Links about Neurosciences/Mind/Body/Brain

The Cave of Hands in Santa Cruz, Argentina, was probably painted 9,000 to 13,000 years ago.

Επιστημονικές Εταιρείες/Σύλλογοι/Οργανισμοί

Ελληνική Εταιρεία για τις Νευροεπιστήμες   Η Ελληνική Εταιρεία για τις Νευροεπιστήμες (EEN) ξεκίνησε το 1985 με στόχο την προώθηση των νευροεπιστημών στη χώρα μας. Απέκτησε νομικό καθεστώς το 1987 και από το 1990 είναι εθνικό μέλος της International  Brain Research Organization και από το 1998 είναι ιδρυτικό μέλος της Federation of European Neuroscience Societies. Στα μέλη της περιλαμβάνονται επιστήμονες από Πανεπιστήμια και ερευνητικά κέντρα της Ελλάδας και του εξωτερικού. Καίτοι η βασική τους εκπαίδευση ποικίλει (γιατροί, βιολόγοι, φαρμακολόγοι, βιοχημικοί, φυσιολόγοι, ανατόμοι, βιοφυσικοί, μαθηματικοί, μηχανικοί κ.α.) τα μέλη της ΕΕΝ έχουν ως κοινό αντικείμενο έρευνας τη δομή, την λειτουργία και τις ασθένειες του εγκεφάλου.

The Australasian Neuroscience Society      It was founded in 1971 as an informal collection of interested Australian neuroscientists. At the tenth annual meeting held at Flinders University in Jan 1981, the constitution of the Society was accepted and the Society became incorporated in the ACT during that year. 1999 – 682 (490 full, 192 student)

The British Neuroscience Association  The British Neuroscience Association, formerly known as The Brain Research Association, was officially relaunched in 1997, continuing many of the traditions of the BRA but with a professional and revamped style. Membership has increased dramatically since this time, now standing at 2000. The BNA is the largest body representing all aspects of neuroscience from ion channels to whole animal behaviour.

Cognitive Neuroscience Society, California, USA    The Cognitive Neuroscience Society (CNS) is committed to the development of mind and brain research aimed at investigating the psychological, computational, and neuroscientific bases of cognition.The term cognitive neuroscience has now been with us for almost three decades, and identifies an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the nature of thought.

The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies  FENS, the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies, represents a large number of national European neuroscience societies and several monodisciplinary societies. FENS was founded in 1998 at the Forum of European Neuroscience in Berlin and is the successor organisation of ENA, the European Neuroscience Association.

The Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society  The Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society is an international organization for researchers in a number of scientific and medical disciplines including psychology, neurosciences, immunology, pharmacology, psychiatry, behavioral medicine, infectious diseases, endocrinology and rheumatology, who are interested in interactions between the nervous system and the immune system, and the relationship between behavior and health.

Society for Neuroscience  The Society for Neuroscience is a nonprofit membership organization of basic scientists and physicians who study the brain and nervous system. Neuroscience includes the study of brain development, sensation and perception, learning and memory, movement, sleep, stress, aging and neurological and psychiatric disorders. It also includes the molecules, cells and genes responsible for nervous system functioning. Recognizing the tremendous potential for the study of the brain and nervous system as a separate field, the Society was formed in 1970. It has grown from 500 members to more than 37,000 and is the world’s largest organization of scientists devoted to the study of the brain. Washington DC

International Neuropsychological Society  The International Neuropsychological Society is a multi-disciplinary non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing communication among the scientific disciplines which contribute to the understanding of brain-behavior relationships. The Society currently has more than 4500 members throughout the world.

International Neuropsychoanalysis Society  The International Neuro-Psychoanalysis Society (a registered non-profit organisation, incorporated in Delaware, USA) was founded in London, in July 2000, to promote inter-disciplinary work between the fields of psychoanalysis and neuroscience. The co-chairs of the Society are Mark Solms – a psychoanalyst and neuropsychologist – and Jaak Panksepp – a neuroscientist working in the field of emotion. The Society has a worldwide membership of around 400, mainly associated with some 25 Regional and Specialist Groups (principally in Europe, North and South America). Iréne Matthis, a psychoanalyst in Stockholm, is Regional Liaison Officer. 

The Social & Affective Neuroscience Society    The Social & Affective Neuroscience Society (SANS) is committed to research investigating the neural basis of social and affective processes. The Society was founded in 2008 and now comprises over 400 members.

