World leaders in artificial intelligence, brain imaging and the ethics of neuroscience and 60 of the brightest young researchers from around Australia will converge on the Melbourne Brain Centre this week to do some serious thinking about brain research.
The Australian Academy of Science's 2013 Theo Murphy High Flyers Think Tank on Inspiring smarter brain research in Australia will provide a unique forum bringing scientists, doctors and ethicists together to build links between different research disciplines.
Think Tank chair, Professor Bob Williamson, says integrated efforts are needed to understand the basic mechanisms of the brain, and use these to develop methods for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease.
"A critical issue facing neuroscience is the integration of many exciting fields of research that interact with each other, but presently are separate. We are very good at genetics, at research into MRI and other imaging techniques, and with computers, but these groups rarely talk to each other. The Think Tank will bring them all together in one venue to discuss real outcomes," said Professor Williamson. "Understanding how humans, alone among living things, are able to work out complex problems is perhaps the biggest challenge left in biology."
"What should Australia focus on as a country to ensure that we can contribute to the next revolution in brain science? How should we spend our limited resources to make research cooperation easier and ensure outcomes of high quality? These are just two of the questions the early- to mid-career researchers will examine."
Professor Steve Furber, an expert in artificial intelligence from the University of Manchester, will deliver a plenary lecture titled: Building brains. Professor Terrie Inder from the University of Washington will talk about new imaging techniques to study brain development in infants, and Professor Julian Savulescu from the University of Oxford will discuss the ethics of neuroscience.
Other topics featured during the Think Tank will be:
The 2013 Think Tank is generously supported by the Theo Murphy (Australia) Fund, which is administered by the UK Royal Society.
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