The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on ?Thalamocortical Interactions: Development, Function & Dysfunction of Thalamocortical Networks? will involve roughly 150 scientists of diverse expertise assembled to discuss and debate new findings related to the functioning of thalamus and cortex and their interactions. The conference will take place at the Renaissance Tuscany Il Ciocco, Lucca (Barga), Italy, during February 18-23, 2018. The meeting will include a series of 20 minute talks followed by 10 minute discussion periods plus time each day for less formal interactions at poster sessions. This GRC will offer a unique combination of features, including: breadth of research; cutting-edge emphasis; mingling of investigators from all ranks and diverse sub- fields and locales; and intimate size and extended discussion time, allowing for close and sustained interactions. The program of this GRC emphasizes development, function and dysfunction of thalamocortical interactions, and builds on these to explore their roles in cognition and neuronal disease states. This GRC represents a rare opportunity for neuroscientists interested in thalamocortical interactions to exchange new results, hypotheses, and ideas at many levels, from cellular through systems to cognitive and clinical. This is especially timely, because this field has been expanding significantly with the recent appreciation that thalamus plays an ongoing and critical role in cortical functioning, and newly described deficits in such disorders as schizophrenia, epilepsy, and autism appear to have at least partly a thalamocortical locus. We thus fully anticipate this GRC to significantly advance the field and potentially offer new insights into certain clinical conditions.
The thalamus and cortex are active and necessary partners in the processing of neural signals essential for sensory, motor, and cognitive functions. The 2018 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on ?Thalamocortical Interactions: Development, Function & Dysfunction of Thalamocortical Networks? will bring together scientists to present and discuss the latest advances in our understanding of the organization, development, function, and plasticity of thalamocortical networks, and the impact of disease on thalamocortical interactions. A major goal of the conference is to enrich the training experience by providing excellent opportunities for trainees to engage speakers both formally and informally as well as present their own results through poster presentation.
