The deadline for abstract submissions and travel grant applications for SNC'11 the Central European FENS Featured meeting is fast approaching: they are due **March 28**!

The conference programme is finalized and promises a great meeting! The meeting is accompanied by several events - from Educational Workshop on Affective Neuroscience to a specialist course on Single Fiber EMG and Ultrasound and a Young Neuroscientist Forum intended primerily for undergraduate students contemplating a career in neuroscience.

Visit the SNC’11 web site and find the way to participate that suits you best!

The scientific program of SiNAPSA neuroscience conference 2011, a FENS featured meeting, is being finalized. The open call for thematic symposia proposal submissions ends on October 25. Visit the open call web site for guidelines and the online submission form.

Submit your proposal by midnight of October 25, 2010 and actively shape the program of the next SiNAPSA Neuroscience Conference, a key Central European neuroscience event in 2011.

The 2010 Ljubljana Symposium on Clinical Neurophysiology with the 26th Dr Janez Faganel Memorial Lecture will be dedicated to Vision and Eye Movements and will take place 17-18 September 2010.

Both topics will be covered from the clinical and research perspectives, hence interesting not only to neurologists, ophthalmologists, and otologists, but also to other experts in medicine and basic sciences.

The memorial lecture 'Face recognition-related potentials: EEG, MEG, and NIRS studies' will be given by Professor Ryusuke Kakigi from Okazaki, Japan, one of the world authorities in the field of evoked magnetic responses following visual and somatosensory stimuli.

More information can be found at www.kclj.si/ikn/DEJA/FAGA/F10_OS/Faga_10_OS.htm

You are cordially invited to attend the first minisymposium on modern microelectronics approaches to studying cell commnunication to be held at the Peterlin's Pavilion at Jadranska 26 in Ljubljana on August 23 and 24, 2010.

Minisymposium program details can be found in the attached file. The meeting is a result of collaboration between the University of Ljubljana and the Colorado State University.

Attendance is free, but prior registration for the event via e-mail is required. If you plan to attend, please, write to [email protected].

Sinapsa invites you to the neuroscientific seminar:

Shaping male and female brains: Mechanisms of gender specific differences in brain development

Until recently it was generally believed that the differences between female and male brains are influenced solely by the pre- and postnatal exposure to sex hormones. However, recent research shows that certain differences are caused by the expression of genes in the sex chromosomes. Prof. dr. Gregor Majdič (Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana; Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor) will present the latest research on the topic of gender specific brain development.


Effects of rearing in isolation on the social behaviour of mice

Social isolation has various negative consequences on human and animal behaviour. In her brief talk Jasmina Kerčmar (student at Veterinary Faculty, University of Ljubljana) will present research findings of isolation rearing on mouse social recognition, a very important behaviour for appropriate development of social structures within groups of mice. Mouse social recognition is also considered a model behaviour for autistic spectrum disorder studies in humans.

Moderator: prof. dr. Marko Živin

When: June 9, 2010, 18.00 - 20.00
Where: Lecture room at the Institute of Pathophysiology, Zaloška 4 Ljubljana

Due to the presence of foreign guests, the seminar will be held in English.

SiNAPSA is joined with partner organizations in yet another Brain Awareness Week (BAW) project, the seventh BAW in Slovenia. Numerous events and activities will take place across the country throughout the week of March 15 - 21, 2010. A detailed program is is available in Slovene at our new web pages and an outline in English can be found on the web site of the Dana Alliance for the Brain - SiNAPSA is a registered partner of Dana Alliance in the BAW project.

You are most welcome to join us in any of the BAW'10 events!


