INVITED speakers

Anneke Alkemade, University of Amsterdam

Dr. Anneke Alkemade is a neuroanatomist at the University of Amsterdam whose research focuses on the detailed mapping of human brain structure using both in vivo and post mortem imaging and histology. She specializes in integrating ultra-high-resolution MRI data with anatomical information to improve our understanding of brain organization and its variability across individuals. Her work contributes to the development of anatomically informed models for neuroscience research, with applications in both basic and clinical science.

Talk Title: Multi-modal mapping of the thalamus

Abstract: (Immuno-)histological and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research both provide information on the functional neuroanatomy of the human thalamus. Bridging between these complementary imaging modalities provides us with the best of both worlds. In our studies we acquired 7 Tesla quantitative MRI data from 105 adult individuals in vivo which we use for atlasing of subcortical structures. The structures that we cannot resolve in vivo are visualised in 7 individual post mortem brains of which we collected quantitative 7 Tesla MRI data at 400 um isotropic resolution, and which we have processed for microscopy. Coregistration of the microscopy and MRI data at a 200 um resolution in blockface space allows the subseqent transfer of the data to MNI-space, bringing together in vivo and post mortem data (Alkemade et al., 2020,2022). The resulting datasets can be used for MRI-validation, as well as for brain atlasing purposes. Our in vivo atlasing efforts have been funneled into the MASSP 2.0 algorithm that now allows the automated parcellation of 35 individual structures in both cerebral hemispheres (Bazin et al., 2025).

The resulting post mortem resources allow the retraining and expansion of the algorithm using an increased level of available detail. Developed brain models can be applied to create advanced atlasing tools for application in neuroimaging research and clinical applications, and open access publication and sharing of the datasets and derived algorithms and atlases will strongly benefit the progress of the research field.

László Acsády, HUN-REN Institute of Experimental Medicine, Hungary

László is a system neuroscientist interested in the structure and function of the thalamus and thalamocortical loops. His research over the past two decades has focused on the non-sensory thalamus and demonstrated that thalamus consists of highly heterogeneous microcircuits differing in the composition of its inputs. The data showed that inputs arising from variable sources, having distinct types of terminals and transmitters are integrated in a region selective manner. Thus, far from a simple canonical relay the core concept of thalamus is the variable forms of input integration.

László's vision which leads his research is that proper understanding of cortical functions and dysfunctions can only be achieved by deciphering region specific communication between cortex and thalamus. During his research he pay's special attention to rodent primate comparison.

Talk Title: Why So Smart? – Region specific neuronal computation in rodent and human thalamus

Abstract: TBC

Jean-Francois Aubry, Physics for Medicine, Paris

Jean-Francois (Jeff) Aubry is a director of research at France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). He works at Physics for Medicine Paris (Paris, France) and is the scientific director of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation center of excellence in Paris. His main research interests are MR-guided transcranial brain therapy and Neuronavigated transcranial ultrasound stimulation and is an expert in focusing ultrasound waves in complex media. Aubry holds five patents on adaptive focusing. He has been a consultant for Supersonic Imagine (Aix en Provence, France) and FUS Mobile (Alpharetta, GA, USA) and is a co-founder of SonoMind (Paris,France). He has given more than 60 invited talks at international conferences and published more than 100 papers in international scientific journals. He has been president of the International Society for Therapeutic Ultrasound (2015 – 2018).

Talk Title: Promises and challenges of personalized transcranial ultrasound stimulation

Abstract: Transcranial ultrasound stimulation is the only technology that can non-invasively modulate the activity of deep-seated brain tissues. It thus has the potential to offer ground-breaking new approaches to treat mental and neurologic disorders. It has been demonstrated that ultrasound can excite neurons through a primarily mechanical mechanism mediated by the ultrasound-induced opening of mechano-sensitive channels on the cellular membrane [1]. Not only neurons but also astrocytes, endothelial cells, and pericytes are sensitive to mechanical ultrasound stimulation through mechanosensitive ion channels[2], leading to an overwhelming number of possible neuromodulation targets in the brain. It was proposed recently to specifically target fiber tracts: the dentato rubro thalamic tracts in essential tremor patients[3] and the crossing of the forceps minor, the cingulum bundle and the uncinate fasciculus in treatment-resistant depressed patients[4]. This lecture will present how these targets where selected and how accurately they were stimulated.

