Symposia

The Schmitt Program on Integrative Brain Research Symposium--
Spinal Cord Injury Research: Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms to Promote Neuronal Growth and Glial Reconstruction

Major advancements in the understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying CNS Development, damage and repair are dramatically altering our ability to understand a multitude of fundamental problems in neurobiology. This Symposium will provide a focused presentation on a spectrum of advances that are receiving considerable attention at the national and international levels.

The Schmitt Program on Integrative Brain Research Symposium--
Neural Control of Coordinated Action

Accomplishment of daily tasks depends upon interactions between individuals and their environment. These interactions require sensory processing leading to perception, and the development of internal representations of the external world by combining sensory information with cognitive processes like memory and attention. However, these high level processes are not the only end-point of sensory and cognitive processing. Information about the world must also be processed in order to produce behavior: coordinated motor acts. These actions form the basis for nearly all critical functions of living organisms: orientation, navigation, interaction with objects in the environment, communication. The control of movement, the integration of sensory information and the transformations required for coordination of complex behaviors, and mechanisms implemented by structures in the brainstem, cerebellum, cortex and basal ganglia in mediating these processes are critical functions of the healthy nervous system and often present the most debilitating deficits when lost due to neural damage or disease.

The Schmitt Program on Integrative Brain Research Symposium--
Immune and Inflammatory Responses in the Central Nervous System

The contribution of inflammation-related processes to neurological diseases has been increasingly recognized in recent years. Studies of primary neuroimmunological diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis as well as neurodegenerative disorders with an inflammatory component, including Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease, have received particular attention in basic research and clinical arenas. Inflammatory aspects of CNS trauma, toxin exposure and psychological disorders are also currently under investigation. Furthermore, the immunological/inflammatory consequence of gene therapy in the CNS is a timely and important issue.

This Symposium addressed the roles of innate and adaptive immunity in response to CNS insults and various disease processes. Specific topics included the immune functions of glial cells, factors controlling blood brain barrier integrity, leukocyte trafficking to the CNS, CNS cytokine/chemokine production, animal models of neuroinflammatory/neuroimmunological diseases and clinical application of basic research findings.

The Schmitt Program on Integrative Brain Research Symposium--
Cellular Approaches to the Understanding of CNS Development, Damage, and Repair

Major advancements in the understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying CNS Development, damage and repair are dramatically altering our ability to understand a multitude of fundamental problems in neurobiology. This Symposium will provide a focused presentation on a spectrum of advances that are receiving considerable attention at the national and international levels.