Mind & Life Institute, USA & Switzerland  The Mind & Life Institute is a non-profit organization that seeks to understand the human mind and the benefits of contemplative practices through an integrated mode of knowing that combines first person knowledge from the world’s contemplative traditions with methods and findings from contemporary scientific inquiry. Ultimately, our goal is to relieve human suffering and advance well-being. The Mission of the Mind & Life Institute is to promote and support rigorous, multi-disciplinary scientific investigation of the mind which will lead to the development and dissemination of practices that cultivate the mental qualities of attention, emotional balance, kindness, compassion, confidence and happiness.Our investigation is rooted in an integrated way of knowing that combines the first and second person direct experience of contemplative practice with a modern scientific third person inquiry.Our commitment to multi-disciplinary investigation includes research in the traditional mind sciences, social sciences, contemplative scholarship and practice, philosophy and humanities. We believe that only through this integrated investigation can we achieve an accurate understanding of how the mind works, the benefits of mental fitness, and the best practices for achieving mental and emotional fitness.

American Psychosomatic Society    The mission of the American Psychosomatic Society is to promote and advance the scientific understanding and multidisciplinary integration of biological, psychological, behavioral and social factors in human health and disease, and to foster the dissemination and application of this understanding in education and health care.

Society of Behavioral Medicine, USA    The Whole is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts. That’s the perfect metaphor for the Society of Behavioral Medicine, a multidisciplinary, non-profit organization founded in 1978. Each part, each discipline, can stand alone. But together – when nursing, psychology, medicine and public health form an interdisciplinary team – new perspectives emerge on human behavior, health and illness. Society of Behavioral Medicine is a multidisciplinary organization of clinicians, educators, and scientists dedicated to promoting the study of the interactions of behavior with biology and the environment, and the application of that knowledge to improve the health and well being of individuals, families, communities and populations.

Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, USA    The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine represents psychiatrists dedicated to the advancement of medical science, education, and healthcare for persons with comorbid psychiatric and general medical conditions and provides national and international leadership in the furtherance of those goals. The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine vigorously promotes a global agenda of excellence in clinical care for patients with comorbid psychiatric and general medical conditions by actively influencing the direction and process of research and public policy and promoting interdisciplinary education.

The European Association of Psychosomatic Medicine    The primary objectives of the EAPM are: To promote an integrated psychosomatic (biopsychosocial) approach to health and disease. To promote the treatment and care of patients with psychiatric disorders and psychological problems in patients with or without physical disorders in general hospitals, medical clinics, other community out-patient clinics and primary care. To stimulate and support research in the areas of Psychosomatic Medicine, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, and Integrated Care. To stimulate and support teaching and training, and advanced professional education in the areas of Psychosomatic Medicine, Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, and Integrated Care.

Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine & Psychotherapy, Berlin, Germany    The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy (APM) is a medical association in Berlin, providing specialist training for the Specialist in Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapycertificate as well as the additional qualifications in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Training is conducted in accordance with the regulations of the Federal Medical Council of Germany and the Berlin Medical Council.

Ερευνητικά Ινστιτούτα/Κέντρα/Εργαστήρια

Biocognitive Science Institute  The Biocognitive Science Institute offers seminars, workshops and courses for practitioners and students in the health professions and for individuals interested in learning more about mindbody psychology and medicine from a biocognitive perspective. Although the primary functions of the Institute are theory development and training, it is also involved in the clinical applications of biocognition to psychiatric illnesses, autoimmune disorders and chronic diseases. Nashville,TN USA

Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Dept of Psychology, University of Wisconsin – Madison  The Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, Dept of Psychology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, is engaged in a broad program of research on the brain mechanisms that subserve affective processing in normal middle-aged and older adults, in children and in children and adults with psychiatric disorders, primarily autism and fragile X in children, and mood and anxiety disorders in adults. We also study the neural bases of affect-cognition interactions. In addition, we conduct research on relations between the central circuitry of emotion and emotion regulation and peripheral biology to explore bi-directional communication between the brain and body that may be consequential for health. Finally, we also examine the impact of interventions designed to treat psychiatric disorders and to improve well-being in non-disordered populations.

Affective Neuroscience & Development Laboratory, Dept of Psychology, Harvard University  The main goal of the Affective Neuroscience & Development Laboratory, Dept of Psychology, Harvard University, is to investigate the brain mechanisms underlying affective processing in normal individuals and subjects with affective disorders (e.g. depression).

Symbiotic Project on Affective Neuroscience, Dept of Psychology, Stanford University  Symbiotic Project on Affective Neuroscience, Dept of Psychology, Stanford University.We seek to understand the neural underpinnings of affective experience and expression. This endeavor necessarily involves characterization of both neuroanatomical circuits and neurochemical modulators. Our progress ultimately relies upon an informed symbiosis of psychological theory and neuroscience methods.

