International Symposium: Physics and Metabolism in Brain Functions

Metabolism and cellular mechanics are closely intertwined. Following a successful first edition of the symposium, combining physics and metabolism in brain functions in Barcelona, in July 2024, the second edition of this interdisciplinary event will now come to Paris. It will bring together world experts in physics, chemistry, neurobiology, and philosophy with the aim of fostering new collaborations.

Join the event and get the chance to talk with prestigious speakers who will discuss the physics of cellular trafficking, neurotransmission, sensory systems, and much more. The symposium will also include musical pieces to deepen our quest to understand living beings.

This in-person conference will also be broadcast live for a large audience.

Session 1: Introductory Talks

09:00-09:15 am - Welcome and opening remarks

• Stéphanie Debette (ICM executive director)
• Anne-Geneviève Marcelin (Vice-dean of Research at the Faculty of Health Science at Sorbonne University)

9:15-9:45 am - What did we learn from the 1st Symposium (July 5th, 2024 – Barcelona)?

• Fanny Mochel (Sorbonne University and Paris Brain Institute, Paris, France)
• Angeles Garcia-Cazorla (Universitat de Barcelona and Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Barcelona, Spain)

9:45-10.30 am - From the primordial universe to the human mind

• Sylvie Vauclair (Astrophysicist at the Midi-Pyrénées observatory, Professor at the Paul-Sabatier University of Toulouse and member of the Institut universitaire de France)

Coffee break 10:30-11:00 am

Session 2 - Physics of cellular trafficking and membrane biology

11:00-11:30 am - Progression of glioblastoma involves alterations of the mechanobiology of extracellular matrix fibers

• Viola Vogel (Department of Health Sciences and Technology and Head of the Applied Mechanobiology Laboratory, Zürich, Switzerland)

11:30 am-12:00 pm - Membrane chemical biology - Spotlight on lipids

• Andre Nadler (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany)

12:00-12:30 pm - How mechanotransduction regulates mitochondrial functions?

• Sirio Dupont (Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy)

12:30-12:45 pm - TANGO2 deficiency: connection between energy metabolism and membrane dynamics

• Alfonso de Oyarzábal (University Abat Oliba CEU and Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Barcelona, Spain)

Lunch 12:45- 2:00 pm

Session 3 - Physics of neurotransmission 

2:00-2.30 pm - What do we know regarding biophysics of dopamine production?

• Aurora Martinez (Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Norway)

2.30-3:00 pm - How can biophysics help us bridge neurotransmission systems?

• Laurent Groc (Head of the Team Developmental Brain Physiology and Pathology, Director of the Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, Bordeaux, France)

3:00-3:15 pm - Clinical flash – How can clinical observations help us bridge neurotransmission systems?

• Angeles Garcia-Cazorla (Universitat de Barcelona and Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Barcelona, Spain)

Coffee Break 3:15-3:45 pm

Session 4 - Physics of sensory systems

3:45-4:15 pm - How does mechanotransduction of somatosensory circuits drive brain development?

• Francisco Martini (Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante, Universidad Miguel Hernández-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (UMH-CSIC), Sant Joan d’Alacant, Spain)

4:15-4:45 pm - How mechanotransduction of spinal sensory circuits drive locomotion and morphogenesis throughout life?

• Claire Wyart (Paris Brain Institute, Paris, France)

Closing lecture

4:45-5:15 pm - Reduction, emergence, and the physics of the brain: a philosophical perspective

• Stephan Hartmann (Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, Munich, Germany)

5:15-5:30 pm - Closing Remarks

• Fanny Mochel (Sorbonne University and Paris Brain Institute, Paris, France)
• Angeles Garcia-Cazorla (Universitat de Barcelona and Sant Joan de Déu Hospital, Barcelona, Spain)

Champagne cocktail

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