The 7th International Stem Cell School in Regenerative Medicine, focusing on “Stem cells, biomaterials and nanotechnologies in regenerative medicine”, will be held in Prague, Czech Republic, in November 2009. A three-day scientific conference will be held partly in conjunction with the Joint Conference of the Czech and Slovak Neuroscience Societies from November 2 ­- 4, followed by a three-day practical course from November 5 ­- 7. Financed by the European Union Marie Curie Conferences and Training Courses “RegMedTeach” project and organized by the Institute of Experimental Medicine, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, the conference and practical course will offer participants from both EU and non-EU countries the opportunity to meet, learn from, and interact with leading scientists in the fields of stem cell therapy, biomaterials and regenerative medicine. The conference will also include a poster session for interested participants. The conference and the practical course will be held as separate, independent events, and a number of participants at each event will have their registration fee, their hotel and living expenses, and their travel to and from Prague covered by European Union funds. Interested individuals should visit the website www.biomed.cas.cz/iem/regmed/, where they will find additional information about the school, the application procedure, the available support, and the application form. The application deadline is September 7, 2009.

The third SiNAPSA Neuroscience Conference starts on Saturday, September 26. It will be accompanied with interesting events: a lecture by Milan R. Dimitrijević, dedicated to the memory of Andrej O. Župančič, an interdisciplinary panel discussion on consciousness, and a workshop on memory. The venue is Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ljubljana, Korytkova 2.

You are cordially invited to attend!

Catedra Santiago Grisolia, Fundacion Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias is organizing International Symposium on Hepatic Encephalopathy that will be held in Valencia (Spain) on September 17-19, 2009. For more information please consult the Symposium [web page](http://www.fundacioncac.es/catedrasg) or have a look at the attached programme.

Tamara Hershey from Washington University in Saint Louis will be giving a talk on *Mapping non-motor function in the STN with deep brain stimulation*. The talk will take place on Thursday, September 3rd at Neurology Clinic Ljubljana, starting at 12:15. Please find attached a short abstract and presentation of the speaker.

The University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and INSEAD will jointly host a Summer Workshop entitled "Decision Neuroscience: How Neuroscience can Inform Behavioral Decision Making Research - Overview, Methods & Applications". The workshop is co-organized by Jim Bettman, Joe Kable, Hilke Plassmann and Carolyn Yoon, and will be held in Ann Arbor, Michigan from August 21-23, 2009.

The aim of the workshop is to provide an introduction to the field of decision neuroscience/neuroeconomics for graduate students interested in neuroscience and behavioral decision making, with a particular focus on those interested in marketing and consumer behavior. The workshop will feature lectures and presentations by top researchers in fields related to decision neuroscience, and will also provide opportunities for networking and discussions among faculty and students.

Applications are due February 23, 2009.

If you're interested in more information, please see http://www.bus.umich.edu/Conferences/DecisionNeuroscience

Prof. Giampiero Leanza from the University of Trieste invites you to attend an interesting lecture by professor Anders Bjorklund from the Lund University on development of stem cell therapy for Parkinson disease.

The lecture will take place at 2:30 p.m. on June 16 at the Cattinara University Hospital lecture room in Trieste.

Universita' degli Studi di Milano and Carlo Besta National Neurological Institute, Milan are organizing the Fourth Meeting on the: "Molecular Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration" to be held in Milan on May 8-10 2009.

The aim of the organizers is to address the most important issues involved in protein toxicity in neurons, providing participants with updated information that could be useful to researchers in the field of neurodegenerative disorders.

The meeting will include invited lectures as well as free scientific contributions. The participants are therefore encouraged to submit abstracts which will be selected by the Scientific Committee for either platform or poster presentation.

Please find more information on web page: http://users.unimi.it/triplet/2009.

The organizers of the PENS–supported school on Metabolic aspects of chronic brain disorders (July 09 - 15, 2009, Reisensburg Castle, Günzburg, Germany) invite you to consider applying for this exciting educational event ahead of the upcoming deadline: May 1.

The interface of neuroscience and metabolism is an exciting new frontier in brain disease research. The school is designed to attract PhD students and postdocs in neurosciences, medicine, metabolism and related fields that wish to explore the new opportunities.

