The node and the network: the fundamental contribution of Camillo Golgi to Modern Neuroscience
Scientific Program
The symposium consists of three sessions highlighting recent advances in three main fields of Neuroscience:
(2 October, 2006)
Mechanisms and functional implications of brain rhythms
(3-4 October, 2006)
Cellular and network functions of the cerebellum
(4 October, 2006)
Stem cells in brain plasticity and repair
The Laurea Honoris Causa in Biology will be awarded to:
Prof. Rodolfo Llinas (New York University)
Prof. Gordon Shepherd (Yale Medical School)
Detailed program
You can download the complet program here
2 October, 2006
Opening Cerimony
Vanni Taglietti (University of Pavia)
Giovanni Berlucchi (University of Verona)
Foreword
Paolo Mazzarello (University of Pavia)
Historical introduction (Golgi, the definition of neurons and the cerebellum)
Rodolfo Llinas (New York University)
Lectura Magistralis
Gordon Shepherd (Yale Medical School)
Lectura Magistralis
2 October, 2006
Mechanisms and functional implications of brain rhythms
Organized by:
Jacopo Magistretti (University of Pavia)
Marco De Curtis (Ist. Neurologico C. Besta, Milano)
The work of Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramón y Cajal on the structure of nervous tissue can be considered a fundamental starting point of modern Neuroscience. Although they both founded their studies on the silver nitrate reaction, developed by Golgi himself, their views on the overall organization of the brain ended up to radically diverge. Golgi, impressed by the extensive development of nerve cell processes and arborizations revealed with exceptional clearness by his histochemical reaction, came to the conclusion that the nervous tissue consisted in an uninterrupted network of fibers, functioning as a whole unit. Cajal, instead, developed the neuron theory, being convinced that single nervous cells formed the elementary units of the nervous tissue contacting each other to transmit stimuli, and favoring the idea that different parts of the brain subtended different functions of relational life. We now know that the correct view was that of Cajal, in terms of both nervous tissue structure and specialization of different brain areas. However, recent knowledge on the functioning patterns of brain networks emphasizes the roles of population activities and synchronization in a number of brain functional states and processes including sleep vs. arousal, attention, perception, sensorimotor integration, memory, and even cognition and consciousness. Golgi’s work and ideas can therefore be envisaged as a seminal anticipation of this recent interest on coordinated activities of large neuronal populations. Because brain rhythms reflect specific temporal patterns of synchronized population activity, we consider a symposium on recent advances in brain rhythms as a particularly appropriate means how to celebrate Golgi’s figure and work. This symposium will focus on the mechanisms of oscillatory activity in limbic structures, the roles of theta and gamma rhythms in memory function, the thalamo-cortical interplay, and the role of gap junctions in neuronal synchronization. These topics will be presented by some of the most outstanding international scientist active in the field.
Anticipated speakers include:
Astrocyte-neuron dialogue promotes neuronal synchrony: physiological and pathological roles – Giorgio Carmignoto – Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Istituto CNR di Neuroscienze, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy.
Role of cholinergic basal forebrain neurons in cortical oscillations – Barbara E. Jones – Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGillUniversity and Montreal Neurological Institute, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
To fear or not to fear - brain rhythms are here – Hans-Christian Pape – Universität Münster, Institut für Physiologie I, Münster, Germany
The functional Syncytium revisited: Nonsynaptic networks and cerebellar population rhythms – Miles A. Whittington – School of Neurology, Neurobiology and Psychiatry, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
3-4 October, 2006
CELLULAR AND NETWORK FUNCTIONS OF THE CEREBELLUM
Organized by:
Egidio D’Angelo, Department of Physiological and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Pavia
Yosi Yarom, Department of Life Science. The Hebrew University Jerusalem
Chris De Zeeuw, Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus University Rotterdam
The idea of having a meeting on the Cerebellum in the University of Pavia in honor of Camillo Golgi Nobel Prize centennial has received a large consensus in the scientific community. Camillo Golgi gave a critical contribution to the beginning of modern Neuroscience, and the fertile discussion initiated by him and other scientist of his time about the histological and functional organization ofthe brain is not finished. The cerebellum plays a special role in this sense. Here Golgi identified the Golgi cell, probably the first well recognized example ofa neuron. Cajal, using the Golgi black reaction provided magnificent and still acknowledged reconstructions of the cerebellar network inspiring the subsequent view of “The cerebellum as a neuronal machine” by Eccles (Nobel Prize in 1963) and the “Motor learning Theory” by Marr (1969), two milestones for experimental and theoretical Neuroscience.
The scientists taking part to the main European initiatives on cerebellar investigation (SPIKEFORCE, CEREBELLUM, and SENSOPAC projects of the European Commission) agree that celebrating Camillo Golgi Nobel Prize centennial with a meeting is a unique occasion. The meeting will propose the most recent findings on cerebellar physiology following the traces of Golgi discoveries.
