Chemical Neuromodulation: Neurobiological, Neurocomputational, Behavioural and Clinical Aspects

Organiser: FENS

Additional Organiser: Society for Neuroscience (SfN)

Website

Attendance type(s): In Person

FENS members will benefit from preferential rates

Event Dates: 18—24 Jun 2017

Chemical neuromodulation refers to that set of neurotransmitter systems that arise in the subcortical brain to influence the functions of forebrain networks to produce behaviour and cognitive outputs, under a variety of different states of arousal. These neurotransmitter systems, which include the monoamines such as dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin, as well as acetylcholine and orexin, are implicated in diverse behavioural and physiological functions and have been implicated in many neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders. The systems have been extensively researched in isolation but have rarely been directly compared experimentally or in conceptual terms; hence one theme of this School will be to make such comparisons.

The basic neuroscience of these neurotransmitter systems will be covered by lectures and discussion groups by an international faculty. Organisation and functions of the systems will be compared using a range of multidisciplinary techniques and approaches. These will include the use of novel neuroscience tools provided by opto- and chemo-genetics, electrophysiology, neuropharmacological techniques such as in vivo voltammetry, combined with sophisticated theoretical approaches from cognitive and behavioural neuroscience, including neurocomputational approaches and neuroimaging in experimental animals and humans. Clinical applications will also be covered. Students will be required to present posters on related themes in special sessions with the visiting faculty and active group discussions will be encouraged.