Brain and Mind Symposium coming to Auckland

Brain and Mind Symposium coming to Auckland
Media Release
University of Auckland
28 July 2016

Brain and Mind Symposium coming to Auckland

New Zealand’s first ever hosting of the Brain and Mind Research in the Asia-Pacific (BMAP) Symposium in late August, will be at the Centre for Brain Research at the University of Auckland.

The Symposium was developed and facilitated by the Association of Pacific-Rim Universities (APRU) and is now in its sixth year.

It takes place from 23-25 August, starting with a welcome ceremony at the University’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences in Grafton, followed by two days of neuroscience lectures at Auckland City Hospital’s Clinical Education Centre.

“Plasticity of the Brain and Mind” is this year’s symposium theme, which incorporates several neuroscience disciplines such as; ; Molecular Neurobiology; Genetics and Neuroimaging; Cognitive Neuroscience ; Clinical Neuroscience ; Sensory Neuroscience and Developmental Neuroscience.

This year's BMAP has keynote speakers from centres of research excellence in Europe, the United States and New Zealand.

Several members of the CBR at the University of Auckland will represent the ingenuity and prowess of New Zealand’s neuroscience community by presenting novel insights from their respective research fields.

Professor Alistair Gunn, a paediatrician-scientist has conducted ground-breaking basic research into ways of identifying compromised foetuses in labour, the mechanisms and treatment of asphyxial brain injury, and the mechanisms of life threatening events in infancy.

Professor Donna Rose Addis, a cognitive neuroscientist and Deputy Director of the CBR, will present her research that uses neuropsychological and neuroimaging techniques to understand how we remember our past and imagine our future, and how these abilities change with age, dementia and depression.

Professor Wickliffe Abraham, is founding Director of the Brain Health Research Centre at the University of Otago and a Co-Director of Brain Research New Zealand (BRNZ).

Associate Professor Maurice Curtis, is host of BMAP 2016, a neuroscientist at the CBR and Deputy Director of the Neurological Foundation Douglas Human Brain Bank. His research is centred on identifying the earliest changes that occur in the brain in degenerative diseases.

Associate Professor Paul Corballis, is a cognitive neuroscientist from the University of Auckland who incorporates psychophysical, electrophysiological, neuroimaging, and neuropsychological approaches to study human visual perception, attention and awareness.

Dr Justin Dean, is a developmental neurophysiologist who is examining how the extracellular matrix of the brain can regulate cellular maturation and plasticity during normal brain development.

Dr Jessie Jacobsen, is a geneticist with an interest in complex genetic disorders, particularly Autism Spectrum Disorders and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
International presenters include some of the world’s most instantly-recognisable and widely-published neuroscientists including;

Dr Mary Pat McAndrews, a Senior Scientist at the Krembil Research Institute and a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto.

Professor Peter Mombaerts, Director of the Department of Molecular Neurogenetics at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt.

Professor Stephen Back, an expert in Paediatrics and Neurology at Oregon Health & Science University.

Professor Stuart Firestein, Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Columbia University.

Dr Leonardo Belluscio, a senior investigator at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).

ENDS

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