Technical workshops will be held in the Palais des Congrès, on Saturday
July 13, 2002.
There is an additional charge of 50 euros to participate to
the workshops. Participants must be registered at the Forum.The programme of
the workshops and their abstracts will be published as other presentations at
the meeting.
W1-
Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI): mechanisms and applications
W2-
Multichannel recording and stimulation: techniques and developments for
prosthetical and therapeutical applications
W3-
Gene-Chip Technology as a tool to study neuropsychiatric disorders
W4-
Use of recombinant viral vectors for gene therapy in neurodegenerative
diseases
W5-
From networks to molecules: advanced methods for neuroscience research
W6-
Neural stem cell research and therapy: scientific opportunities, ethical,
legal and social implications
W7-
Databasing the brain - Tuesday, July 16, 12:00-13:00
[ Programme -
Home page ]
W1- Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI): mechanisms and
applications
Chair: N. Birbaumer (Germany)
Saturday, July 13,
09:00-12:00
Maximum number of participants:
250
Brain-Computer-Interfaces (BCI) are using brain signals for
the manipulation of external devices, mainly computers. Monkeys learned to
move an artificial hand directly with responses from an array of electrodes
implanted in the motor cortex (Nicolelis 2000). Human patients with complete
motor paralysis were able to control their slow cortical potentials and used
that skill for selecting letters or words from a computer program
(thought-translation-device, TTD, Birbaumer 1999).
The workshop will
provide an overview of all available BCIs for animals and human subjects. The
neuronal mechanisms of translating movement intention or thoughts directly in
an external signal for a computer will be discussed. Problems of
on-line-identification of single-cell-responses and EEG-pattern and
classification limiting speed and precision will be reported as well as new
clinical applications.
[ top of page -
Programme
- Home page ]
W2- Multichannel recording and stimulation: techniques and developments
for prosthetical and therapeutical applications
Chair: T. Schanze, A. Stett (Germany)
Saturday, July 13,
9:00-14:30
Maximum number of participants: 50
During the last
decades, multichannel recording and artificial excitation of neural, muscular
and cardiac tissue by electrical stimulation has become an increasingly used
tool for experimental investigations, medical diagnosis, therapy, and
prosthetics. Well-known examples are cardiac pacing, restoration of muscle
function after nerve injury, management of pain, cochlear implants, and visual
prosthesis.
This workshop consists of six presentations covering a broad
spectrum including in vitro recording and stimulation techniques, data
analysis methods, micromechanics and manufacturing techniques, methods for in
vivo testing of cochlear and retinal implants, and computational models for
the management of chronic pain. It is intended that participants of this
workshop will gain a detailed overview on present and emerging therapeutical
and prosthetical applications of multichannel recording and stimulation
techniques. Posters concerning the above-mentioned topics are welcome.
[ top of page -
Programme
- Home page ]
W3- Gene-Chip Technology as a tool to study neuropsychiatric
disorders
Chair: P. Riederer (Germany), M. Youdim (Israel)
Saturday,
July 13, 10:00-12:40
Maximum number of participants: 100
In the
last quarter century, it has become apparent that the major mental and
neuronal illnesses are in fact complex genetic diseases involving many genes.
The expression pattern of genes can provide indirect information about
function, drug target and causes of a disease. One new technique for measuring
gene expression at the level of mRNA is cDNA and oligonucleotide microarrays.
Microarray analysis provides a genome-wide, nonbiased study of gene expression
patterns. One of the most attractive applications of these microarrays is in
the study of differential gene expression in disease and animal models as well
as drug pharmacogenetics.
This workshop will discuss the benefits of
microarrays as a tool of studying neuropsychiatric disorders as well as their
drugs effects on gene expression. In addition, there will be a discussion over
a unified approach of analysis as well as presentation in order to overcome
some of the problems occuring with such methods (e.g. tissue sampling,
analysis procedures, thresholds and representations).
Speakers
Contact for further information:
Dr Edna Grünblatt
Bayerische Julius-Maximilians- Universität
Würzburg
Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Dep. of
Neurochemistry
Füchsleinstr. 15
D-97080 Würzburg, Germany
Tel:
+49-931 2017730
Fax: +49-931 2017722
Email: edna.gruenblatt@mail.uni-wuerzburg.de
[ top of page -
Programme
- Home page ]
W5- From networks to molecules
Advanced methods for neuroscience
research
Organizers: A. Draguhn (Charité Berlin, Germany), H. R. Polder,
npi electronic GmbH (Tamm Germany)
Saturday, July 13,
10:00-13:00
Maximum number of participants: 100
Sponsored
by:
ALA Scientific Instruments, Westbury, New York, USA
(www.alascience.com)
Burleigh Instruments UK, Harpenden, Great Britain
(www.burleighuk.co.uk)
MultiChannel Systems (MCS), Reutlingen, Germany
(www.multichannelsystems.com)
npi electronic GmbH, Instruments for the
Life Sciences, Tamm, Germany (www.npielectronic.com)
On the
threshold of the age of high throughput and automated research methods in the
life sciences, this symposium will include talks by international scientists
within the field of neurophysiology. It is intended for scientists with some
background in electrophysiology or pharmacology and will open opportunities
for discussions and an intensive exchange of views. Focusing primarily on
voltage and patch clamp techniques, it will examine the different
electrophysiological approaches available, problems commonly encountered, and
the new advances in microelectrode recording electronic design which help to
overcome these problems. It will present also an outlook toward future methods
such as automated patch clamping.
[ top of page -
Programme
- Home page ]
W6- Neural stem cell research and therapy: scientific opportunities,
ethical, legal and social implications
Chair: L. Matthiessen, J. Sautter, European Commission, DG
Research
Organized and supported by: the European Commission,
DG Research, Directorates E and F for Life Sciences
Saturday, July 13,
09:00-13:00
Maximum number of participants: 100
Stem cell
research is creating promising prospects for the treatment of a number of
degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease,
stroke, diabetes, heart diseases and arthritis etc. diseases for which we
today have no efficient therapy or cure. This promising area of research,
however, raises controversy and ethical questions, focusing in particular on
the method for obtaining stem cells, patenting and commercialisation of human
stem cells. It is important to prepare the ground for the regulatory process,
which will be essential if this new technology is to be made available to the
wider public. Added value in this field of research can undoubtedly be gained
in creating a critical mass of research and in reinforcing co-ordination and
co-operation between the various stakeholders (basic research scientists,
industrialists, standardisation bodies, clinicians, policy makers, ethicists,
regulatory authorities, patients) including integration and involvement of
citizens.
The aims and objectives of the workshop will be to:
1) discuss
the scientific opportunities and bottlenecks for development of stem cell
research and therapy
2) review the ethical, legal and social issues
3)
consider the future strategy for stem cell research at European level. The
workshop will include presentations from basic research scientists,
industrialists, standardisation bodies, clinicians, ethicists, lawyers,
regulatory authorities and patients associations.
Position papers
concerning the above-mentioned topics are welcome.
Speakers
Contact for further information:
Line MATTHIESSEN, MD, PhD
European Commission - DG
Research
Directorate E - Life Sciences, Policy aspects - Bioethics
200
rue de la Loi, SDME 9/08
B - 1049 Bruxelles
Tel: +32 2 295
2853
Fax: +32 2 299 1860
Email: line-gertrud.matthiessen-guyader@cec.eu.int
[ top of page -
Programme
- Home page ]
W7- Databasing the brain
Organized and supported by: the European Commission
Tuesday,
July 16, 12:00-13:00
Chair, introduction and conclusions: Jan BJAALIE (University of Oslo,
Norway)
Speakers
Contact for further information:
Edition du 5/13/02 - webmaster