Symposium
Neuroscience through the lens of single cell genomics
Chairs
Daniela Di Bella(Google Scholar Profile)
Harvard University, Boston, USA / Instituto Leloir, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Micaela Sartoretti (Publications; Affiliations)
The Francis Cricks Institute, United Kingdom
Relevance
En la última década, la genómica de células individuales ha surgido como una herramienta poderosa para estudiar la complejidad y la dinámica celular en todas las ciencias de la vida, incluida la neurociencia. Desde el modelado de enfermedades hasta la interacción neurona-glía, y desde el desarrollo embrionario hasta la neurogénesis adulta, ha ampliado nuestra comprensión de la dinámica molecular, los panoramas celulares y la regulación transcripcional en el órgano más complejo que se encuentra en los animales. Este simposio reúne a oradores que muestran cómo el uso de esta herramienta puede ayudar a comprender el sistema nervioso central en los procesos de desarrollo y el modelado de enfermedades.
Speakers
Daniela Di Bella
Harvard University, Boston, USA / Instituto Leloir, Buenos Aires
Tittle: “Functional Screen of Identity Determinants in the Developing Mouse Cerebral Cortex”
Micaela Sartoretti
Cricks Institute, United Kingdom
Tittle: “Molecular and cellular landscape of the Down syndrome mouse brain”
Nuria Dominguez Iturza (Google Scholar Profile)
Harvard University, Boston, USA
Title: “Molecular mechanisms governing myelin diversity in the neocortex”
Damiana Giacomini
Instituto Leloir, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Title: “Transcriptional dynamics across the development and integration of adult-born hippocampal neurons”
Ana Uzquiano Lopez (Publications, Affiliations)
Harvard University, Boston, USA
Title: “Unlocking human cortical development and disease through brain organoids”
Symposium
Can we identify common pathways mediated by Glial Cells in neurodegeneration?
Chair
Juana Pasquini (Short CV)
[IQUIFIB] Instituto de Química y Fisicoquímica Biologicas “Prof. Alejandro Paladini”
Relevance
The Simposium try to demonstrate the interrelationship between the different glia cells in the central nervous system (CNS) We also included tha Schwann cells
Speakers
Carla Caruso:
INBIOMED UBA-CONICET. Facultad de Medicina, UBA.
Title:The role of astrocytes in Huntington’s disease.
Maria Claudia Gonzalez Deniselle:
Lab. de Bioquímica Neuroendócrina. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental IByME-CONICET.
Title: Myelin as a target of steroid hormones in motoneuron degeneration.
Pablo Iribarren:
Profesor Titular e Investigador Principal CIBICI-CONICET Facultad de Ciencias Químicas Universidad Nacional de Cordoba. Córdoba Argentina.
Title: Microglial Cells: foes or friends during urodegeneration?
Felipe Court :
Full Professor, Center for Integrative Biology, Universidad Mayor, Chile. Director, FONDAP Geroscience Center for Brain Health and Metabolism
Title:Schwann Cell-Axon interactions in Homeostasis, Degeneration and Axonal Regeneration.
Symposium Conclusions:
Jorge Correale
Instituto de Química y Fisicoquímica Biológica (IQUIFIB) Facultad de y Farmacia y Bioquímica Universidad de Buenos Aires CONICET y Departamento de Neurología FLENI. Buenos Aires Argentina
Symposium:
Perinatal Programming: Factors That Influence Brain Development and Behavior
Chair:
María Carolina Fabio (Short CV)
Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas “Mercedes y MArtín Ferreyra” – INIMEC CONICET-UNC – Córdoba, Argentina
Relevance
El objetivo de este simposio es examinar cómo los factores prenatales y de la vida temprana afectan el desarrollo neurológico perinatal. La programación perinatal es el proceso por el cual los estímulos ambientales durante períodos críticos del desarrollo pueden tener efectos duraderos en la estructura y función de un organismo. El simposio cubrirá cuatro temas relacionados con la programación perinatal. En primer lugar, la Dra. Zalosnik discutirá el papel de las células T reguladoras (Tregs) en el embarazo y el trastorno del espectro autista (TEA). Las Tregs son un subconjunto de células inmunes que modulan la tolerancia inmunitaria materno-fetal y previenen enfermedades autoinmunes. La desregulación de las Tregs durante el embarazo se ha relacionado con un mayor riesgo de TEA en la descendencia. Se explorarán los mecanismos y las implicaciones de la disfunción de las Tregs en la patogénesis del TEA y las posibles estrategias terapéuticas. En segundo lugar, discutiremos la influencia de la alteración de la serotonina durante las etapas prenatal y neonatal en el desarrollo neuronal, cognitivo y conductual. En nuestra segunda charla, la Dra. Fabio discutirá el impacto de la alteración de la serotonina durante la gestación en los resultados neurobiológicos. La serotonina es un neurotransmisor que regula diversos aspectos del desarrollo cerebral, como la proliferación celular, la diferenciación, la migración y la sinaptogénesis. Las alteraciones en la señalización de la serotonina durante la gestación pueden dar lugar a una maduración cerebral anormal y predisponer a los individuos a sufrir trastornos neuropsiquiátricos. Se presentarán las últimas evidencias sobre cómo la alteración