News
31 May 2024Human Memory Circuits: interdisciplinary meeting of the Spanish EBRAINS Node
The Spanish EBRAINS Node meeting on human memory circuits was held in a truly inspiring venue – the lecture theatre where Santiago Ramon y Cajal, a Nobel Prize-winning Spanish neuroscientist, pathologist, and histologist specializing in neuroanatomy and the central nervous system, imparted his knowledge at Madrid’s former Medical Faculty. It is fair to say that the scientific level of the presentations and subsequent discussions would have been met with the approval of one of the pioneers of modern neuroscience.
The meeting addressed human brain circuits related to memory, from a multilevel perspective of molecular biology, anatomy, physiology, pathology and modelling. The aim was to generate constructive and fruitful discussions about human memory circuits, to explore how EBRAINS Open Science Tools & Services can help neuroscientists in the area, and to connect researchers working in this field.
The event featured 5 keynote speakers. From the German node, Nicola Palomero-Gallagher presented fascinating receptor autoradiographic results, including her recent work on the hippocampus. From the Italian node, Michele Migliore presented his fascinating human hippocampal simulation. Both talks set the stage for future, inter-node collaboration.
The Spanish keynotes were delivered by Alberto Lleo, who shared his expertise on neurodegenerative disease, particularly recent work on transsynaptic tau crossing in Alzheimer’s disease, Rafael Toledano, who provided a masterclass in temporal lobe epilepsy, and Lluis Fuentemilla, who presented human intracranial data on the role of oscillations in memory encoding and retrieval.
In-house talks presented by current node members Javier DeFelipe, Bryan Strange, Oscar Robles, Esperanza Jubera, Angel Merchán, Emma Muñoz, Ruth Benavides-Piccione and Guillermo Velasco were equally inspiring and generated much discussion. These talks spanned various aspects of human microanatomy, modelling, human intracranial recordings, advanced MRI techniques, novel therapeutics for memory disorders, and the strategic goals of the EBRAINS infrastructure.
The next meeting, taking place later in 2024, will feature a similar format, this time focusing on the second major research area of the EBRAINS Spanish node, motor disorders and motor rehabilitation.
