied at a brain-wide scale in rodents and nonhuman primates. Here we will describe how a novel genetically encoded activity reporter enables information flow in virally labeled neural circuitry to be monitored by fMRI. Using the reporter to perform functional imaging of synaptically defined neural populations in the rat somatosensory system, we show how activity is transformed within brain regions to yield characteristics specific to distinct output projections. We also show how this approach enables regional activity to be modeled in terms of inputs, in a paradigm that we are extending to address circuit-level origins of functional specialization in marmoset brains. In the second part of the talk, we will discuss how another genetic tool for MRI enables systematic studies of the relationship between anatomical and functional connectivity in the mouse brain. We show that variations in physical and functional connectivity can be dissociated both across individual subjects and over experience. We also use the tool to examine brain-wide relationships between plasticity and activity during an opioid treatment. This work demonstrates the possibility of studying diverse brain-wide processing phenomena using molecular neuroimaging.

SeminarNeuroscience

Enhancing Real-World Event Memory

Morgan Barense
University of Toronto
Jan 21, 2025

Memory is essential for shaping how we interpret the world, plan for the future, and understand ourselves, yet effective cognitive interventions for real-world episodic memory loss remain scarce. This talk introduces HippoCamera, a smartphone-based intervention inspired by how the brain supports memory, designed to enhance real-world episodic recollection by replaying high-fidelity autobiographical cues. It will showcase how our approach improves memory, mood, and hippocampal activity while uncovering links between memory distinctiveness, well-being, and the perception of time.

Conference

FENS Forum 2024

Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Center, Vienna, Austria
Jun 25, 2024

Organised by FENS in partnership with the Austrian Neuroscience Association and the Hungarian Neuroscience Society, the FENS Forum 2024 will take place on 25–29 June 2024 in Vienna, Austria:contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}. The FENS Forum is Europe’s largest neuroscience congress, covering all areas of neuroscience from basic to translational research:contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}.

ePoster

Biological-plausible learning with a two compartment neuron model in recurrent neural networks

Timo Oess, Daniel Schmid, Heiko Neumann

Bernstein Conference 2024

ePoster

Is the cortical dynamics ergodic? A numerical study in partially-symmetric networks of spiking neurons

Ferdinand Tixidre, Gianluigi Mongillo, Alessandro Torcini

Bernstein Conference 2024

ePoster

Dendrites endow artificial neural networks with accurate, robust and parameter-efficient learning

Spyridon Chavlis, Panayiota Poirazi

Bernstein Conference 2024

ePoster

End-to-end pipeline to achieve state-of-the-art cell typing in large-scale retinal recordings

Chiara Boscarino, Simone Azeglio, Thomas Buffet, Gabriel Mahuas, Ulisse Ferrari, Olivier Marre

Bernstein Conference 2024

ePoster

Integrating Biological and Artificial Neural Networks for Solving Non-Linear Problems

Katarina Vulić, Joël Küchler, Jona Schulz, Haotian Yao, Christian Valmaggia, Sean Weaver, Stephan Ihle, Jens Duru, Janos Vörös

Bernstein Conference 2024

ePoster

The retina processes different parts of a moving object in parallel

Samuele Virgili, Thomas Buffet, Olivier Marre

Bernstein Conference 2024

ePoster

Emergent behavior and neural dynamics in artificial agents tracking turbulent plumes

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

Gaussian Partial Information Decomposition: Quantifying Inter-areal Interactions in High-Dimensional Neural Data

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

Gaussian Partial Information Decomposition: Quantifying Inter-areal Interactions in High-Dimensional Neural Data

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

A genetic algorithm to uncover internal representations in biological and artificial brains

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

A genetic algorithm to uncover internal representations in biological and artificial brains

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

A latent model of calcium activity outperforms alternatives at removing behavioral artifacts in two-channel calcium imaging

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

A latent model of calcium activity outperforms alternatives at removing behavioral artifacts in two-channel calcium imaging

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

Learning sequences with fast and slow parts

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

Learning sequences with fast and slow parts

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

Multiscale encodings of memories in hippocampal and artificial networks

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

Multiscale encodings of memories in hippocampal and artificial networks

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

Phase dependent maintenance of temporal order in biological and artificial recurrent neural networks

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

Phase dependent maintenance of temporal order in biological and artificial recurrent neural networks

