McGovern MEG symposium at MIT & Brainstorm Training Workshop (April 27 and 28)

MIT is organizing a special symposium on MEG, and a 1-day workshop on the Brainstorm software package.

The details (reposted from the MEG Community mailing list):

Dear Colleagues,

We are writing to let you know about an exciting symposium to be held at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research on Friday April 27.   The theme of the symposium will be MEG and its applications to cognitive neuroscience, and as you’ll see from the website (below), we have a great lineup of speakers.  We will also be marking the 40th anniversary of David Cohen’s pioneering work on the development of MEG - much of it performed at MIT – and celebrating the opening of our own new MEG lab at the McGovern Institute. 

Following the symposium, on Saturday April 28, we are hosting an all-day workshop on the ‘Brainstorm’ software suite for analyzing MEG and EEG data.  The workshop will be led by Brainstorm developers Sylvain Baillet and Francois Tadel of McGill University.  It is open to all, at a nominal cost.

If anyone in your lab might wish to attend either or both of these events, please bring this announcement to their attention. 

2012 McGovern Symposium on MEG
http://mcgovern.mit.edu/events/annual-symposium

Brainstorm Training Workshop at MIT
http://mcgovern.mit.edu/component/content/article/21-events/538-brainstorm-training-workshop-mit

Thank you,

Robert Desimone,
Matti Hamalainen,
Charles Jennings,
Dimitrios Pantazis

Call for Abstracts - Biomag 2012, Paris France, August 26-30

Biomag 2012 is coming up fast, the call for abstracts is now out as you can see below.

BioMag 2012 – Call for Abstracts

We are pleased to invite you to submit an abstract to the 18^th International Conference on Biomagnetism, that will be held in Paris, France from Sunday, August 26th through Thursday, August 30th, 2012. We will meet in the beautiful 18^th century Hotel de la Rochefoucauld d'Estissac, now a state-of-the-art meeting center located a few hundred meters away from the Eiffel tower, the Musée d'Orsay and the Saint Germain des Prés area.

The scientific program includes, but is not limited to, technological, methodological, clinical and fundamental research in biomagnetism. This year, we will highlight the quickly growing field of human brain dynamics, taking the MEG perspective but also taking advantage of the multiple methods (EEG, fMRI) and recording levels (intracranial EEG, LFP, unit activity) now available. Those issues will be developed in five keynote lectures, twenty symposia and poster sessions.

Please submit your abstract by March 15th, 2012 through the BioMag website:

http://www.biomag2012.org/submission/

Video(s) of the month

It has been a while since we posted videos to watch, so we'll catch up by posting a whole series from a short symposium held at the University of Utah this Spring. The description from the website of the UofU Brain Institute is:

"The Brain Institute and the Department of Neurology hosted a half-day symposium on state-of-the-art applications of magnetoencephalography (MEG). Nine speakers from around the world discussed how MEG studies benefit diverse areas of research, from diagnostics to decoding human thought. These talks can now be viewed online."

The link to view these videos is:
http://brain.utah.edu/portal/site/brain/menuitem.b99f7df401ce98fd54eef041d1e916b9/?vgnextoid=62101654bbc0f210VgnVCM1000001c9e619bRCRD

Enjoy!

MEG service engineer job opening

Elekta is looking for a service engineer in North America, to serve the expanding customer base for the Neuromag line of MEG systems. The job posting is on the Elekta website at:

http://www.elekta.com/jobs_details.php?id=551

Harvard Scientists Control Minds of Worms

Here's part of an article from earlier this year in the Harvard Crimson Magazine:


To the extent that a worm smaller than a pinhead has a mind, Harvard scientists working at the intersection of neurobiology, computer science, physics, and optogenetics have shown that they are capable of controlling it.
A study published Sunday in Nature Methods revealed that with the use of newly designed software and precise laser technology a team, including researchers at Harvard’s Center for Brain Science, successfully induced Caenorhabditis elegans worms to perform activities such as reversing direction, changing speeds, and laying eggs.
The researchers controlled a worm’s behavior by shining a laser on specific neurons. Depending on which neuron was targeted by the laser, the worm would perform a different action.
For years, scientists have been able to observe neurons one at a time, but an understanding of how neurons work together has proved elusive.
“Up until now most experiments had to be done on immobilized worms,” said study co-author Andrew M. Leifer, a researcher in the laboratory of physics professor Aravinthan D.T. Samuel ’93.
In pursuit of a deeper understanding of neural circuits, Leifer and others began work on what they called the CoLBeRT system—Controlling Locomotion and Behavior in Real Time. The “MindControl” software Leifer developed directs light with such speed and precision that it can activate or inhibit specific neurons in a moving C. elegans worm—allowing scientists to observe the worm’s subsequent behavior.
“This is an exciting tool because it potentially allows us to go in and poke around inside the nervous system of a living organism,” Leifer said.

For the full article go to:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/1/19/leifer-neurons-worms-elegans/#

MEG in Canada

Almost a year ago the MEG sites in Canada banded together to form a consortium. I'm not sure if other countries have done anything similar, but it is unique within North America. Thanks to Gordon Haid for making me aware of this. Here is an excerpt from the consortium's website:


"The Canada Magnetoencephalography Consortium (CMC) was formed to coordinate, support, and enhance the fundamental and applied scientific research and development at Magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain imaging centres across Canada. This initiative will leverage the investment in equipment and personnel to standardize and communicate methods across Canadian MEG labs. Today, there are approximately 360 scientists and graduate students involved in MEG research across Canada."

The website (https://www.webdepot.umontreal.ca/Usagers/jolicop/MonDepotPublic/CMC-english.html) goes on to describe MEG, outlines the CMC mandate and initiatives, and list the National Executive Board, events, research, facilities and where to contact the CMC.

MIT gets first Triux MEG in North America

I just got back from MIT, where the first Elekta Triux MEG was delivered to the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. It is great to have a prestigious research institution such as MIT re-join the MEG community, and to have the first major new development in MEG technology in the last 5 years or so ready for users.

For more information about the McGovern Institute, see http://mcgovern.mit.edu/about-the-institute

For more information about the Triux MEG, check out  http://www.elekta.com/healthcare_international_elekta_neuromag_triux.php