The program will include clinical and basic science-oriented workshops on chronic brain disorders and neuronal control of metabolism, mitochondrial function, neuroinflammation, protein aggregation, technical tools to study metabolism, therapeutic interventions, scientific communication and creativity.

Applications can be submitted via the PENS website.

You are cordially invited by Prof. dr. Vladka Čurin Šerbec to an interesting lecture by Dr. Michael Geschwind, M.D., Ph.D., from the Department of Neurology of the University of California in San Francisco, on New clinical approaches to prion diseases and other rapid dementias.

The lecture will take place in Mala predavalnica at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ljubljana, at Korytkova 2, on Monday, November 24, beginning at 12:15.

Welcome!

Dear Colleagues,

In spite of recent advances in both research and clinical domains of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the disease remains an incurable, fatal condition, and, on the other hand, an inspiring challenge to researchers and clinicians.
ALS will be the topic of this year Ljubljana autumn clinical neuroscience meeting, which will take place on 19-20 September 2008 at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana. It is my honour to announce the keynote speaker, Professor Peter Nigel Leigh from King's College London, who will give the Dr. Janez Faganel Memorial Lecture entitled "ALS: Advances in Laboratory and Clinic". The meeting will cover various aspects of the disease, the two main ones being respiration and cognition. Please find all the information about the symposium at www.kclj.si/ikn.

Cordially invited to Ljubljana,

Blaž Koritnik,
Chair of the Organising Committee

Slovenian physiological society is announcing a lecture entitled Nanomedicine: from Nanotechnology to the Clinic by Prof. Dr. Giacinto Scoles, from the Department of Chemistry of the University Princeton, USA, and the International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy.

The lecture will take places on Friday, June 6, 2008, at 1 p.m. in the small lecture hall of the Faculty of Medicine, Korytkova 2.

You are cordially invited to attend!

You are cordially invited to attend the talk by Dr. Lawrence S.B. Goldstein on

Using stem cells to tackle problems in neurodegenerative disease

Dr. Goldstein is a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. He is also an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, director of the Stem Cell Program of the UCSD as well as the founder and adviser of Cytokinetics in San Francisco, USA.

The talk will take place at the Faculty of Medicine (Mala predavalnica), Korytkova 2, on April 7, 2008, at 14:15.

BAW08 is coming closer by the minute!

The third week in March starts on March 10 this year and our BAW program kicks off on the same day.

SiNAPSA is preparing a rich list of activities all across Slovenia: there will be lectures, free cinema shows of movies dealing with brain health and disease, workshops for children to get introduced to and inspired by what their brain does for them... Patients groups will present their specific disorders, how they deal with them and what the society can do to help. New materials will be posted on BAW pages (sorry, only in Slovene) to unveil new research findings and breakthrough discoveries about the brain...

Until then - keep the brain on your minds!

You are cordially invited to attend a research seminar with three short lectures given by the following guest-speakers:

- Asa Petersen: Neuroendocrine Changes in Huntington's Disease
- Deniz Kirik: Cell Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease: Role of dopamine and serotonin neurons in graft-derived functions
- Giampiero Leanza: Cognitive deficits, cholinergic hypofunction and amyloid deposition in a rat model of Alzheimer's Disease

Dr. Petersenand Dr. Kirik are coming from the Wallenberg Neuroscience Center in Lund, Sweden, and Dr. Leanza is coming from the B.R.A.I.N. Neuroscience Center of the University of Trieste, Italy.

The seminar will take place in the Neurology department seminar room at the 5th floor of the University Clinical Center in Ljubljana, on December 19, at 14:00.

IBRO (International Brain Research Organization) is organizing IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience, which will take place in Melbourne, Australia, July 12-17 2007. The core programme will consist of 8 plenary lectures, 64 symposia and poster sessions. It will be complemented by numerous workshops and satellite meetings.

Those wishing to actively participate with presentation of research findings are invited to submit abstract for a poster presentation. Submission deadline is January 31st 2007.

