For a Human-Centered AI

Human brain and mind. The future of neuroscience in Trentino

March 22, 2017

Friday, March 17, 2017 a conference in Rovereto (Tn) on neuroscience and the new disciplines in the field. The program includes the Lecture by Roberto Cingolani, Scientific Director of the Italian Institute of technology – IIT

s “FBK for health” program and in collaboration with the Department of Neurology of the Hospital of Rovereto and the Mind & Brain Center of the University of Trento promotes in Rovereto a one-day study event to discuss neuroscience and the development of new scientific and clinical approaches.

On the occasion of the “Brain Awareness Week  ” (global campaign from March 13 to March 19, 2017 to raise public awareness about the advances and benefits of brain research), Fondazione Bruno Kessler through itsFBK for Healthprogram and in collaboration with the Department of Neurology of the Hospital of Rovereto and the Mind & Brain Center of the University of Trento promotes in Rovereto a one-day study event to discuss neuroscience and the development of new scientific and clinical approaches.

At 9 a.m., in the Aula Magna Hall of the Palazzo dell’Istruzione on corso Bettini 84 in Rovereto researchers, physicians, neuroscientists and experts will walk participants into the world of neurons, their interactions, the cognitive processes that underlie our thinking, up to the study of new clinical medical disciplines.

The coexistence in Trentino, and especially in the city of Rovereto of research institutions such as the Mind/Brain Center– CIMeC, the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, the Mechatronics Hub and the presence at the Santa Maria del Carmine Hospital of diagnostic and therapeutic functions for neurological diseases, with advanced Neurorehabilitation approaches, offers a unique opportunity for development in this field in the Province over the next few years.

Program:

After the institutional greetings, at 9.30 a.m. the Director of the Italian Institute of technology – IIT – Roberto Cingolani will start the works.

We will then talk about Neuroimaging, with Bharat Biswal (New Jersey Institute of Technology), Nivedita Agarwal (Radiologist, Ospedale di Rovereto, APPS), Eleuterio Toro (Professor, University of Trento), about Neurophysiology, with Paolo Avesani (Head of the Neuroinformatics Laboratory, FBK) and Carlo Miniussi (Director, Mind and Brain Interdepartmental Center  – CIMeC, University of Trento).

And also about Neurobiology and Neurogenetics, with Alessandro Quattrone (Director, Center for integrated biology CIBIO, University of Trento) Franco Chioffi (Director, Neurosurgery Department, Trento Hospital, Provincial Agency for Healthcare Services), about Neurodevelopment, with Yuri Bozzi (Mind and Brain Interdepartmental Center – CIMeC, University of Trento) Paola Venuti (Director, Department of psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento) and Neurorehabilitation, with Michela Agostini (IRCCS San Camillo, Venice) Costanza Papagno (Clinical Director, Centre for neurocognitive rehabilitation – CIMeC, University of Trento) and Giovanni Pedrotti, (Director, Anaesthesia and intensive care Unit, Rovereto Hospital, Provincial Agency for Healthcare Services).

The event will be closing, at 4.45 p.m., with a Panel discussion on the future of neuroscience in Trentino moderated by Gianfranco Gensini (Coordinator of “FBK for health”, President of the Center for advanced Medicine), with Giorgio Vallortigara (Vice chancellor for research at the University of Trento), Paolo Bordon (Managing Director, APSS), Livia Ferrario (Director General of the Department of knowledge, Autonomous Province of Trento), Mauro Larcher (Director of the School for Specific Training in General Medicine) and Antonello Briosi (entrepreneur).

Learn more:

Over the past twenty years, scientists studying the human mind have developed increasingly powerful techniques that enable us to learn in detail its structure and operation. The brain is a complex object, consisting of 100 billion neurons and weighing a kilogram and a half, able to store an amount of information that has no equal.  With its wealth of knowledge and experience, interacting constantly with the physical and social environment, the brain drives behavior, individual and collective choices, creates more refined tools of communication and interaction, directing lines of development, and political, economic and industrial choices.

The study of “neuroscienceelicits a deep interest in the scientific world, among insiders and the general public alike, and has huge economic implications, which relate to diagnosis, treatment and neurological rehabilitation, but that also involve careful ethical choices, since the object of the investigation is the source of human consciousness.

Neuroscience is founded on close cooperation between heterogeneous but complementary disciplines ranging, for basic sciences, from molecular biology, Physiology, Neurobiology, behavioral sciences and psychology, to physics, mathematics, engineering and computer science. Approaches and results of  basic sciences  in turn spill over  clinical medical disciplines. This integration process has created a major development in recent years with the emergence of  new disciplines  such as  computational neuroscience, neuroinformatics, neuroengineering, neurotechnology, neurorobotics and applied nanotechnology. It accounts for the development of large international projects, where the growth of neuroscience represents a key driver for economic growth. The United States and the EU are funding  billion-euro projects (“Human Connectome Project“, “Human Brain Project“) independently but with one common goal: deciphering the intricate neural circuit in the brain to produce a simulation of the complete operation of the brain and improve the understanding of human brain disorders.

“Neurosciences” are therefore a rapidly growing field with very interesting prospects not only for diagnosis and treatment of diseases, but also for the health and welfare of individuals and communities.

The conference is free and open to the publicbut it is mainly dedicated to the healthcare sector and physicians-in-training attending the General Medicine school of Trento.

VENUE
the event will be held at the Aula Magna Hall of the Palazzo dell’Istruzione on Corso Bettini, 84 in Rovereto (TN) – – see map


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