Institute of Experimental Medicine CAS

Scientists will talk about the latest research in epilepsy treatment, mechanisms of pain and sleep disorders at the Brain Week festival 2022. This year's festival of the latest discoveries and trends in brain research and neuroscience will run from 14 to 20 March. Most of the events will take place online. In addition to the main lecture series, the event will also include accompanying programmes in Prague, Olomouc, Jihlava, Pilsen and Hradec Králové. The festival is being held for the twenty-third time. "The festival will bring not only engaging lectures, talks, workshops, films, but also tips for brain training and exhibitions," said Eliška Zvolánková from the Czech Academy of Sciences.

The main lecture series will start on Monday with a lecture on the study of focal cortical dysplasia (FCD), which Ondřej Novák will present, from the Institute of Physiology at the 2nd Faculty of Medicine of Charles University. According to Novák, FCD is often the result of a mutation in the development of the cerebral cortex and a condition in which one area of the cortex loses its order and functional involvement. 

Jiří Paleček from the Institute of Physiology of the CAS will then talk about the origin and mechanisms of pain. The scientist will also discuss temperature, cold and pressure receptors, for whose discovery American molecular biologists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine last year. 

On Tuesday, Aleš Stuchlík, head of the Department of Neurophysiology of Memory at the Institute of Physiology of the CAS, will lecture on research into the signals transmitted by neurons, the function of neural circuits, and their importance for the creation of mental maps of the world. 

Simultaneous translation into sign language will be complemented by a lecture on the human auditory and speech system by Josef Syka from the Institute of Experimental Medicine CAS. Syka will also overview what scientists know about some of the problems that affect these systems. 

Pavla Jendelová , a scientist from the same institute, will explain the role of the extracellular matrix in healthy and damaged brains. She will talk about how it is possible to influence regeneration, memory and learning by modifying this mass.

On Thursday, Soňa Nevšímalová from the Department of Neurology at the 1st Faculty of Medicine and the General University Hospital in Prague will give a lecture on the importance of sleep at different stages of life and its disorders. 

The Brain Week festival is part of Brain Awareness Week - a global campaign to raise public awareness of the achievements and benefits of brain research. The Czech Academy of Sciences is cooperating with the Czech Neuroscience Society to organise the festival in the Czech Republic.

Don´t miss: 

• Hearing, speech and the brain  (Josef Syka) - ONLINE - Tuesday 15. 3. 2022, 4:00 p.m.
• What is the Brain Extracellular Matrix?  (Pavla Jendelová) - ONLINE - Wednesday 16. 3. 2022, 4:00 p.m.