Neuroscience Finland 2016 and Minerva Symposium: Healthy and pathological wiring of the developing brain was held on October 25, 2016 at the University of Helsinki, Biomedicum, Lecture Room 2 (Haartmaninkatu 8, Helsinki).
The main goal of the meeting was to bring together researchers from diverse fields to explore how brain connectivity is established, how genetic variation can affect these processes, how circuit and network function are affected by defects in neural development, how this can lead to neurological disorders, and how those disorders can be treated in the future.
Session I: Healthy wiring of the developing brain (9:00–11:45)
- Franck Polleux: SRGAP2A and its human-specific paralog SRGAP2C coordinates the development of excitatory and inhibitory synapses
- Pirta Hotulainen: Dendritic spine morphogenesis
- Sari Lauri: Activity-dependent plasticity mechanisms constructing glutamatergic synapses
- Sampsa Vanhatalo: Early development of functional networks in the human
Awards (11:45–12:30)
- Neuroscientist of the Year: Asla Pitkänen: Post-traumatic epilepsy: from mechanisms to therapy
- Novartis Neuroscience Award for the Best PhD Thesis of the Year
Session II: Pathological wiring of the developing brain (13:30–15:30)
- Scott Soderling: Synaptic pathologies underlying developmental brain disorders
- Stephan Ripke: Common variants genetics: what they tell us about biology and treatment of psychiatric illness
- Jaana Suvisaari: First-episode psychosis: brain structure and functioning and peripheral metabolic and immunological changes
Session III: Towards novel treatments (16:00–18:00)
- Klas Blomgren: Injury and repair in the developing brain
- Outi Hovatta: Stem cell treatments
- Sanna Janhunen: Cognition animal models in schizophrenia and new treatment mechanisms
- Dan Lindholm: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor
Poster Session (18:00–19:30)
The meeting concluded with a poster session and refreshments.