European Ph.D. students and young postdoctoral fellows looking for financial means to attend the congress may apply for FENS travel grants. The stipend money amounts to 1500 EUR. Deadline for application submission is December 15, 2006. Further information are available on FENS web pages.

The XX Biennial Symposium IERASG (International Evoked Response Audiometry Study Group) will take place in Bled, Slovenia, from 10 to 14 June 2007.

Symposium home page: www.ierasg2007.org

For more information, please visit the conference web site:

en.ljubljana-sfemg-qemg2007.org

Slovenian pharmacological society invites you to a lecture:„CHOLINERGIC DYSFUNCTION IN ALZHEIMER´S DISEASE – INTERRELATIONSHIP WITH BETA-AMYLOID AND INFLAMMATION“.

The speaker, Prof. Dr. Reinhard Schliebs, works at the Paul Flechsig Institute for Brain Research, at the Neurochemistry Department of the University of Leipzig Medical faculty, Leipzig, Germany.

The lecture will take place on Wednesday, November 8, 2006, at 14:30, in "Mala predavalnica" of the Medical faculty, Korytkova 2, Ljubljana.

The Department of Psychology and the BRAIN Center for Neuroscience of the University of Trieste are pleased to invite you to the 14th Kanizsa Lecture. This year, the lecture will be given by Melvyn A. Goodale (University of Western Ontario) who will speak on Visual Duplicity: Action without Perception in the Human Visual System. The lecture will be on Friday, October 27 at 4.00 pm in the Revoltella Museum Auditorium.

The accompanying Symposium on Perception and Cognition will begin on Thursday, October 26 at 3 pm and it will include additional selected oral presentations (Thursday afternoon), an invited workshop (Friday morning), and an open poster session (Friday lunch time). The Symposium will be held at the Psychology Department. Social activities will include a buffet lunch at the Friday poster session, sponsored by Cambridge Research Systems, and a social dinner on Friday night.

If you wish to contribute a presentation to the Symposium, please go to this address, where you will also find more relevant information on both events, or check the attached file below.

6th multidisciplinary conference of the European Parkinson's Disease Association (EPDA) will take place from 29th to 30th of September 2006 in Hotel Union, Ljubljana. The title of the conference is "The Hidden Side of Parkinson's". The conference is organized in association with Slovenian association of Parkinson's disease patients, Trepetlika.

The aims of the conference to develop a dialogue between science and society by:

• Sharing knowledge and understanding of the care of Parkinson's with international healthcare professionals and people with Parkinson's, their families and carers
• Developing knowledge and awareness of the medical, social and personal needs of people living with Parkinson's
• Considering ways of overcoming barriers to good communication with patients, their families and the multidisciplinary team
• Exchanging models of good practice throughout Europe and other parts of the world.

You are invited to participate in the 5th International Meeting »Suicide: Interplay of Genes and Environment« in Portorož, Slovenia. The meeting will take part in the 11th European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour and the programme consists of plenary sessions and panel session.
More info at www.esssb11-slo.org/eng/5thinterplay.

One of the most distinguished scientists in the field of prion research, Dr. Paul Brown, will pay a short working visit to Slovenia in early May. He will have a short open public presentation of the advances in screening tests and therapeutic studies in the field on Wednesday, May 3rd, at 3p.m. in the wooden lecture hall of the Institute of social medicine (the map is attached below).

Welcome!

The international Brain Awareness Week will run from March 13 through 19, 2006.

SiNAPSA plans to organize, coordinate and support a number of events aiming at informing the public about the nervous system function in health and disease, about the neuroscience methods and approaches to studying the structure and function of the nervous system, about the latest developments in the scientific disciplines exploring the brain (from neurobiology to psychology), and about the open challenges the neuroscience and biomedicine are facing in dealing with the damaged nervous system.

The SiNAPSA work-group devoted to the Brain Awareness Week (BAW) project is led by Dr. Lilijana Šprah from the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU).

SiNAPSA membership and the wider public are invited to join the efforts of the BAW project group by registering their suggestions for the activities and their willingness to actively participate at [email protected].