de la serotonina afecta al comportamiento social y a la plasticidad y morfología neuronal a lo largo de la ontogenia. A continuación, la Dra. Díaz abordará cómo los antidepresivos en la etapa neonatal afectan a la neurogénesis y la memoria en la adultez. Los antidepresivos se recetan habitualmente para tratar la depresión y los trastornos de ansiedad en mujeres embarazadas y lactantes. Sin embargo, la exposición a estos fármacos durante el período neonatal puede tener consecuencias adversas en el cerebro en desarrollo. La Dra. Díaz examinará cómo la exposición neonatal a los antidepresivos influye en la neurogénesis hipocampal adulta y la formación de la memoria, así como los mecanismos moleculares subyacentes. Por último, abordaremos la influencia de la estructura familiar en la vida temprana sobre el comportamiento y el consumo de alcohol. La estructura familiar es un factor ambiental importante que moldea el desarrollo social y emocional de los niños. Las experiencias de vida temprana dentro de la familia pueden afectar la respuesta al estrés, el apego y los sistemas de recompensa en el cerebro, modulando en consecuencia la susceptibilidad al uso y abuso del alcohol. En la cuarta charla, el Dr. Miranda explorará cómo las diferentes estructuras familiares en un modelo animal, como la crianza con una madre soltera o con dos padres, afectan las respuestas conductuales y neuronales al alcohol durante la infancia y la adolescencia. Este simposio brindará una descripción general completa de las últimas evidencias sobre la programación perinatal y su impacto en el desarrollo cerebral y el comportamiento. Los/as disertantes, que son líderes en sus respectivos campos, presentarán información de interés para una amplia gama de profesionales, incluidos investigadores, médicos y formuladores de políticas.
Speakers
María Inés Zalosnik (Publications, Affiliation)
Department of Immunology Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA- Evergrande Center for Immunologic Diseases, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston MA, USA.
Title:” Role of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in pregnancy and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)”
María Carolina Fabio
Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas “Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra” – INIMEC CONICET-UNC – Córdoba, Argentina
Title: “Serotonin disruption during pregnancy and its neurobiological consequences for social development”
Silvina Laura Diaz (Short CV)
Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional (IB3), FCEN, UBA.
Title: “Effect of postnatal exposure to fluoxetine on the process of neurogenesis and memory tasks in adult mice.”
Sebastián Miranda-Morales (Short CV)
Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas “Mercedes y Martín Ferreyra” – INIMEC CONICET-UNC – Córdoba, Argentina
Title: “Structure and parental bonds of upbringing: impact on development and response to alcohol.”
Symposium
Neurophysiological Bases of Memory, Consciousness, and Interoception in Humans: From the Neuron to Neural Networks
Chairs
Silvia Kochen
ENyS-CONICET, Argentina.
Alejandro Nasimbera
ENyS-CONICET, Argentina
Relevance
This symposium session features a series of talks presenting recent studies on the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying memory, auditory perception, consciousness, and interoception, approached from the activity of individual neurons to the functioning of broader neural networks. Findings are presented on the processes involved in the encoding and retrieval of episodic memories, highlighting the role of specialized neurons in the representation of concepts. Additionally, the panel explores auditory prediction mechanisms that enable the anticipation and processing of sound stimuli, which are essential for the perception of language and music. The role of interoception in the construction of consciousness is also examined, particularly in patients with epilepsy. The discussion includes how neuronal activity influences internal bodily perception and the continuity of subjective experience. Within this context, recent advances in the precise localization of epileptogenic zones through intracerebral recordings are detailed, along with their relationship to cognitive functions relevant for planning surgical interventions. Through neurophysiological studies, neuroimaging techniques, and computational models, this panel offers an integrated view of the relationship between brain activity and conscious experience.
Speakers
Rodrigo Quian Quiroga (CV)
Hospital del Mar Research Institute (IMIM)
Title: “Episodic Memory and Its Correlates at the Single-Neuron Level”
Alejandro Blekman (CV)
RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion
Title: “Auditory Prediction and Its Neural Correlates”
Nuria Campora (CV)
Hospital El Cruce – CIC, PBA
Title: “Interoception and Consciousness in Epilepsy: Clinical and Neurophysiological Approaches”
Silvia Kochen (CV)
CONICET – Hospital El Cruce
Title: “Cognitive Correlates and Epileptogenic Zone Diagnosis Through Intracerebral Recordings Using Macro- and Microelectrodes”
Symposium
Circuit Dynamics and Behavior: Insights from Zebrafish.