The LeDoux Laboratory, Center for Neural Science, New York University  The LeDoux Laboratory, Center for Neural Science, New York University. How does the brain form memories of life’s significant events? This is the question that motivates the research in our laboratory. More specifically, our work is focused on how traumatic memories are formed, stored, and retrieved.The Center for Neural Science, New York University  The Center for Neural Science, New York University, is the focus for teaching and research in the brain sciences at the Washington Square Campus of New York University. Formed in 1987, the Center has been a department of the Faculty of Arts and Science since 1994.

Fanselow’s Laboratory, University of California-Los Angeles  Dr. Fanselow’s Laboratory, University of California-Los Angeles, is generally interested in learning, memory and motivation and particularly in the nature and function of fear and emotional memories. We are motivated by questions such as: How does the brain process fear-provoking information and what neurobiological changes lead to the formation and storage of fear memories? 

Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA  The Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLAinvestigates the interactions between the brain and the body, the role of psychological well-being for health and recovery from illness, and the translation of such knowledge into effective behavioral strategies that prevent disease, promote healing and enhance well-being across the life span.Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM), University of California-Irvine  For more than 20 years, the mission of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM), University of California-Irvine, has been to conduct and promote research on the basic brain processes that underlie our ability to learn and remember.

Emotion Development Lab, Dept of Psychology, Boston College

Caltech Emotion & Social Behavior Laboratory  Our research examines the neurological processes involved in social interactions. The Social/Cognitive/Affective/Neuroscience Unit  The Social/Cognitive/Affective/Neuroscience Unit ( SCAN-U ) is comprised of three individual laboratories: the Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab , directed by Kevin Ochsner; the Cognitive and Affective Control Lab , directed by Tor Wager; and the Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab , directed by Ed Smith. The goal of the SCAN Unit is to provide an interdisciplinary research and training environment for researchers at all levels interested in studying the psychological and neural bases of social, cognitive, and affective behaviors.   The integration of three distinct laboratories into a cohesive integrated unit provides unique opportunities for collaborative research and training in multiple approaches, techniques, and traditions.

Affective Neuroscience & Biopsychology Lab, Dept of Psychology, University of Michigan  We aim to improve understanding of neural mechanisms of emotion, motivation, learning and reward. Our topics include the psychology and neurobiology of pleasure and desire, with implications for motivational disorders such as drug addiction and eating disorders. We also study how brains produce the detailed structure of natural behavior. 

Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab at UCLA  Social cognitive neuroscience focuses on how the human brain carries out social information processing. Practically speaking, this means that we use functional neuroimaging (fMRI) and neuropsychology to test new hypotheses regarding social cognition or old questions whose answers continue to elude us.

Center for Culture, Brain & Development at UCLA  The FPR-UCLA Center for Culture, Brain, and Development (CBD) fosters training and research at UCLA to explore how culture and social relations inform brain development, how the brain organizes cultural and social development, and how development gives rise to a cultural brain. At the same time, we aim to understand how the brain makes it natural to acquire, use, and create culture; how development builds on neurally mediated socio-cultural practices; how social relations are culturally informed; how culture is acquired in social interaction; and, how culture and social relations are constructed through neurally potentiated developmental processes.

SAGE Center for the Study of Mind, UC Santa Barbara, USA   The SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind at the University of California, Santa Barbara, directed by Michael Gazzaniga, is a catalyst for interdisciplinary study of the relationship of brain and mind. Some of the most exciting areas in cognitive neuroscience lie at the boundaries of neuroscience and psychology, powered by new advanced analytical technologies and tools in physics, chemistry, molecular biology and genetics, engineering and mathematics.The Center integrates a wide range of scholarly endeavors and technologies in the humanities, social sciences and the sciences. These will include, for example, the metaphysics and the philosophy of the mind; methodologies in the social and behavioral sciences; and the relatively recent tools that have been developed in the sciences such as functional neuro-imaging, genetic techniques, computational modeling and immersive virtual environment technology.

Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Emory University, USA  Our researchers use cutting-edge techniques from brain imaging to molecular methods; they have identified a brain chemical that could have implications in treating autism; pioneered new methods to diagnose and treat post traumatic stress disorder; examined brain signaling systems related to obesity; and determined the genetic sequence of an antimicrobial protein found in the ink of a common sea slug — a protein that could be used in the development of new products to prevent or kill damaging microbes and save the marine and healthcare industries billions of dollars each year.

