Hanse Lectures in Neurosciences: "Dissecting the functional neuroanatomy of spatial neglect: from lesion to network dysfunction

Hanse Lectures in Neurosciences
Dr. Patrik Vuilleumier (Dept. of Neuroscience, CMU; Department of Neurology, HUG; Biotech Campus, University of Geneva)  talks about “Dissecting the functional neuroanatomy of spatial neglect: from lesion to network dysfunction and restoration”

Dr. Patrik Vuilleumier is a cognitive neuroscientist, who is well known for his research on perception, emotion, and consciousness in the healthy brain and after brain lesions. His talk at the HWK will focus on the phenomenon of spatial neglect in brain-lesioned patients and should be interesting both for the neural networks community as well as for clinicians.

Abstract:
Spatial neglect is characterized by deficits in the orientation of attention, perceptual awareness, and movement towards stimuli located in the opposite (usually left) space after a unilateral (usually right) hemispheric brain lesion. I will review recent data suggesting that this clinical syndrome may reflect a combination of distinct neurocognitive disturbances caused by simultaneous damage to different brain regions, as well as their interconnections within distributed networks. These lesions can thus produce functional disturbances in structurally intact areas, due to the loss of top-down influences or dynamic interactions, e.g., from fronto-parietal cortices onto sensory or motor circuits. A better understanding of these functional anomalies within extended brain networks can be gained through neuroimaging measures such as MRI and EEG, and open new perspectives for rehabilitation strategies in patients. Among others, I will illustrate how attentional dysfunction in sensory areas may be partially restored by innovative therapeutic approaches, notably by means of visual prisms or neurofeedback.

Lecture and discussion from 6:00 pm until approximately 7:00 pm
followed by dinner and informal discussion in the HWK Bistro.

The lecture is open to everybody, but registration is required for this event (by replying to mdaniel@h-w-k.de ).