Neurons: from micro to macro

A workshop organized by the Department of Physics, the Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology - CIBIO and the Center for Mind/Brain Sciences - CIMEC of the University of Trento, for researchers who are interested in neuroscience and experimental methods of investigation. 

The workshop will focus on aspects related to neural networks through, from the scale of single neurons to the brain as a whole, paying attention to physiological and pathological aspects.

In particular, the BACKUP project has developed an integrated experimental platform that uses optogenetic techniques to stimulate neural activity, and optical or electro-physiological techniques (electrode arrays) to read neural activity, as well as neural networks for data modeling and analysis. 
During the workshop the biological, technological and simulation aspects of this platform will be presented.

The goal of the workshop is to stimulate interaction among research groups working on these issues to use the BACKUP experimental platform and propose common research projects.

The workshop will include short presentations of the activities of different research teams and plenty of time for discussion. 

Program - part 1:

14.30 - Introduction (Paolo Macchi, Carlo Miniussi, Lorenzo Pavesi)
14.45 - The BACKUP experimental platform (Paolo Bettotti)
15.05 - Optogenetics and neurons (Beatrice Vignoli)
15.25 - Models and simulations (Gianluca Lattanzi)
15.45 - Break
16.00 - Contributions from the Departments of Physics, CIBIO and CIMeC:

• 16.00 – Addressing brain networks with information theory (Leonardo Ricci, Departments of Physics)
• 16.10 – Chasing novel network representations sensitive to human brain reorganization in health and disease using MRI (Jorge Jovicich, CIMeC)
• 16.20 – Neural networks, genetic disorders and beyond – in vivo studies in zebrafish (Matthias Carl, CiBIO)
• 16.30 – An altered extracellular vesicle protein cargo drives the (mis)communication between astrocytes and neurons in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal dementia (Manuela Basso, CiBIO)
• 16.40 – Neuronal network plasticity during sleep studied in an insect model (Albrecht Haase, Departments of Physics)
• 16.50 – Laser-targeted activation of individual nodes in a neural network in vivo (Mirko Zanon, CIMeC)
• 17.00 – Neuromorphic photonic circuits to modulate neuronal excitability in epilepsy (Yuri Bozzi, CIMeC)
• 17.10 – Does the olfactory system more than just odor detection (Ettore Tiraboschi, CIMeC)
• 17.20 – Open discussion

18.00 - Conclusions (Paolo Macchi, Carlo Minuissi, Lorenzo Pavesi)

10-minute oral presentations are welcome for the second part of the workshop. Speakers can take advantage of this opportunity to present their work and suggest collaborations among the participants.

Contributions (title, authors, short abstract) must be sent to Chiara Rindone (chiara.rindone [at] unitn.it) by 20 January 2022.