Brain research conference being held in Auckland

Brain research conference being held in Auckland

Leading brain researchers have gathered in Auckland for the Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society conference which is being held in New Zealand for the first time.

Leading brain researchers have gathered in Auckland for the Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society conference which is being held in New Zealand for the first time.

The conference, which begins today and runs until Sunday, includes presentations from a wide variety of brain and behavioural scientists from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Korea, Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Cognitive neuroscience is the study of the relationship between the brain, mind and behaviour. Researchers come from a range of disciplines including psychology, cognitive science, physiology, neurology, psychiatry, linguistics and computer science.

“Cognitive neuroscience is a rapidly evolving field that touches on many aspects of our lives – from everyday questions of memory, perception, attention, and action to enduring issues in philosophy, psychology, and medicine,” says University of Auckland Associate Professor of Psychology and chair of the conference, Paul Corballis.

“It is very exciting to be hosting such a diverse range of eminent scholars, researchers, and students from around the world in Auckland.”

Conference keynote speakers include Professor Karl Friston of the Institute of Neurology, University College London and Principal Research Fellow and Scientific Director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging.

Professor Friston is a theoretical neuroscientist and authority on brain imaging who works on models of functional integration in the human brain and the principles underlying neuronal interactions.

Professor Art Kramer, Director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Illinois, is also a keynote speaker. His recent work has focused on the understanding and enhancement of cognitive and neural plasticity across the lifespan.

University of Auckland Professor of Psychology and Centre for Brain Research, Donna Rose Addison, is also a keynote speaker and is the 2015 recipient of the Australasian Cognitive Neuroscience Society’s Early Career Award. Professor Addis is an inaugural Rutherford Discovery Fellowship winner and was awarded the Prime Minister’s MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist Prize in 2010.

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