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Fantastic and fascinating: Our brain is in focus at MatchPoints 2022

You can learn much more about the brain when Health for the first time organises the annual MatchPoints conference in May. Under the theme "Our Fascinating Brain", Danish and international researchers shine a spotlight on our very own supercomputer. Several of Health’s leading neuro-researchers are among the list of speakers.

2022.01.13 | Vibe Bregendahl Noordeloos

The amazing brain, with all its delights, diseases, curiosities and fantastic characteristics, comes under scrutiny at this year's MatchPoints conference.Several of Health's researchers are represented at the conference including Professor Per Borghammer, who will be chairing a workshop on the latest scanning techniques. Photo: Martin Gravgaard.

You can now sign up for this years MatchPoints conference on May 5-7. The theme is "Our Fascinating Brain". This is the first time that Health is organising the event, and Professor Troels Staehelin Jensen from the Department of Clinical Medicine is head of the organising committee. Photo: AU Foto

It has over 85 billion neurons. It is home to our consciousness, our thoughts and our language. It is the reason we can move our arms and legs, experience joy, sorrow and fear – and be moved by art or music. The brain is our own amazing and fantastic supercomputer, and it comes under serious scrutiny at the MatchPoints conference in May. The programme features a two-day academic conference in the Lakeside Lecture Theatres and a public event at Moesgaard Museum. The conference programme will take place in English and everyone with an interest in the brain can register to attend.

MatchPoints is the university's annual conference, with different themes and the organisers each year. This year is the first time Health is the organiser, and Professor Troels Staehelin Jensen from the Department of Clinical Medicine is head of the organising committee. He is pleased that researchers from all five of the university’s faculties will be represented at the conference, and not least that Aarhus University is taking the lead in focusing on the brain:

“The brain is fascinating, because it’s us. Without the brain, there would be no past, present nor future. The brain is a computer with endless possibilities that is constantly changing and creating new connections. But the brain is also a sensitive organ that can be damaged. The better we understand the complex brain, the better we’ll become at treating and preventing brain diseases,” he says.

The brain from all angles

Do we all experience pain in the same way? What happens in the brain when we suffer a depression? And how do the 85 billion neurons actually communicate? These are some of the questions that the speakers at MatchPoints will attempt to clarify. Among the participating researchers from Health is Professor Per Borghammer from the Department of Clinical Medicine. One of his tasks will be to chair a workshop on the latest scanning techniques, which are crucial for understanding the healthy brain. He explains:

"We can learn about brain diseases by analysing tissue samples from the deceased. However, it is very rarely possible to get a sample of living brain tissue. This is precisely why detailed brain scans are absolutely crucial for our research into neurological disorders, as these can contribute to developing treatment options for patients with e.g. Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. The workshop will provide insight into the most modern types of brain scans being used today, and how crucial they are for future research and treatment options."

The panel at the workshop includes professors Leif Østergaard and David Brooks from the Department of Clinical Medicine and Professor Pradeep J. Nathan from the University of Cambridge.

Ouch my brain!

The brain is also the body's pain centre. This is where the warning signals are sent out when we are injured. Pain is the brain's signal to hurry up and get away from the source of the pain. Every time we seriously hurt ourselves or just step on a Lego brick in the children's room, this is stored as a memory in the nervous system, and this memory controls how we react to a similar situation next time. The better we understand how the brain deals with and reacts to pain, the better we can become at treating chronic pain, for example.

The newest pain treatment is the subject of Clinical Medicine’s Professor Nanna B. Finnerup’s workshop ‘Neuoplasticity in the Brain'. Professor Troels Staehelin Jensen will be the moderator, and the panel also includes professors Irene Tracey from the University of Oxford and Thomas Graven-Nielsen from Aalborg University.

In addition to workshops and keynote speeches, the conference will also feature two evening events in which the conference theme will be brought into play in new ways. On Friday, Professor Richard Morris starts the dinner with a presentation about memory, following which psychological manipulator Jan Hellesøe will throw those present off balance under the theme "Memory and Magic". On Thursday evening, the Peter Vuust Trio and Cæcilie Nordby will give the audience’s brain cells something good to listen to when they play dinner jazz at Restaurant Herman in Tivoli Friheden. 

About the MatchPoints Conference 5-7 May 2022

5-6 May: Academic conference "Our Fascinating Brain" in the Lakeside Lecture Theatres.
To see the complete programme and sign up go to the conference website here
7 May: Public event "100,000 years of the brain" (Hjernen gennem 100.000 år) at Moesgaard Museum. This event will be held in Danish.
Brain researcher and TV presenter Peter Lund Madsen will guide the audience through the day’s events, which will include activities for both children and adults in the form of lectures, interviews, workshops, games, exhibitions, musical performances, and food and drink.
Registration via the Danish University Extension. Read more about the event “100,000 years of the brain” and sign up here

Aarhus University has facilitated MatchPoints – an academic conference with an outward-facing profile – every year since 2007. The purpose of MatchPoints is to create communication between Aarhus University and the general public on issues of broad interest in the community. One feature of MatchPoints is that the speakers are some of the most eminent names in the field.

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