Conference

Brain disorders will affect at least one in every three of us during our lives. Treating these diseases costs almost EUR 800 billion in Europe every year. Advances in neuroscience are essential to keep our ageing societies and our economy healthy. On 14 May 2013, scientists, laypeople, patient representatives, policymakers and media met in Brussels for a conference entitled ‘European Brain Research: Successes and Next Challenges’.

The blind men and an elephant

“We understand the brain better every day, but this knowledge is not immediately translated into treating patients. Neuroscience research requires global collaboration”, said Professor Henry Markram at the conference. Prof. Markram is based at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology and he coordinates the Human Brain Project.

“The brain is what makes us uniquely human”, said Professor Sean Hill of the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility in Sweden. He used the tale of the blind men and an elephant as an analogy for the need for collaboration amongst brain researchers. In this tale, a group of blind men touch an elephant to discover what it looks like. Each man touches only one body part, for instance the side or the tusk. Of course their observations are in complete disagreement. Only collaboration can help them to find out that they are dealing with an elephant.

Month of the Brain

May 2013 is the European Month of the Brain. This month is packed with events to raise awareness of the successes and challenges in brain research. Check the calendar for activities in your region.

www.HorizonHealth.eu will highlight advances in brain research over the coming weeks, so check the latest In Focus articles weekly.