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

The smart image compression algorithm in the retina: recoding inputs in neural circuits

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

The smart image compression algorithm in the retina: recoding inputs in neural circuits

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

Model metamers complement existing benchmarks of biological and artificial neural network alignment

Jenelle Feather & Josh McDermott

COSYNE 2023

ePoster

Using Markov Decision Processes to benchmark the performance of artificial and biological agents

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

Using Markov Decision Processes to benchmark the performance of artificial and biological agents

COSYNE 2022

ePoster

Pre-training artificial neural networks with spontaneous retinal activity improves image prediction

Lilly May, Alice Dauphin, Julijana Gjorgjieva

COSYNE 2023

ePoster

Reinforcement learning at multiple timescales in biological and artificial neural networks

Paul Masset, Pablo Tano, Athar Malik, HyungGoo Kim, Pol Bech, Alexandre Pouget, Naoshige Uchida

COSYNE 2023

ePoster

Slow, low-dimensional dynamics in balanced networks with partially symmetric connectivity

Xiaoyu Yang, Giancarlo La Camera, Gianluigi Mongillo

COSYNE 2023

ePoster

Compartmentalized pooling generates orientation selectivity in wide-field amacrine cells

Wanyu Lei, Damon Clark, Jonathan Demb

COSYNE 2025

ePoster

Compartment-specific stability in CA3 pyramidal neuron dendrites revealed by automatic segmentation

Jason Moore, Dmitri Chklovskii, Jayeeta Basu

COSYNE 2025

ePoster

Disentangling partially independent low-rank nerual representations and connectivity

Chengrui Li, Yunmiao Wang, Yule Wang, Weihan Li, Dieter Jaeger, Anqi Wu

COSYNE 2025

ePoster

Inter-individual Variability in Primate Inferior Temporal Cortex Representations: Insights from Macaque Neural Responses and Artificial Neural Networks

Kohitij Kar, James DiCarlo

COSYNE 2025

ePoster

Mapping social perception to social behavior using artificial neural networks

Nate Dolensek, Doris Tsao, Shi Chen

COSYNE 2025

ePoster

Neuron participation in temporal patterns forms cross-layer, non-random networks in rat motor cortex

Milena Menezes Carvalho, Ruxandra Cojocaru, Tomoki Fukai

COSYNE 2025

ePoster

Non-invasive brain-machine interface control with artificial intelligence copilots

Johannes Lee, Sangjoon Lee, Abhishek Mishra, Xu Yan, Brandon McMahan, Brent Gaisford, Charles Kobashigawa, Mike Qu, Chang Xie, Jonathan Kao

COSYNE 2025

ePoster

Probing Motion-Form Interactions in the Macaque Inferior Temporal Cortex and Artificial Neural Networks for Complex Scene Understanding

Jean de Dieu Uwisengeyimana, Kohitij Kar

COSYNE 2025

ePoster

2P-STED imaging of the microglial tripartite synapse in vivo

Nala Gockel, Felix Nebeling, Martin Fuhrmann

FENS Forum 2024

ePoster

Acting from the heart: Behavior and cognitive function of rats with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and empagliflozin effects

Débora Inês Vilas Boas Costa, Inês Falcão-Pires, Ana Charrua, Susana Maria Silva

FENS Forum 2024

ePoster

Artifact identification in transfer entropy connectivity inference of neuronal cultures

Mikel Ocio-Moliner, Angelo Piga, Jordi Soriano

FENS Forum 2024

ePoster

Adhesion dynamics in the neocortex determine the start of migration and the post-migratory orientation of neurons

Elisa Pedersen, Ekaterina Epifanova, Valentina Salina, Denis Lajkó, Kathrin Textoris-Taube, Thomas Naumann, Olga Bormuth, Ingo Bormuth, Stephen Horan, Theres Schaub, Ekaterina Borisova, Mateusz C. Ambrozkiewicz, Victor Tarabykin, Marta Rosário

FENS Forum 2024

ePoster

Intrinsic dimension of neural activity: comparing artificial and biological neural networks

Jacopo Fadanni, Giacomo Gasparotto, Rosalba Pacelli, Marco Dal Maschio, Marco Salamanca, Marica Albanesi, Pietro Rotondo, Michele Allegra

Bernstein Conference 2024