The function of a nervous system is the computation of a motor response that is appropriate to the perceived sensory stimuli. This workshop will explore how the spinal cord is critical for this calculation, by processing most of the somatosensory information destined for the brain, and by executing most motor commands. The spinal cord is also a locale where routine motor responses can be modulated directly by the incoming sensory information. Complex motor behaviours involve sending sensory information to supraspinal regions of the nervous system and interpreting descending commands from motor brain regions. However, a more nuanced view of the function of the spinal cord is obscured by its complexity. This workshop draws on the long-proposed solution to this problem that is the study of the developing spinal cord, where its molecular logic presages the functional logic of its adult circuits. Critical for such advances, and also covered by the workshop, are general neurodevelopmental principles gleaned from model organism studies. The work presented at this workshop mirrors the scientific interests of Thomas M. Jessell and is inspired by his visionary view of spinal cord function and development.
Participation fee: 100,000 JPY
Registration includes:
• Participation in sessions
• Accommodation is included. Participants will be hosted in shared double rooms at the Seaside Hotel or equivalent accommodations.
• Coffee breaks
• Meals during session days
• Local sightseeing tours