No time left to waste...

The "annual" general assembly of SiNAPSA will take place early next year. This paradox is due to an overwhelming pressure exerted on our schedules by the events of the "Merry December". Another major meeting was quite unlikely to be successful in the remaining days of 2005.

The mandate of the current members of the Management Board, the Supervisory Board and the Honorary Arbitration Board is about to expire. The elections at the upcoming general assembly make a good turnout of the membership of particular significance.

In addition, a good turnout is most welcome for the second, informal part of the assembly, when we shall celebrate the first quite successful two years of SiNAPSA, with food, drinks and a lottery with some valuable prizes.

Make a note in your calendars for Thursday, January 12, 2006.

Details will follow soon!

Correction:

The next Continuum meeting in Neurology, planned for December 6, has been moved to the beginning of January 2006. Due to the subject volume, there will be 2 meetings followingh each other in a short sequence.

Exact time, date and program will be announced shortly.

SiNAPSA and Medical Faculty in Ljubljana are happy to co-organize and announce the SiNAPSA Neuroscience Symposium '05. It will take place at the Medical Faculty, Korytkova 2, between November 18 and 20.

The official Symposium Website is: http://www.sinapsa.org/S05.

Welcome!

The symposium will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from October 5th to October 8th, 2005.

Further information at auditoria.si/danube2005

You are cordially invited to the

7th European Federation of Autonomic Societies (EFAS) Meeting

May 18-21, 2005

Golf Hotel, Bled, Slovenia

Please find further info at www.efas.over.net

17:00 – 18:00 Pain – What and Why Hurts? by Maja Bresjanac, Institute of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ljubljana

18:00 – 19:00 Alzheimer's Disease and the Story of Auguste D by Zvezdan Pirtošek, Neurology Clinic, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana

19:00 – 20:00 Astrocytes – from Brain Glue to Tripartite Synapse by Mojca Kržan, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Ljubljana

Where: Geographical Museum Hall, Gosposka 16, Ljubljana

Conference about impact of comprehensive neurorehabilitation approach to brain injured patient. Lecturers and rehabilitation team members from Slovenia, UK, Switzerland and USA will speak about their experiences and views on management in early stage after brain injury.

When: 18 - 19 March 2005

Where: Institute for Rehabilitation, Linhartova 51, SI-1000 Ljubljana

More info: www.mf.uni-lj.si/rehab/strokovno3.htm

17:00 – 19:00 Depression by Mojca Z. Dernovšek and Rok Tavčar, Mental Health Clinic, Ljubljana

19:00 – 20:00 Brain Imaging by Blaž Koritnik, Institute of Clinical Neurophysiology, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana

Where: Geographic Museum Hall, ZRC-SAZU, Gosposka 16, Ljubljana

Workshops and interactive presentations of brains, testing of memory and attention, and jigsaw puzzle competition with symbolic awards.

Where: Prešeren´s Hall, SAZU, Novi trg 4, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Opening of Brain Awareness Week 2005, featuring workshops on: Optical Illusions, Neuropsychology, Brain Imaging, Glia, Pain, Depression, Dementia. All led by scientists from Institute of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Mental Health Clinic and Neurological Clinic.

Where: Atrium of ZRC SAZU, Novi trg 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia

please, see the above announcement

SiNAPSA announces a lecture by Miha Kočevar "Influences of provoked emotions on cognitive functions", which will take place on October 19th, at 3 p.m., in the wooden lecture hall of the Institute for Social Medicine (map below). Nonmembers are welcome, too!

Dr. Veronika Stoka from the Institute Jožef Štefan will open the fall season of SiNAPSA seminars with her presentation entitled "MECHANISMS OF ACTIVATION AND REGULATION OF THE INTRINSIC PATHWAY OF APOPTOSIS DURING BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND AGEING". The seminar will take place on Friday, October 1st, at 14:00, at the old wooden lecture hall of the Institute for Social Medicine (see the map below).