Andreas Horn, University of Cologne

Andreas received an MD from Freiburg University and a PhD from Charité Berlin. He is the Schilling Professor for Computational Neurology and inaugural director of the Institute for Network Stimulation at the University Hospital Cologne. He is further affiliated with the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics at Mass General Brigham in Boston.

His lab studies how focal neuromodulation impacts the human connectome to refine clinical treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders. A key question is which networks should be modulated for improvements of specific symptoms – in disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Depression, or Alzheimer’s Disease. Further, the lab develops methods to segregate the human connectome into functional domains by combining brain stimulation with functional and diffusion-weighted MRI.

Talk Title: From Connectomic Deep Brain Stimulation toward the 'Human Dysfunctome’

Abstract: Brain disorders manifest along a spectrum of symptoms that involve disruptions in mood, cognition, or motor function. These symptoms originate from dysfunctions of specific brain circuits and may hence be seen as ‘disorders of the human connectome’, or ‘circuitopathies’ However, exactly which circuits become dysfunctional in which disorder remains elusive. Moreover, it remains unclear which circuits map to which specific symptoms. Invasive and noninvasive brain stimulation methods are applied to focal points in the depth or on the surface of the brain. However, their focal application leads to network effects that are distributed along brain circuits across the entire brain. By nature, applying brain stimulation is a causal intervention that engages specific brain circuits: If an intervention leads to symptom improvements, we may suspect that the modulated circuit was causally involved in these symptoms.

In this talk, I will review the effects of deep and superficial brain stimulation onto the human connectome. We will cover results in diseases ranging from the movement disorders spectrum (Parkinson’s Disease, Dystonia, Essential Tremor) to neuropsychiatric (Tourette’s & Alzheimer’s Disease) and psychiatric (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Depression) diseases. I will also demonstrate how findings in seemingly different diseases (such as Parkinson’s Disease and Depression) could be transferred to cross-inform one another and how the same method may be used to study neurocognitive effects, such as risk-taking behavior or impulsivity.

Michael Hornberger, University of Southampton

Michael is the Professor of Applied Dementia Research at the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine. His research is particularly focused on cognition, neuroimaging and devices in preclinical and clinical dementia populations.

Michael is originally from Germany but gravitated soon to the UK, where he did his PhD at University College London, followed by positions at the University of Cambridge, the University of New South Wales and the University of East Anglia. Michael arrived at the University of Southampton in 2025. In his free time, he likes to go long-distance cycling and running, as well as practising passionately, though badly, Yoga.

Talk Title: Thalamic changes in preclinical and clinical dementia

Abstract: Many people are not aware that the thalamus is one of the earliest regions involved in dementia and that it can contribute significantly to the symptomology. In this talk I present some of our research findings showing how the thalamus is differentially affected across different dementias. We will further explore, which thalamic nuclei are particularly vulnerable for different dementia pathophysiology's and how thalamic changes impact on disease symptomology.

Elisabeth Kaufmann, LMU Munich

Dr. Kaufmann is a neurologist and epileptologist at the Department of Neurology, LMU University Hospital, Munich, Germany. Her clinical and research focus is on the diagnosis and treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy, including neurostimulation techniques such as VNS, DBS, tDCS, and FCS.

She is internationally recognized as an expert in thalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS) for epilepsy, overseeing one of the world’s largest ANT-DBS cohorts, coordinating a European consortium on best practices in ANT-DBS, and playing a leading role in the international ANT-DBS MORE registry as well as in expert panels. In addition to her clinical and scientific work at LMU Munich, she worked at Charité Berlin and completed research stays at Harvard University in Boston.

Talk Title: Thalamic deep brain stimulation – window to the brain

Abstract: Deep brain stimulation of the anterior thalamic nucleus (ANT-DBS) has been established as a safe and effective treatment option for drug-resistant focal epilepsy. Several studies have demonstrated seizure frequency reductions of up to 75% at seven-year follow-up, with responder rates—defined as a reduction in seizure frequency of more than 50%—reported in up to 70% of patients. Nevertheless, the underlying pathophysiology of the antiepileptic effect, as well as the reasons why a subset of patients fails to respond, remain incompletely understood.

