Academy to Host First Annual Brain Forum in Aspen
Conference to Explore Technologies for Engineering Better Brains: Neural Prosthetics to Treat Motor, Sensory, and Cognitive Deficits
Published March 16, 2010
The New York Academy of Sciences and the Aspen Brain Forum Foundation will present a landmark conference in September entitled “Building Better Brains: Neural Prosthetics and Beyond.” The multidisciplinary meeting will take place at the Given Institute in Aspen, Colo., Sept. 23-25, 2010. The meeting will unite experts in neurobiology, bioengineering, and computer science who share the goal of developing neural prosthetics intended to treat patients suffering from motor, sensory, and cognitive deficits.
Neural prosthetic devices to replace motor, sensory, or cognitive functions lost by disease or injury hold great therapeutic promise, but have not been widely used to treat humans. This conference will showcase the most cutting-edge research on using neural prosthetic devices as effective therapeutics and a discussion of ways to overcome their current limitations. The meeting’s organizing committee includes: Richard Andersen, PhD, California Institute of Technology; P. Hunter Peckham, PhD, Case Western Reserve University; and Andrew Schwartz, PhD, University of Pittsburgh.
Plenary sessions and panel discussions during the three-day event will address basic research with strong potential for translation; new developments in bioengineering and materials; how to engineer an effective and practical neural interface; pros and cons of current devices and materials; clinical applications and case studies; unique regulatory and ethical issues posed by neurotechnology; and the potential application of neural prosthetics to treat depression, epilepsy, and other diseases.
The interaction between neuroscience and bioengineering to construct “replacement parts” for the brain is one of the most exciting and potentially fruitful areas of translational neuroscience. With new advances in understanding the biology of neurodegenerative diseases and the link between brain and behavior, the ability to develop therapeutics to replace lost motor, sensory, and cognitive function is now on the horizon. Patients with diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, paralysis, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), depression, epilepsy, and other maladies stand to benefit from these developments.
This First Annual Brain Forum in Aspen will to bring together thought leaders working at the interface of these areas to discuss developing novel neural therapeutic devices as well as to improve the neural prosthetics currently in use for human disease. The goals of the three-day event are to establish the state-of-the-science in neurobiology and bioengineering of neural prosthetics, and to explore how these findings can be translated into successful treatments that will improve the quality of life for patients and society at large.
For more information and to register, visit: www.nyas.org/BetterBrains. Media must register by contacting Adrienne Burke, aburke@nyas.org or 212.298.8655.