CORTEX conference by Julien Courchet and Liuba Papeo

Twos in human visual perception, by Liuba Papeo

Human vision serves the social function of detecting and discriminating with high efficiency conspecifics and other animals. The social world is made of social entities as much as of the relations between those entities. Our recent work demonstrates that human vision encodes visuo-spatial relations between bodies with the same efficiency and high specialization of face/body perception. The current results, based on a set of behavioral, functional MRI and EEG data, illustrate how the representation of social interaction emerges from object perception, through the analysis of spatial relations between two or more bodies in visual scenes. Thus, a network of visual areas sensitive to spatial relations between multiple objects (i.e., bodies) gives rise to the earliest rudimentary representation of a social interaction, based on the mere physical structure of the input.Human vision serves the social function of detecting and discriminating with high efficiency conspecifics and other animals. The social world is made of social entities as much as of the relations between those entities. Our recent work demonstrates that human vision encodes visuo-spatial relations between bodies with the same efficiency and high specialization of face/body perception. The current results, based on a set of behavioral, functional MRI and EEG data, illustrate how the representation of social interaction emerges from object perception, through the analysis of spatial relations between two or more bodies in visual scenes. Thus, a network of visual areas sensitive to spatial relations between multiple objects (i.e., bodies) gives rise to the earliest rudimentary representation of a social interaction, based on the mere physical structure of the input.

Control of cortical axon morphogenesis through mitochondria trafficking and function, by Julien Courchet

The proper function of neuronal circuits in the adult brain relies on glucose metabolism to ensure energy-demanding neuronal functions such as synaptic activity or long-distance axonal transport. Deregulation of the energy metabolism is strongly associated to many neurodegenerative diseases and has been linked to some neuropsychiatric diseases such as schizophrenia. However, our current understanding of metabolic regulation in the developing brain and in particular in rapidly growing neurons is still fragmental. 
We recently identified a novel signaling pathways involving two kinases LKB1 and NUAK1, and controlling axon outgrowth and terminal branching through a novel mechanism involving the regulation of mitochondria trafficking and clustering in the developing axon. My presentation will review the latter findings, as well as our use of molecular tools to visualize mitochondria trafficking and function in cultured neuron.