A new Centre of Neurosciences of Cuba recently inaugurated

by Prof. Pedro Valdes-Sosa
Vice-Director for Research, Cuban Neuroscience Center

The Centre of Neurosciences of Cuba recently inaugurated its new facilities, being this the culmination of 45 years of research which led to the creation of CNEURO 25 years ago. The move to a new dedicated and purpose built building marks a further and major development in Cuba’s commitment to neuroscience research that includes newly installed cutting edge technologies.

We celebrated the event with an opening ceremony on October 17th and a workshop that lasted from October 17th to 19th. After the ceremony visitors had the opportunity to see the facility dedicated to the 3T MRI scanner, donated by the University of Maastricht.

A new Centre of Neurosciences of Cuba recently inaugurated

The workshop during October 17th to 19th aimed to chart recent developments in neuroscience research and technology, and foresaw future challenges. We were honored with the participation of leading scientists and technologists, who set the scene for round table discussions addressing specific questions for future directions. Particularly interesting was the inaugural conference by Dr. Rainer Goebel on the challenges of advanced neuroimaging for cognitive neuroscience and therapeutic applications.

Among the topics discussed were the future of neuroimaging, facing up to neurodegeneration, and stratified active screening of brain disorders, neuro-education and brain computer interfaces. The keynote lecture by Prof. Louis Lemieux (sponsored by Brain Products) on the role of EEG in fMRI studies was quite relevant. Special attention was given to solutions for the problems of brain disorders in developing countries including hearing loss and malnutrition. We had also the opportunity to provide special samples in the Cuban population: Cuban Twin Registry, spino-cerebelar ataxia, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, just to mention a few examples, with the unique opportunities that arise from the Cuban public health system. Finally, the meeting allowed the launch of an International School for Master and PhD programs in Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroinformatics, Computational Neuroscience and Clinical Neuroscience.

At the event, special thanks were given to Brain Products as Gold Sponsor of the same. CNEURO has been using Brain Products’ amplifiers for its concurrent EEG/fMRI since 2004.

Prof. Pedro Valdes-Sosa
Vice-Director for Research