ESF Research Conferences

ESF-FENS The Brain Conferences

The Neurobiology of Action

20-24 October 2013, Hotel La Palma, Stresa, Italy


Final Programme

Sunday 20 October 2013
12.00-15.00Registration at the ESF desk
15.50-16.00Welcome address

Session 1:  The neural underpinning of specific patterns of behaviour
Chair:  to be confirmed

16.00-16.40Cori Bargmann, HHMI and Rockefeller University, USA
Generating variable behaviours from invariant circuits
16.40-17.20Abdel El Manira, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Deconstructing the locomotor microcircuits in zebrafish
17.20-17.50COFFEE BREAK
17.50-18.30Ole Kiehn, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Deciphering the organisation of spinal circuits controlling locomotion in mammals
18.30-18.50

Lotta Borgius, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Role of EphA4 positive subpopulations in the configuration and function of the spinal locomotor CPG

19.30-20.00WELCOME DRINKS
20.00DINNER
Monday 21 October 2013
Session 2:  The neural underpinning of specific patterns of behaviour (cont'd)
Chair:  to be confirmed
09.00-09.40Silvia Arber, Biozentrum and Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel, Switzerland
The ups and downs of motor circuit organisation
09.40-10.20Jack Feldman, UCLA, USA
Breathing: not as easy as you think
10.20-10.50COFFEE BREAK
10.50-11.10Tod Thiele, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Germany
Modular neuronal control of swim direction in zebrafish
11.10-11.30Jonathan Delafield-Butt, University of Strathclyde, UK
Prospective motor control and the origins of intentionality in brainstem integrative mechanisms
11.30-11.50Steffen Wolff, Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basel, Switzerland
Bidirectional control of fear learning by amygdala interneurons
12.00-13.30LUNCH
Session 3:  Spatial navigation, role of hippocampal / entorhinal circuits
Chair:  to be confirmed
13.30-14.10Edvard Moser, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
Grid cells - how are they generated and how are they organised?
14.10-14.50May-Britt Moser, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
Grid cells and place cells - and how they are related
14.50-15.10Marian Tsanov, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Turn-specific encoding of head directional information
15.10-15.40COFFEE BREAK
15.40-16.30Synthesis
16.30-19.30Poster Session I
20.00DINNER
Tuesday 22 October 2013
Session 4:  The extended basal ganglia - roles for action selection, habits, value and learning
Chair:  to be confirmed
09.00-09.40Ann M. Graybiel, MIT, USA
Building action repertoires based on value
09.40-10.20J. Paul Bolam, University of Oxford, UK
The thalamostriatal and corticostriatal systems and the functional organisation of the basal ganglia
10.20-11.00Anton J. Reiner, University of Tennessee, USA
Functional organisation of corticostriatal projections
11.00-11.30COFFEE BREAK & GROUP PHOTO
11.30-12.10Sten Grillner, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Ancient vertebrate building blocks for action - selection and evaluation
12.10-13.30LUNCH
13.30-14.10Anatol Kreitzer, Gladstone Institutes, UCSF, San Francisco, USA
Basal ganglia control of locomotion
14.10-14.50Rui Costa, Champalimaud Center for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal
Generating and shaping novel action repertoires
14.50-15.30Peter Redgrave, University of Sheffield, UK
Dopamine made me do it - but what did I learn?
15.30-16.00COFFEE BREAK
16.00-16.40Roberto Malinow, UCSD, USA
Unusual transmission out of the basal ganglia
16.40-17.20Rob Malenka, Stanford University, USA
Neural mechanisms underlying social reward
17.20-17.40Fatuel Tecuapetla, Champalimaud Center for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal
Probing the role of basal ganglia pathways in action initiation and performance using optogenetics
17.40-18.20Frank Hirth, King's College, London, UK, and
Nick Strausfeld, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
Deep homology of arthropod central complex and vertebrate basal ganglia
18.20-19.30Poster Session II
20.00DINNER
Wednesday 23 October 2013
Session 5:  The extended basal ganglia (cont'd) - Birdsong and motor learning
Chair:  To be confirmed
09.00-09.40Michael Brainard, UCSF, San Francisco, USA
Behavioral and neural mechanisms of vocal learning in adult birdsong
09.40-10.20Jesse H. Goldberg, Cornell University, USA
Origins of basal ganglia output signals in singing birds
10.20-11.00Synthesis - the roles of the basal ganglia / habenula
11.00-11.30COFFEE BREAK
Session 5.1:  Role of pallium / cortex in the control of action
11.30-12.10Andrew B. Schwartz, University of Pittsburgh, USA
A high-performance brain-machine interface
12.10-13.30LUNCH
13.30-14.10Carl Petersen, EPFL, Switzerland
Neural circuits for goal-directed sensorimotor transformations
14.10-14.50Eberhard Fetz, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Bidirectional interactions between the brain and implantable computers
14.50-15.10Per Petersson, University of Lund, Sweden
Basal ganglia circuits in health and disease
15.10-15.40COFFEE BREAK
Session 5.2:  Role of cerebellum in Action
15.40-16.20Henrik Jörntell, University of Lund, Sweden
Cerebellar integration of multi-dimensional sensorimotor signals in coordination of limb movements
16.20-17.00Mitsuo Kawato, ATR Brain Information Communication Research Laboratory Group, Japan
Reinforcement learning to control brain states: decoded fMRI neurofeedback
17.00-18.00Networking / free time
18.00-22.00Boat trip and Conference Dinner
Thursday 24 October 2013
BREAKFAST & DEPARTURE