Dorris Neuroscience Center, the Scripps Research Institute, USA  Members of the Dorris Neuroscience Center explore some of the most fundamental questions in neuroscience research. How do stem cells differentiate to generate neuronal circuits? How do sensory systems process information? How do we store and retrieve memories? What are the mechanisms that lead to sensory impairment such as hearing loss or to debilitating diseases such as schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, and depression? Finally, what are useful strategies for the treatment of these diseases?

Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory @ Harvard University, USA    Our ability to use past experience to flexibly anticipate upcoming situations depends on a complex interplay between memory systems, executive control systems, and other information processing systems of the brain. Our laboratory is focused on a range of questions that all surround understanding how brain systems enable us to benefit from past experience and how these systems change during development and aging.

Laboratory of Neurophenomics @ Indiana University, USA     Our work is aimed at mapping the genomic and phenomic landscape of psychiatric disorders, and using this approach as a magnifying glass permitting us to examine and understand the normal functioning of the mind. It has so far uncovered in a translational fashion the issues of complexity, heterogeneity, overlap and interdependence of major psychiatric syndromes as currently defined by DSM. While some of this overlap might be due to limitations in precision of diagnostic ascertainments in humans and limitations in specificity to a disorder in animal model studies, an alternative and more compelling explanation is that the genetic and neurobiological structure of psychiatric disorders is modular, with building blocks in different permutations leading to a spectrum of phenotype, from different clinical disorders to normal behavior to the supra-normative performance seen in elite troops, athletes, inventors, mathematicians and artists. Our work is pointing to anxiety as being underpinned by cellular and whole-body reactivity, mood by activity, and cognition by connectivity. There is a strong need for a move towards comprehensive empirical dimensional testing (for, we propose, the three dimensions of reactivity, activity and connectivity), and away from categorical diagnostic classifications.

Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Germany    No other organ is as complex as the human brain – each of the 100 billion or so nerve cells can link up with up to 10,000 other nerve cells. The Max Planck Institute for Brain Research is dedicated to the study of this super-organ, and endeavours to unlock its secrets in the process. Scientists at the Institute study the human brain with non-invasive methods and gain fundamental insights by the study of less complex nerve systems: non-human primates, mice, tortoises, fish, and insects. They measure how the nerve systems process sensory input, how these experiences are stored, and what response behaviour results. Part of their work focuses on decoding the circuits in the brain and the specific contacts between nerve cells (synapses). The studies apply molecular biological, genetic and electrophysiological methods. The motivation behind these studies is to unravel the neural mechanisms that form the basis of normal and pathological behaviour.

Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive & Brain Sciences, Germany   The aim of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig is to investigate human cognitive abilities and brain processes. The main focus of the research is on the neuronal basis of higher functions of the brain such as speech, music, and action. To this end, the scientists’ primary interest focuses on how these are perceived, processed, planned, and generated, as well as how perception and generation influence each other. They also investigate the plastic changes to the brain after strokes, and how these affect different cognitive abilities. The Department of Neurophysics, which was established in early 2007, is specifically concerned with the use and development of imaging methods for the neurosciences.

Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience, USA    Even scientists occasionally believe only what they can see. Modern imaging methods and microscopy techniques, such as fluorescence microscopy and magnetic resonance imaging, enable them to watch living cells live at work. Researchers at the Max Planck Florida Institute want to use and develop methods and technologies that will allow them to see the processes occurring inside cells down to the molecular level. It is the Max Planck Society’s first research institute in the USA. Scientists at the Institute are devoting their efforts to, among other things, a three-dimensional map of the cerebral cortex in the brains of mice to graphically represent the position and networking of synapses and nerve cells. These findings will also contribute to a better understanding of the human brain.

Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology, Germany    In order to survive in the world, an organism must be able to adapt to an ever-changing environment. This would not be possible without the brain and the nervous system, which control all important activities in the body: they process sensations, control the function of organs, guide and enable movements and allow us to think. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried seek to understand how such a complex system can develop, how it functions and what happens when it is injured or attacked by germs. To this end, they focus on the minute changes of nerve cells, e.g. during learning, as well as on the structure of complex nerve networks, e.g. in the visual cortex of flies. The scientists are also investigating the causes of illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis. The long-term goal is a new or enhanced therapy.

Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Germany  Learning, perception and cognitive processes form the main research fields of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen. The scientists use experimental, theoretical and methodological approaches in their work on fundamental topics of perception. In 2003, a High-Field Magnetic Resonance Center was established at the Institute where research is carried out into the methodological expansion and application of imaging techniques. Two of the world’s most powerful magnetic resonance scanners with magnetic field strengths of 9.4 and 16.4 tesla are available to assist them in their work.

Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience  The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN) carries out fundamental neuroscience research with special emphasis on the brain and the visual system. Our research focusses on development, plasticity and ageing and it is often linked to clinical research questions. The scientific structure comprises three levels of biological complexity:genetic and molecular approachescellular approaches and network functionsystem approaches The research program is carried out in 20 research groups.In addition, the NIN includes the Netherlands Brain Bank.Stockholm Brain Institute, Sweden    The Berzelii Centre Stockholm Brain Institute (“Centre”) will work collaboratively to identify and exploit innovations from our translational neuroscience research to specifically address the enormous unmet need in brain disorders and to markedly improve patient’s lives and the burden on society. Mission: To be an internationally recognised centre in translational neuroscience that attracts, develops and commercialises partnerships with the private and public sectors. In these partnerships we will develop joint projects that exploit our expertise to lead to novel ways to diagnose, treat, or prevent brain disorders. 

Brain Mapping Unit, Dept of Psychiatry @ the University of Cambridge, UK    Our core interest is using advanced brain scanning techniques, principally magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to map the structure and function of the human brain. We are particularly interested in mapping normal memory and learning, ageing, drug effects on brain function, and neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, autism and depression. 

The Swartz Foundation, USA    The strategic intent of the Swartz Foundation is to integrate problem-solving approaches from physics, mathematics, electrical engineering and computer science into neuroscience research, to better understand the relationship between the human brain and mind, one of the great frontiers of 21st-century science. Theoretical neuroscience (including computational neuroscience) studies how brains process information by mathematically modeling them at the biophysical (molecular and cellular), circuit and network, and whole brain system, behavioral and social interaction levels. The Foundation supports theoretical neuroscience research that investigates basic principles and mechanisms of brain function. The foundation supports post-doc research in theoretical neuroscience at 11 universities and scientific institutions, through centers at Harvard University (established in 2007), Princeton University, Yale University (2006), Columbia University (2005), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (2004), and UC San Diego (2002), and, in partnership with the Sloan Foundation, at their original five Centers for Theoretical Neurobiology (1994) at Salk Institute, Cal Tech, UC San Francisco, NYU/Courant and Brandeis University. The Swartz Foundation also sponsors conferences, workshops, seminars, and public lectures in brain science, as well as the annual Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Swartz Prize for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience.

Ομάδα Υπολογιστικών Νευροεπιστημών, Ινστιτούτο Υπολογιστικών Μαθηματικών, Ηράκλειο, Ελλάδα   H ομάδα Υπολογιστικών Νευροεπιστημών, που αποτελείται από συνεργαζόμενα μέλη ΔΕΠ της Ιατρικής Σχολής του ΠΚ και τους συνεργάτες τους, αναπτύσσει και χρησιμοποιεί υπολογιστικά και πειραματικά εργαλεία για να κατανοήσει τη λειτουργία του εγκεφάλου και ιδιαίτερα τον έλεγχο κινήσεων των οφθαλμών, της κεφαλής και του άνω άκρου. Μελετά τις ιδιότητες κινήσεων που επάγονται από ηλεκτρικό μικροερεθισμό του κεντρικού νευρικού συστήματος ανωτέρων θηλαστικών για να κατανοήσει τη σχέση μεταξύ εγκεφάλου και συμπεριφοράς. Εκπαιδεύει πιθήκους να εκτελούν συγκεκριμένες κινήσεις και απεικονίζει τη δραστηριότητα του εγκεφάλου τους με σκοπό την κατανόηση της αντιστοιχίας μεταξύ της γεωμετρίας του νευρωνικού χώρου και των παραμέτρων αντίληψης και κίνησης.

Διάφορα

www.med.harvard.edu/AANLIB/home.html   Ο Άτλας του ανθρώπινου εγκεφάλου από το Harvard

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html   Νευροεπιστήμη για παιδιά από τον Eric Chudler, Research Associate Professor in the Department of Anaesthesiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.

www.pbs.org/wnet/brain  Η μυστική ζωή του εγκεφάλου. Εξαιρετικός διαδυκτιακός τόπος από τους Thirteen/WNET New York & David Grubin Productions.

www.humanbrainmapping.org   Οργανισμός για τη χαρτογράφηση του ανθρώπινου εγκεφάλου στη Μιννεάπολη των Η.Π.Α.

www.neuroguide.com  Οι νευροεπιστήμες στο Διαδύκτιο από τον Neil A. Busis, M.D. Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine