Programme by theme

There are twelve themes running through the scientific programme at BNA2021. These ensure that the full range of neurocience interests are represented at the Festival.  Each theme is represeted by sympsosia, plenaries, workshops and poster sessions.

  1. Ageing and dementia
  2. Circuit dynamics and oscillations
  3. Cognition and behaviour
  4. Computational and theoretical neuroscience
  5. Disorders, treatments and translational neuroscience
  6. Internal states and homeostasis
  7. Methods and technology development
  8. Neurodevelopment and stem cells
  9. Neurons and glia: intrinsic properties, cell biology and cell types
  10. Psychiatry and mental health
  11. Sensory and motor systems
  12. Synapses and plasticity

1. Ageing and dementia

Sleep and circadian rhythms in dementia research​ - this session is supported by the UK Dementia Research Institute 
Speaker line-up TBC

Non-neuronal cells in neurological disease​​ - this session is supported by the UK Dementia Research Institute 
Blanca Diaz-Castro (co-chair), UK Dementia Research Institute at University of Edinburgh, UK - Astrocytes in the interface of brain and periphery​
Cagla Eroglu, Duke University School of Medicine, USA - talk title TBC
Christer Betsholtz, Karolinska Institute and Dept of Immunology, Sweden - Single-cell analysis of neurovascular biology reveals novel cell types and their roles​
Sebastiaan De Schepper, UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, UK - Microglia-Synapse Interaction in Alzheimer's Disease

Dementia, Sports & Traumatic Brain Injury​ - this session is supported by the UK Dementia Research Institute 
Speakers and talk titles TBC

Brain resilience to pathology​ - this session is supported by the UK Dementia Research Institute 
Karen Duff, UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, UK - Mechanisms of vulnerability to pathology in Alzheimer's disease​
David A.Bennett (co-chair), Rush University, Chicago, USA - talk title TBC
Carol Brayne, Cambridge University, UK - talk title TBC
Declan King (co-chair), UK Dementia Research Institute at University of Edinburgh, UK - Synaptic resilience in Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 participants is associated with maintained cognition during ageing​

Neurovascular coupling in health and disease​
Clare Howarth (co-chair), University of Sheffield, UK - Role of inhibitory interneurons in control of cerebral blood flow​
Catherine Hall (co-chair), University of Sussex, UK - Differences in neurovascular coupling between the hippocampus and neocortex may underlie susceptibility to degeneration
David Attwell, University College London, UK - Control of cerebral blood flow by pericytes in stroke and Alzheimer's disease​
Joshua Shrouder, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany - Cortical pericytes are more resistant to experimental stroke than neurons and start proliferating after reperfusion​

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2.  Circuit dynamics and oscillations

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3. Cognition and behaviour

The Cognitive Thalamus​
Anna Mitchell (non-speaking co-chair), Oxford University, UK 
Andrew Nelson, Cardiff University, UK - Anterior thalamic - cingulate cortex interactions and attention​
Emmanuelle Courtiol, Université Claude Bernard Lyon, France - Thalamic contributions to olfactory processing​
Mathieu Wolff, University of Bordeaux, France -Thalamocortical circuits for learning in dynamic environments
Brook Perry (co-chair), Oxford University, UK- Investigating primate mediodorsal thalamic neurons during reward guided learning and decision-making

From Human Connectomics to Cognition​ - this session is supported by the British Association for Cognitive Neuroscience
Diego Vidaurre (cp-chair), University of Aarhus, Denmark - Characterising brain network dynamics in rest and task
Jonathan Smallwood (co-chair), University of York, UK - Neurocognitive hierarchies as a state space for on-going thought​
Joana Cabral, Champalimaud Center for the Unknown, Portugal - Patho-connectomics: how disrupted functional networks lead to psychiatric disorders​
Romy Lorenz, University of Cambridge, UK - Neuroadaptive technology for cognitive neuroscientists​
Jamie Ward (non speaking co-chair), University of Sussex, UK

Memory modulation in the context of fear and novelty​ - this session is supported by the European Brain and Behaviour Society
 

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4. Computational and theoretical neuroscience

 

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5. Disorders, treatments and translational neuroscience

 

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6. Internal states and homeostasis

 

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7. Methods and technology development

 

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8. Neurodevelopment and stem cells

 

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9. Neurons and glia: intrinsic properties, cell biology and cell types

 

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10. Psychiatry and mental health

 

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11. Sensory and motor systems

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12. Synapses and plasticity

 

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Other (teaching, history, outreach etc)