Thalamic EEG recordings obtained via externalized DBS leads, along with the measurement of thalamic local field potentials (LFPs), provide a unique opportunity to characterize the electrophysiological signatures of clinical responders and non-responders, thereby advancing our understanding of thalamo-cortical networks.

This talk will summarize the current evidence on the clinical effects of ANT-DBS, highlight persisting limitations, and discuss ongoing scientific efforts to identify electrophysiological biomarkers for outcome prediction.

Ismail Koubiyr, Amsterdam UMC

Dr. Koubiyr is a neuroscientist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences at Amsterdam UMC. His work focuses on using advanced neuroimaging techniques to unravel the mechanisms underlying disability progression and cognitive impairment, primarily in multiple sclerosis but also in other neurological disorders such as stroke. By integrating multimodal imaging and network-based approaches, his research examines different aspects of disease at both the macro- and micro-scale. A key component of his work involves leveraging large datasets and machine learning methods to build predictive models and derive biologically meaningful insights. In addition, Dr. Koubiyr employs translational approaches, including postmortem imaging-histology data and animal models, to uncover the biological substrates driving imaging phenomena, with the ultimate goal of translating these findings back to the clinic to improve patient care.

Talk Title: The thalamus at the crossroads of network failure and neuroinflammation

Abstract:

The thalamus is a central hub within brain networks and one of the earliest and most consistently affected structures in neurological diseases. In this talk, I will present work showing that thalamic atrophy does not occur uniformly, but follows nucleus-specific and network-driven patterns. Using large-scale MRI datasets, advanced segmentation, and network dysconnectivity models, we demonstrate that certain thalamic nuclei are especially vulnerable and that their degeneration is closely linked to clinical disability and cognitive impairment. Moving beyond structure, I will show how combining neuroimaging with post-mortem histology and animal models reveals the biological mechanisms underlying thalamic vulnerability, highlighting the roles of disconnection, microglial activation, and inflammation.

Finally, I will discuss how these thalamic mechanisms are not unique to multiple sclerosis but also appear in other disorders such as stroke, suggesting a common pathway of network failure and remote neurodegeneration. Overall, I will argue that studying the thalamus through a network and multimodal lens provides a powerful framework for understanding disease progression, identifying biomarkers, and developing targeted neuroprotective strategies.

Francesca Pizzo, Aix-Marseille University

Dr Francesca Pizzo, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor Neurologist and neurophysiologist in the Epileptology and Cerebral Rhythmology department of the Timone Hospital at the Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Marseille (France). She is a member of the Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes (INS, Inserm) and she works at Aix-Marseille University.

Dr Pizzo is involved in the presurgical evaluation of patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy, with particular expertise in SEEG recordings and signal analysis. She is principal investigator of the clinical trial “PuLSE – pulvinar stimulation in epilepsy”, aiming at finding a better target for deep brain stimulation in patients with non-surgical drug resistant epilepsy. Her ongoing research is focusing on neurophysiological biomarkers of the epileptogenic networks and their correlations with the response to therapeutics (surgery, thermocoagulation, invasive and non-invasive brain stimulation).

Talk Title: Thalamic SEEG: What have we learned so far?

Abstract: Thalamic stereo-electroencephalography (SEEG) has gained increasing attention worldwide; nonetheless, its indications, methodological approaches, and clinical implications remain to be clearly established. This presentation will primarily address the experience of the Marseille group with thalamic SEEG, encompassing both ictal and interictal recordings, as well as our monocentric results concerning stimulation of the medial pulvinar. The session will conclude with a discussion of our findings, a comparative overview of experiences from other centres, and considerations for future directions in this emerging field.

Tobias Staudigl, Ludwig-Maximilians-University

Tobias is a cognitive neuroscientist and Associate Professor for Cognitive Neuropsychology at the Department of Psychology, LMU Munich, Germany. He received his PhD from Regensburg University, Germany, after which he worked as a postdoctoral scientist in Germany, the Netherlands, and USA.

The Staudigl Lab investigates brain activity and behavior to advance understanding of human cognition. Our research focuses on the neural mechanisms underlying perception, memory, navigation, and other cognitive processes, with a particular emphasis on the role of the oculomotor system in these processes. Using primarily electrophysiological methods, we examine the relationship between neural activity, action, and behaviour in both healthy individuals and patients, across wakefulness and sleep. A key focus is on subcortical structures—especially the thalamus—and their critical contributions to cognitive processing.

