PLASTICITY AND REGENERATION OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

PLASTICITY AND REGENERATION OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM COURSE

PLACE AND DATES: Physiology- FORP- University of Sao Paulo 9th to 13th of August 2010
ELAINE DEL-BEL (ORGANISER) Department MEF Physiology – FORP – University of São Paulo, Av. Café, s/nº; CEP: 14040-904 – Ribeirão Preto- São Paulo; PHONE: (016)-36024047; FAX (016)-36300999; e-mail: eadelbel@forp.usp.br

PROGRAM: Lectures will last for about 45 minutes. Conferences will be used for discussion of questions that arise and consist of small groups that rotate day by day to instructors. We plan to have informal discussions about studentships and postdoctoral opportunities in Latin America, North America and Europe, and to have contributions about their research from colleagues.

Group 1 Lectures: SIGNALING IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
Principles of Direct Synaptic Transmission
Structure of ion channels
Neurons as Conductors of Electricity:
Cellular and molecular biochemistry of synaptic transmission
Synaptic Plasticity: Short term and Long-term changes in signaling

Group 2 Lectures: TRANSDUCTION OF MECHANICAL STIMULI AND CELLULAR MECHANISM OF MOTOR CONTROL:
Stimulus Coding by mechanoreceptors
Motor Unit
Spinal Reflexes
Generation of Coordinated movement
The organization of Motor Pathways
Motor Cortex and Execution of Voluntary Movements
The Cerebellum
The Basal Ganglia

Group 3 Lectures: SPECIAL TOPICS
Inhibitory molecules regulating outgrowth patterns
Regeneration of neurites and synapses by cultured neurons
Mechanisms of neurite extension and retraction in cultured neurons.
Regeneration of immature mammalian CNS after injury
Repair of spinal cord after injury
Diffuse neural network for generation of respiratory rhythm revealed by optical and electrical recordings

LIST OF FACULTY: NAMES AND AFFILIATIONS OF THE PARTICIPANTS
1) ELAINE DEL-BEL (ORGANISER) Department MEF Physiology – FORP – University of São Paulo, Av. Café, s/nº; CEP: 14040-904 – Ribeirão Preto- São Paulo; PHONE: (016)-36024047; FAX (016)-36300999; e-mail: eadelbel@forp.usp.br.,

2) JOHN NICHOLLS FRS Escuola Superiori di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Trieste, Italy Via Beirut 2, Trieste 34014, Italy.Tel: 39 040 3787 250 Fax: 39 040 3787 528; e-mail: nicholls@sissa.it

3- FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ DE-MIGUEL Investigador TitularDepartamento de Biofísica Instituto de Fisiología Celular-Neurociencias “Experimenta”. Laboratorios para la Enseñanza de las Ciencias Apartado Postal 70-253 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México C.P. 04510, D.F. Mexico Tel. 5255-56225622 ffernand@ifc.unam.mx

4) FRANCISCO BARRANTES UNESCO Chair of Biophysics and Molecular Neurobiology – Institute of Biochemistry – Centro Cientifico Tecnologico CONICET-Bahia Blanca Argentina rtfjb1@yahoo.com

NUMBER AND LEVEL OF STUDENTS OR PARTICIPANTS
The course will be oppened to all Latin American Countryes. However, we depend of the funds we got to receive them. Interested students will be selected at every level, from medical doctors, teachers, psychologists, pharmacologists, engineers and biologists to undergraduates from the same areas. We do not expect detailed previous knowledge of neurobiology. What will they gain from the event? A major aim will be to foster interchanges between students and faculty in Latin America.

Students instructions to Inscription: till July 31st
The course is going to be hold at the Dental School, Campus USP, coordenated by Dr Elaine Del Bel.
The inscription and the course are free.
Submit Student name and address; Supervisor name; student Course and a letter establishing why he/she would like to do the course by e-mail to: Dra E Del Bel/ Dra. Ana Carolina Issy addresses, carol_issy@hotmail.com and eadelbel@usp.br