CORTEX conference by David van Essen

On The September 10, 2019

From 11 am
ISC Amphitheater, registration for the lunch buffet

Mapping Primate Cerebral Cortex: Structure, Function, Connectivity, Development, and Evolution

Cerebral cortex is the dominant structure of the human brain and is largely responsible for what makes us unique as a species and as individuals. This lecture will discuss how recent advances in noninvasive imaging combined with invasive approaches in animal models are transforming our understanding of human brain structure, function, connectivity, evolution, and development, and in health and disease. It will include an overview of basic principles of cortical organization and connectivity from studies of laboratory animals and analyses of individual variability in humans. It will highlight a new map (‘parcellation’) of human cerebral cortex based on data from the Human Connectome Project. Comparisons of cortical organization across species reveal valuable insights regarding what makes us uniquely human. 

Short bio: 

David C. Van Essen is the Alumni Endowed Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Washington University in St Louis. He trained at Caltech and Harvard, and his research career has focused on cerebral cortex of humans and nonhuman primates, He has served in many leadership positions, including chair of the Anatomy and Neurobiology Department at Washington University, President of the Society for Neuroscience, and founding chair of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping. He has received many awards for excellence in teaching and research and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.