For more information on Dr. Stoka and her work, please, see the attached file.

The Symposium on memory is an international event following Memos 2004, Cognitive Neuroscience Summer School on Working Memory. The aim of the event is twofold: first, to give the general public in the region an opportunity to listen to and meet with the faculty of Memos 2004 Summer School, all top researchers in the field of working memory; second, to provide the cognitive neuroscientists in Slovenia and neighbouring countries with an opportunity to present their research interests and endeavours and possibly set up new regional collaboration.

The simposium will be held at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Please find further information at www.sinapsa.org/S04

Prof. Stalberg from Upsala, Sweden, will give a talk on "Conventional needle EMG - Computer Simulation" on Tuesday, June 15th, at 8:00, at the Institute for Clinical Neurophysiology.

You are cordially invited to attend.

Kick-off event
Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana

Programme
10.00 Opening, with welcome addresses/speeches by
a.. Prof. Dr. Vito Turk, Director Jozef Stefan Institute
b.. Prof. Dr. Drs. h.c. Helmut Schwarz, Vice-President of
the DeutscheForschungsgemeinschaft DFG
c.. Prof. Dr. Klaus Hahlbrock, former Vice-President of
the Max-Planck Gesellschaft
d.. Dr. Edvard Kobal, Director Slovenian Science
Foundation
e.. Representative of Ministry of Education, Science and
Sport

11.20 Sebastian Stetter, EU liaison office of the German research organisations (Koordinierungsstelle EG der Wissenschaftsorganisationen - KoWi):
EU research funding programmes (Marie Curie)

12.00 Dr. Edvard Kobal, Slovenian Science Foundation:
Slovenian Science Foundation and mobility of Slovenian
researchers

12.40 Lunch break

13.40 Angelika Lange-Gao, Max-Planck Society:
Opportunities for young researches

14.20 Prof. Dr. Peter Krizan, Head of the Physics Department at the University of Ljubljana, Alumnus of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation:
A researchers's insight into international mobility

14.40 Coffee break

15.00 Dr. Alice Rajewsky, German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft - DFG):
Promoting Young Researchers in International Cooperation

15.40 Dr. Lidija Honzak:
Mobility for researchers - supported by Science and Education Foundation of the Republic of Slovenia 'Ad futura'

16.00 Reception

Venue
J. Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana
Phone: 01 426 42 45

Contact at KoWi
Sebastian Stetter
email: [email protected]
phone: 0032 2 5 48 02 14

This event is jointly organised by
a.. Jozef Stefan Institute
b.. Slovenian Science Foundation
c.. Koordinierungsstelle EG der
Wissenschaftsorganisationen

-----
[Contributed by: dr. Damjan OSREDKAR, Children's Hospital, Vrazov trg 1, Ljubljana.
[email protected]
http://animus.mf.uni-lj.si/neurology/]

Prof. Dr. Anton Wernig, a correspondent member of the Slovene Academy of Science and Art, from the Medical School of the University in Bonn, Germany, will give a presentation entitled "Inteligent" spinal cord.

You are cordially invited this Wednesday at 5 p.m. to the SAZU lecture hall, at Novi trg 3/I in Ljubljana!

Prof. Vahe Amassian (State University of New York, Health Science Center at Brooklyn):

THE UTILITY OF HUMAN CORTICOSPINAL AND OTHER CEREBRAL RESPONSES IN UNDERSTANDING NORMAL AND ABNORMAL BRAIN FUNCTIONS

Lecture will take place in Lecture Hall IV, 1st Floor of University Medical Centre Ljubljana.

Dr. Paul Mohapel from the Wallenberg Neuroscience Center in Lund, Sweden, will give the following presentation: "Is hippocampal neurogenesis linked with learning and memory?"

Here is more information on Dr. Paul Mohapel.

The day is this Friday. The location is Institute of Pathofisiology, Zaloška 4. Welcome!