Talk Title: Using direct thalamic recordings and stimulation to investigate human cognition

Abstract: Cognitive neuroscience has traditionally emphasized a corticocentric framework, in which cognition arises primarily through cortical processes in a hierarchical brain. While this perspective has certainly advanced our understanding of the neuronal basis of cognition, in-depth investigations of subcortical brain activity in humans and its contribution to cognition have lagged behind. A major factor contributing to this bias is the limited ability to access subcortical brain areas like the thalamus with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution in humans. To address this gap, we leverage the rare opportunity to record directly from and stimulate the human thalamus in epilepsy patients. This direct access allows us to characterize the electrophysiology of several thalamic nuclei in humans and probe their roles in cognitive processes.

In this talk, I will present recent findings from thalamic recordings in humans that shed light on how the neural activity of specific thalamic nuclei relates to different brain states across the sleep-wake cycle, as well as to higher-level cognitive processes, such as visual perception, and whether perturbing the thalamus may provide evidence for a causal involvement in cognition. I will discuss how studying the thalamus in humans advances our understanding of cognition and argue for a comprehensive model of cortical and subcortical interactions as the neuronal basis of cognition.

Sofie Valk, LMax Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig

Dr Sofie Valk is Lise Meitner Research Group Leader of the group Cognitive Neurogenetics at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and Research Group Leader of the group Cognitive Neurogenetics at Forschungszentrum Juelich both in Germany. She is interested in understanding the interplay of brain structure and function across the lifespan, and in particular how this interplay is shaped by genes and social environment. She studied artificial intelligence and social philosophy at the University of Amsterdam.

Talk Title: Multiscale Organizational Principles of the Thalamus Across Development and Disease

Abstract:

The thalamus serves as a critical hub coordinating brain activity, with emerging evidence suggesting its organization reflects both discrete nuclear boundaries and continuous functional axes. However, the organizational principles governing thalamic structure across scales, their developmental trajectories, and their disruption in psychiatric disease remain poorly understood. We integrated three complementary neuroimaging approaches to characterize thalamic organization across the lifespan and in early-onset schizophrenia (EOS):Study 1 derived low-dimensional organizational axes from thalamocortical structural connectivity in healthy adults, examining their correspondence with intrathalamic microstructure, functional connectivity, and structural covariance across multiple modalities. Study 2 examined developmental trajectories of individual thalamic nuclei from childhood to young adulthood, characterizing structural connectivity patterns targeting the cortical sensory-association (SA) axis and testing whether development follows nuclei-specific classifications (first-order/higher-order) versus cortical target organization. Study 3 investigated macroscale thalamic functional organization in antipsychotic-naïve first-episode EOS patients, examining alterations in thalamic hierarchy and their relationships to gene expression patterns and clinical symptoms.

The human thalamus exhibits low-dimensional organizational axes that coherently map across intrathalamic microstructure, functional connectivity, and structural covariance. A principal medial-lateral axis relates to myelin distribution and functional organization, while a secondary axis corresponds to core-matrix cell distribution, consistently differentiating large-scale cortical networks across modalities. Developmentally, individual thalamic nuclei exhibit distinct connectivity patterns targeting the cortical SA axis. Critically, developmental trajectories vary independently of first-order/higher-order classification but systematically follow the SA axis when decomposed by cortical targets, with association cortex connections maturing later than sensory connections. Antipsychotic-naïve first-episode EOS patients show increased segregation of macroscale thalamic functional organization, with altered interactions across unimodal and trans modal networks. These abnormalities particularly involve core cell distributions, align with schizophrenia-related gene expression patterns, and associate with impaired perceptual and cognitive functions and negative symptoms.

These findings establish coherent multiscale organizational principles of the thalamus characterized by continuous functional axes bridging microstructural features and large-scale network organization. Thalamic development follows cortical target organization along the sensory-association axis rather than classical nuclear classifications. Disruption of these organizational principles in EOS provides mechanistic insight into thalamocortical dysfunction, suggesting that altered thalamic hierarchy contributes to cognitive and perceptual impairments in schizophrenia. This work demonstrates that thalamic organization is developmentally sensitive and its disruption contributes to psychiatric pathophysiology.