WesternU symposium features top neuroscientists
Top neuroscientists from around the world will convene at Western University of Health Sciences February 28, 2015 for a symposium, “From Molecules to Mind.”
The symposium, which is free and open to the public, will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 in the WesternU Health Education Center, Lecture Hall 1, 701 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. 91766. The symposium will be live-streamed to WesternU’s Lebanon, Oregon campus. Click here for more information: http://www.westernu.edu/biomedical-sciences/biomedical-sciences-outreach-events/symposium/.
“We selected the theme for this symposium because it addresses a fundamental question that has haunted scientists, philosophers and writers since the dawn of humanity. Each of the speakers is going to approach this theme, ‘From Molecules to Mind,’ with their own point of view,” said Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences Dean Michel Baudry, PhD, who organized the event. “They are all at the top of their professions and very good speakers. They have all been involved in popularizing research. Not only are they great scientists, they are great communicators.”
Jean-Pierre Changeux, PhD, from the Pasteur Institute, Paris, France, will present, “Toward a molecular biology of higher brain functions & conscious access: consequences for drug design.”
Alcino Silva, PhD, Professor of Neurobiology, Psychiatry and Psychology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and director of the Integrated Center for Learning and Memory at UCLA, will present, “Molecular, cellular and systems mechanisms that link memories across time.”
Larry Swanson, PhD, holder of the Milo Don and Lucille Appleman Professorship in Biological Sciences and Professor of Biological Sciences at USC, will present, “Architecture of the cortical connectome underlying cognition.”
Gary Lynch, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, School of Medicine, UC Irvine, will present, “Memory Encoding: Substrates and Prospects for Enhancement.”
Baudry wants the symposium to bring greater awareness about WesternU and the outstanding research and work conducted here. The presentations will also benefit those in the health professions.
“Everybody will come out with a better understanding about how experimental neuroscientists view the mind. How do you generate a mind from a bunch of molecules?” Baudry said. “Some of these speakers will talk about how this can tie into diseases.
How indeed to account for autism, neurophysiological disorders and the effect of drugs on the brain? This will help people in the health professions understand these issues.”
