IBACS-Sponsored Events

IBACS & BIRC Talk Series: Dr. Andrew Jahn

We are excited to announce a new talk series sponsored by BIRC and IBACS. Our first speaker will be Dr. Andrew Jahn at the Univeristy of Michigan. Andrew Jahn, PhD is a neuroimaging consultant at the University of Michigan's UMOR Functional MRI Laboratory in the Radiology Department. Dr. Jahn teaches neuroimaging analysis, functional and structural connectivity, machine learning, and other topics related to cognitive neuroscience. He has hosted neuroimaging workshops at several research institutions across the United States, including the University of Washington, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, Harvard University, and others. His research focuses on the role of prediction within the medial prefrontal cortex, and how this applies to domains such as pain, cognitive control, and linguistic processing. He will give his talk, Trends in Best Practices for fMRI Research on Thursday, December 7 via Zoom at 2:30pm ET. 

Talk title: Trends in Best Practices for fMRI Research

Abstract: With the advent of several different fMRI analysis tools and packages outside of the established ones (i.e., SPM, AFNI, and FSL), today's researcher may wonder what the best practices are for fMRI analysis. This talk will discuss some of the recent trends in neuroimaging, including design optimization and power analysis, standardized analysis pipelines such as fMRIPrep, and an overview of current recommendations for how to present neuroimaging results. Along the way we will discuss the balance between Type I and Type II errors with different correction mechanisms (e.g., Threshold-Free Cluster Enhancement and Equitable Thresholding and Clustering), as well as considerations for working with large open-access databases

Registration is required to attend this seminar. Please register here. We ask that you please use your university/institution email address so we can track attendance. Once you are registered, you will receive an automatically generated email from Zoom with the meeting information.

If you have any questions, please email ibacs@uconn.edu.

26th Annual Neuroscience at Storrs - Sponsored by IBACS

You are cordially invited to the 26th ANNUAL NEUROSCIENCE AT STORRS SYMPOSIUM on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the Dodd Konover Auditorium on the Storrs campus.

For our Keynote Speaker this year, we are lucky to host Dr. Alex Kwan from Cornell University. His seminar is titled: "From dendrites to circuits: dissecting the drug action of psychedelics."For information about Dr. Kwan, please visit: https://www.engineering.cornell.edu/faculty-directory/alex-kwan

Expert Clinical Panel: Professionals from UConn, Yale, and private practice will discuss current and future directions of psychedelic medicine.

REGISTRATION IS OPEN: Please click the link and scroll down to “Neuroscience RSVP 2023” to register: https://neuroscience.uconn.edu/neuroscience-at-storrs-rsvp/

POSTER SESSION AND DATA BLITZ REGISTRATION: We will be hosting short-format podium presentations (data blitz) from grad students and postdocs and a poster session from grad students, postdocs, and undergrads. Students and postdoctoral fellows are enthusiastically encouraged to participate in the poster and data blitz presentations. Please click the link and scroll down to sign up to present a poster and/or data blitz talk.https://neuroscience.uconn.edu/neuroscience-at-storrs-rsvp/

💲💲💲***Best Poster Competition***💲💲💲
            1st place $100
            2nd place $75
            3rd place $50

*** For general inquiries about the event, please contact Dr. Greg Sartor (gregory.sartor@uconn.edu) in the Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences ***

Millikan Fest - Sponsored by IBACS

October 5th and 6th: This year, we are celebrating our own Ruth Millikan’s remarkable contributions to philosophy, with the 40th anniversary of her groundbreaking book, Language, Thought, and Other Biological Categories (LTOBC). The Fest will bring together major figures working in Philosophy, Linguistics, Psychology, Animal Communication, Neuroscience, and more, to critically and creatively engage with Millikan's pioneering work.

Our invited participants include Josh Armstrong (UCLA), Rosa Cao (Stanford), Robyn Carston (UCL), Francois Recanati (College de France), David Papineau (King's College), Andrew Melnyk (Missouri), Peter Schulte (Zurich), and Daniel Dennett (Tufts). For more details and to register, please visit the conference website.

