The combined session started with flash talks and a vibrant joint poster session on the afternoon of 5th Nov. At the official start of the program on Day 2, SfN.SG President Dr. Caroline Wee, Principal Scientist at IMCB, A*STAR set the stage in her opening address for a packed program that covered a wide spectrum of topics. This year, the themes included peripheral nervous system, brain-body dynamics, mental health, cognition, and neurodegenerative disorders. This diversity of topics highlights the variety of interests of SfN.SG members.
One of the highlights of the annual symposium was two international sessions. The first, on the “Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)”, was chaired by Caroline Wee, featuring talks by Wataru Ogawa (Kobe University), Wenwen Zeng (Tsinghua University), and Ken Loh (Yale University) focused on the sympathetic nervous system regulation of organ physiology in health and disease. The speakers in the session also showcased new tools to interrogate brain-body communication in their research. The second session chaired by the Chapter’s Treasurer, Chris Asplund from NUS, titled “Brain-Body Dynamics and Technologies” delved deeper into the fascinating interplay between the brain and body. Micah Allen (Aarhus University) presented captivating insights into computational approaches to interoception and brain-body interaction. Gerald Pao (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology) explored the decoding of brain activity into behavior using topological analysis, while Helen Hou (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories (CSHL)) discussed the neural mechanisms underlying facial movement control using 3D tracking (Cheese3D) Rosa So (A*STAR) concluded the session with a presentation on the development of neural interfaces for restoring function after spinal cord injury in Singapore.
Day 3’s proceedings started with clinical perspectives on “Emotion and Mental Health”, chaired by Helen Hou (CSHL). It saw presentations on topics like the connection between ADHD and obesity (Alina Rodriguez, A*STAR)and the use of AI for developing precision mental health applications (Geoffrey Tan, IMH). Phern Chern Tor and Xiaoyan Tan (IMH) discussed the potential of personalized transcranial magnetic stimulation for treating depression, while Elenor Morgenroth (NNI) explored the use of film fMRI to understand the emotional brain. The next session on Cognition, Learning, and Memory, chaired by Micah Allen, featured preclinical studies on the neural circuit mechanisms underlying learning (Siew Cheng Phua (NUS),Chunyue Li (NTU)), novel technology development (Yiyuan Yang (NUS)) and AI models of place field reorganization by M. Ganesh Kumar (Harvard), who also was the judge’s favorite for the best selected talk award. Session 3 focused on Neurodegeneration and was chaired by Wenwen Zeng. Claudio Bussi (NTU), Quyen Do (A*STAR), Haitao Tu (NNI), Sun Ji (NUS) showed new research into the cellular, molecular, and structural underpinnings of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.
The final session of the symposium on Day 3 featured talks on bridging the gap between research and treatment, appropriately titled “Neuroscience from Bench to Bedside”. It showcased the route the speakers are taking to translate research findings into clinical applications. Talks by Luwen Cao (NUS) and Velda Han (NUH) discussed the use of natural speech analysis and peripheral blood profiling for early detection of neurodegenerative disorders. While Thomas Welton (NNI) and Colin Teo (NUH) presented their work on gene expression and tremor networks, and the use of intra-operative electrical stimulation for studying speech and language generation, respectively.
This year, as part of the goal to foster interactions between neuroscience researchers and the public, three patient groups, Dementia Singapore, Motor Neurone Disease Association, and Parkinson’s Society Singapore were invited to present talks and set up booths to interact with participants over lunch and tea breaks. The talks and booths showcased ongoing initiatives and research collaborations that these societies are participating in and helped generate more awareness of these patient groups and their needs.
The SfN.SG conference concluded with an awards ceremony recognizing outstanding contributions from early career researchers in both talks and posters (linked here). Overall, the Neuroscience Singapore 2024 conference served as a comprehensive platform to revive connections and exchange knowledge once again. This year, an international flavor was added to the discussions, enhancing our understanding of the brain and its functions.
The full program can be found here: https://shorturl.at/KNnr
If you attended, we would love if you could leave us feedback in this short 3 minutes survey: https://form.gov.sg/67345100bcb9b12a7a0d56cd
