A Dialogue with the Cerebral Cortex: Cortical Function and Interfacing

The understanding of brain function is a critical issue both for scientific reasons and for its clinical implications. Neurological and psychiatric diseases affect a sizeable amount of the population, a proportion that increases with age. The need to develop new and efficient tools to restore brain function that has been altered by disease requires a thorough understanding of brain physiology and its capability for plasticity. Recent developments in computation, imaging, molecular and optical tools, new materials and the means for brain interfacing open up possibilities for brain studies and interventions that were unthinkable just two decades ago.

B·Debate in collaboration with Biomedical Research Institute August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) and promoted by the European project CORTICONIC, present this workshop where leading experimental and theoretical neuroscientists, clinicians and neurotechnologists will debate the challenges and future perspectives of brain interfacing. It is our purpose to generate new ideas and foster collaborations as well as to discuss potential new paths for this exciting and growing field.

Scientific committee:
Arthur Konnerth (University of Munich); Alain Destexhe (CNRS, Paris); Marcello Massimi (University of Milano) and Mavi Sanchez-Vives (IDIBAPS, Barcelona).