Chairs
Relevance
Cuatro disertantes presentarán diferentes aspectos neuronales que permiten funciones conductuales críticas, como la discriminación visual, la navegación y la orientación, y la neurogénesis adulta en el pez cebra. El simposio destacará las ventajas de utilizar el modelo experimental del pez cebra para abordar diferentes cuestiones de biología de sistemas. En particular, los disertantes presentarán técnicas de vanguardia para registrar y analizar la actividad neuronal in vivo en todo el cerebro.
Speakers
Germán Sumbre (Short CV)
IBENS, Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France
Title: “Attractor-like circuits improve visual decoding and behavior in zebrafish”
Claire Wyart (Short CV)
Institut du Cerveau – ICM – Hôpital Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France
Title: “Unraveling algorithms and brainstem circuits for navigation – from fish to humans”
Lucas Mongiat (Short CV)
Depto. Física Médica, Centro Atómico Bariloche, CNEA, Bariloche, Argentina
Title: ” Adult neurogenesis and pallial circuit dynamics in zebrafish “.
Ruben Portugues (Short CV)
Institute of Neuroscience, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Title: “The heading direction network in larval zebrafish”
Symposium
How Brain Dynamics shape human experience
Chair
Jacobo Sitt
Paris Brain Institute
Relevance
Understanding how dynamic patterns of brain activity give rise to subjective experience remains a central challenge in neuroscience. This symposium brings together four researchers who investigate the neural underpinnings of consciousness across various states, including wakefulness, sleep, and pathological conditions. By integrating theoretical frameworks with clinical applications, the session aims to elucidate the relationship between global brain dynamics and phenomenology.
Jacobo Sitt will introduce the general topic and weave the presenters talks in between.
Tristan Bekinschtein will present the brain signatures used in real world experiments with portable EEG, highlight the power of collecting hundreds of sessions on breathworks and also show the robustness of doing dose-response psychedelic work in Argentina. The combined use of experience tracing and EEG allows for a framework for neurophenomenology that is exemplified here by the brain dynamics of altered consciousness.
Cecilia Forcato explores how consciousness can persist and transform during sleep, focusing on out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and other altered states, such as sleep paralysis and false awakenings. Her work uses electrophysiological recordings and subjective reports to identify distinct spectral signatures associated with OBEs, including increased delta and reduced fast-frequency power (alpha, beta, and low-gamma). These findings, along with the first in-lab identification of eye movement markers during OBEs, highlight the dynamic nature of consciousness during sleep and suggest new avenues for experimentally inducing altered states of self-perception.
Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel uses real-time fMRI and decoded neurofeedback to modulate brain patterns and subjective states actively. By decoding brain activity linked to specific feelings (like pain or fear) and feeding it back as neurofeedback, his approach can change underlying physiological processes and potentially reduce the felt intensity of these experiences without any conscious effort. This offers causal evidence tying brain dynamics to phenomenology and suggests novel interventions for clinical conditions (e.g. chronic pain, anxiety). It exemplifies the power of brain–machine interface techniques to illuminate mind–brain relationships.
Anna Ciaunica will explore how the minimal self — our basic sense of being an embodied subject — emerges from brain-body interactions beginning in early life. Drawing on studies with preterm infants and individuals experiencing depersonalization, she shows how disruptions in interoceptive integration can weaken the sense of self. Her work uses EEG and heartbeat-evoked potentials to highlight how neural responses to bodily signals underpin the coherence of selfhood. This developmental and translational perspective emphasizes that consciousness is not only brain-based but deeply rooted in the dynamics of embodied existence.
These four talks collectively showcase an innovative synthesis of theoretical and clinical neuroscience. The session offers an accessible overview of how brain dynamics across multiple scales link to subjective experience, making it relevant to neuroscientists across subfields. Emphasizing novelty and interdisciplinarity, it demonstrates that combining cognitive experiments, clinical studies, and neurotechnology can advance our understanding of consciousness and inspire new strategies to improve conscious states.
Speakers
Tristan Bekinschtein (CV)
Consciousness and Cognition Lab, University of Cambridge
Title: “The neural dynamics of altered states of consciousness: lessons from psychedelics and hypoxic events. ”
Jacobo Sitt (CV)
Laboratorio de Sueño y Memoria, Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA)
Title: “Disembodied Minds: Out-of-Body Experiences and the Neuroscience of Consciousness During Sleep”
Vincent Taschereau-Dumouchel (CV)
Department of Psychiatry and Addictology, Université de Montréal
Title: “Dissociating conscious and unconscious affective processes using decoded neurofeedback”
Anna Cianuca (CV)
Centre for Philosophy of Science, Faculty of Science, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Title: “From Birth to Breakdown: Brain-Body Dynamics and the Construction of the Minimal Self”