Register Now for the 2023 IBACS Meet & Speak

Registration is now open for the 2023 IBACS Meet & Speak event on Friday, April 28th from 9:30am-4:30pm. This exciting event will be in-person in Konover Auditorium.

Affiliated faculty will give 10-minute talks, most of which are on the research they have carried out, or propose carrying out, with seed funding awarded by IBACS. Affiliated graduate students who have received IBACS funding will present 5-minute “datablitz” style talks.

The event will provide an opportunity to learn more about the diverse interdisciplinary research of IBACS affiliates, provide a forum for cross-disciplinary networking, and will introduce our new UConn Science Alliance Mobile (SAM)! A more detailed program including speaker names and talk titles can be found below. We hope you can join us, please register here for all or part of the event.

Schedule

9:30AM – Breakfast available in Dodd lounge

10:00AM–Welcome

10:15AM–Faculty Talks (10 minutes each)

11:25AM–Graduate Student Data Blitz (5 minutes each)

12:00PM – Lunch

1:00PM–Keynote Speaker: Dr. Diego Bohorquez, Duke University

2:30PM to 4:30PM – UConn Science Alliance Mobile (UConn SAM) Open House on Fairfield Way

Full Program: Meet & Speak 2023

IBACS Meet & Speak 2023 Keynote Speaker

We're excited to introduce the Keynote Speaker for the 2023 IBACS Meet & Speak event on Friday, April 28th in Konover Auditorium. 

Dr. Diego Bohorquez, Duke University

Brief Bio: I am a neuroscientist recognized for the discovery of a neural circuit that serves as the basis of gut brain sensory transduction. At Duke University, I lead a research team built with the vision to treat the brain from the gut. Our mission is to dissect gut-brain circuits underlying behaviors to improve health. Beyond the laboratory, I founded Gastronauts Foundation Inc. - a global venue to disseminate knowledge on gut brain matters.

Talk Title: The Wisdom of the Gut

Abstract: The vision of my laboratory is to treat the brain from the gut. Over the last decade we established the neural basis for how gut feelings about nutrients guide appetitive choices. Our initial focus was sugar. Animals distinguish sugars from non-nutritive sweeteners even in the absence of sweet taste. The hidden sugar sense appeared to reside in the gut, but the cells and neural circuits were unknown. In 2018, our laboratory discovered a neural circuit linking the gut to the brainstem in one synapse. The neural circuit is formed between neuropod cells in the gut and the vagus nerve. This neural circuit is essential to convey sensory cues from sugars. In 2020, we discovered that animals rely on neuropod cells to distinguish sugars from non-caloric sweeteners. For this discovery, we collaborated with Prof. Polina Anikeeva to develop a new generation of tools to use optogenetics and other neural tools to interrogate the contribution of visceral sensors to behavior. Much like the brain relies on retinal cone cells to see color, gut neuropod cells help the brain choose sugar over non-caloric sweeteners.

Two relevant papers:

• Buchanan KL, Rupprecht LE, Kaelberer MM et al., and DV Bohórquez*. 2022. The preference for sugar over sweetener depends on a gut sensor cell. Nature Neurosci. doi.org/10.1038/s41593-021-00982-7.

• Kaelberer MM et al., and DV Bohórquez. 2018. A gut-brain neural circuit for nutrient sensory transduction. Science. 361(6408). pii: eaat5236.

LangFest 2023

We are excited to announce that Language Fest is making an in-person return for 2023, and invite you to join us on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 26th (event times TBD).

Language Fest is a University-wide research conference that welcomes the full cross-disciplinary community of language researchers at UConn for a day of sharing results, ideas, methodologies, and fostering future interdisciplinary collaborations. Researchers from all disciplines of the language sciences and at all career stages are welcome and encouraged to submit their work.  

Further details about submissions and registration will be provided in early-March 2023.

For any questions about Language Fest, please e-mail: langfest@uconn.edu and visit our website https://languagefest.uconn.edu/. 

We look forward to your attendance and participation!