Outreach Activities and Partnerships

Neurotorium organized a scientific session on Parkinson’s Disease

Oct 29, 2024

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is not a single, uniform disease; it is recognized as a heterogeneous, multi-system disorder that presents with both motor and non-motor symptoms, including autonomic dysfunction, sleep disturbances, psychiatric issues, and dementia. The disease is characterized by the spread of aggregated protein pathology, known as Lewy pathology, which propagates from neuron to neuron in a prion-like manner, affecting both the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral autonomic nervous system. Dr. Per Borghammer’s presentation covered essential aspects of the current understanding of PD and related disorders, such as Dementia with Lewy bodies.

Over the past 2-3 decades, multiple mutations linked to PD have been identified, accounting for 15–25% of PD cases, while the remaining cases are classified as sporadic. Although rodent models exist for some of the mutations causing PD, research on sporadic forms of PD is hampered by a lack of cellular models. Dr. Shani Stern’s work differentiated dopaminergic neurons derived from the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) of PD patients with various mutations and those with sporadic PD. Her presentation covered the identified common neurophysiological phenotype in which neurons from PD patients exhibited a significant reduction in synaptic current rates compared to neurons derived from healthy controls.

Neurotorium organised an educational session on the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) to treat, diagnose, and reveal mechanisms of mental illnesses

June 27-29, 2024

Neurotorium’s session at the FENS Forum hosted two lectures that closed with a moderated discussion. Professor Emanuel Schwarz presented his work on using AI-based analysis of multiple high-dimensional data resources to understand the complex biology of mental disorders. His research aims to identify and characterize the biological and environmental factors that affect susceptibility to these disorders, capture their trajectories across the lifespan, and investigate their mechanisms.

Professor Louise Glenthøj’s talk was on the use of VR in the treatment of serious mental illnesses. VR technology allows individuals to immerse themselves in realistic environments while offering a safe, controlled space to address symptoms and improve mental functioning. VR simulations can be used to perform activities that may be challenging in the real world, creating new possibilities for optimizing therapeutic interventions in a potentially cost-effective manner.