The section will include main lectures (see below), short communications and posters
Anticipated speakers include:
Cell type specific gene expression and intrinsic properties of unipolar brush cells – Enrico Mugnaini (Northwestern University)
Learning beyond LTD – Chris DeZeeuw (Erasmus University Rotterdam) - Department of Neuroscience, Medical Faculty
Title to be communicated – Yosef Yarom (University of Jerusalem) - Department of Neurobiology, Institute of Life Sciences
Spatio-temporal information processing and learning at the input stage of the cerebellum – Egidio D’Angelo (University of Pavia) – Department of physiological and pharmacological science
Determinants of signal processing at the input layer of the cerebellar cortex – Angus Silver (University College London) – Department of Physiology
Synaptic integration by Golgi cells in vivo – Michael Hausser (University College London) – Department of Physiology
Inferring Anatomy from Function: the Micro-organization of Cerebellar Cortical Circuitry – James Bower (University of SanAntonio) - Research Imaging Center, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Cajal Neuroscience Center
Computer simulations of realistic rebound behaviors of deep cerebellar nucleus neurons in vitro and in vivo – Dieter Jager (Emory University) - Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Cerebellar Granule Cells: Tales from the Silent Majority – Jerry Simpson (New York University) - Department of Physiology and Neuroscience
Synaptic memories upside down: LTD and LTP at cerebellar parallel fiber - Purkinje cell synapses – Christian Hansel (ErasmusUniversityRotterdam) - Department of Neuroscience, Medical Faculty.
Decoding Purkinje cell simple spike trains: Patterns and pauses – Erik DeSchutter (University of Antwerpen) – Institute Born-Bunge, Laboratory of Theoretical Neurobiology
Dynamic morphology of axons and dendrites in the cerebellar cortex – David Linden (The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) - Department of Neuroscience
Synaptic integration in cerebellar interneurons – Alain Marty (Laboratoire de Physiologie Cérébrale - Université Paris 5) - Department of Neuroscience
Electrical connections between Golgi cells: synchronization and network oscillations – Stephane Dieudonne (Ecole Normale Superieure - Paris) - Department of Neurobiology, Institute of Life Sciences
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4 October, 2006
Stem cells in brain plasticity and repair
Organized by:
Mauro Toselli
Gerardo Biella
Elena Cattaneo
During the pioneering era for neuroscience in which Camillo Golgi (and Santiago Ramón y Cajal) operated, the mature CNS was distinguished from the developing nervous system by the lack of growth and cellular regeneration. The fixed neuronal population of the adult brain was understood to be necessary to maintain the functional stability of adult brain circuitry. This explanation has also been offered to account for the lack of endogenous CNS repair following injury or disease. However, in the last several decades, mounting evidence has led to an updating of this dogma and to the view of the CNS as a dynamic, plastic organ, endowed with some potential for self-repair and regeneration.
Stem cells are believed to provide a tool by which new cells and tissues can be made and by which damaged ones can be replaced or repaired. The existence of a subset of stem cells has been documented in the fetal and adult brain, therefore named neural stem cells (NSCs).
NSCs are self renewing, multipotent cells able to generate neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. Since their identification, these properties have made NSCs an attractive subject for therapeutic applications to the damaged brain. Based on their differentiative capabilities, NSCs have more recently become of interest also for the production of cell models of brain diseases and in the discovery of new drug targets. In this context, understanding the mechanisms and the molecules regulating their biological properties is important and it is focused to gain control over their proliferative and differentiative potential.
This workshop will cover the current state of neural stem cell biology, with a particular emphasis on (i) the procedures for their derivation from embryonic and tissue stem cells, (ii) the potential for symmetrical self-renewal of neural stem cells, (iii) the analyses of their differentiation capacity, including the capability to acquire excitability properties typical of neurons and (iv) the identification of appropriate therapeutic strategies and disease targets suitable for the future treatment of major human neurodegenerative diseases.
Anticipated speakers include:
Neural stem cells for neurodegenerative diseases - Luciano Conti - Department of Pharmacological Sciences and Center of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Milano, Via Balzaretti 9, 20133 Milano, Italy
Human embryonic stem cells for therapy in huntington's disease, a dual potential - Marc Peschanski - INSERM/UPVM 421, Plasticité cellulaire et thérapeutique, Faculté de Médecine, 94010 Créteil, France
Inserting new cells into adult neural circuits: cell replacement and integration in the cerebellar cortex - Ferdinando Rossi - Department of Neuroscience and Rita Levi Montalcini Center for Brain Repair, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Stem cell-based strategies in the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease - Ernest Arenas - Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institute, Scheeles vägen 1, 17 177, Stockholm, Sweden
Neural stem cell transplantation in (inflammatory) CNS diseases - Stefano Pluchino - Neuroimmunology Unit, Department of Neuroscience DIBIT, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
The neural stem cell lineage and the symmetry of cell division - Derek van der Kooy, Ph.D. - Dept. of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada