Neuroscience 2011 to explore latest advances in brain research

WHAT: The Society for Neuroscience's Annual Meeting, Neuroscience 2011, Nov. 12-16 at the Washington Convention Center. The event will include more than 16,000 study abstracts on new discoveries in aging, stress, mental illness, learning, disease, and more.

In addition to a working press room and press conferences, registered media will have access to special events on the intersection of brain science and society, such as the law, the obesity epidemic, and economics. For more details on the latest research being presented in your area of interest, download the Preliminary Program and register at www.sfn.org/pressroom.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS :

This year's "Dialogues between Neuroscience and Society" features economist and author Robert Shiller in a discussion of behavioral economics. Shiller's work has addressed the influence of psychological factors on economic decision-making and the impact of group dynamics on financial markets.

Presidential Special Lectures feature:

• Cornelia I. Bargmann, PhD, Rockefeller University, will address how genes and the environment interact to generate flexible behaviors.
• Mu-Ming Poo, PhD, University of California, Berkeley and Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, will discuss brain chemicals called neurotrophins and their role in development, plasticity, cognition, and behavior.
• Ann M. Graybiel, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will address research on the brain circuit connecting the cortex and the basal ganglia, which is important in decision-making and adaptive behaviors; its dysfunctions underlie Parkinson's and Huntington's disease and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
• Andrew P. Feinberg, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, a pioneer in epigenetics, will discuss new genome-scale approaches to observing and understanding common diseases such as cancer, autism, and psychiatric disease.

WHEN: Nov. 12-16

WHERE: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.