Neuroscience Show a Big Draw

Neuroscience 2009, the Society for Neuroscience's 39th annual meeting, provides the world's largest forum for neuroscientists to debut research and network with colleagues from around the world. The meeting provides emerging research news about brain science and health and provides a better understanding of the brain, nervous system and related disorders.

Some 32,000 attendees were expected to attend this year's event at Chicago's McCormick Place, and by the looks of the crowd today, that number may even have been exceeded.

Chicago's McCormick Place, home to Neuroscience 2009.

The 550-company-strong exhibit and the conference sessions both were packed. In the exhibit hall the entire back section was devoted to posters – all 15,896 of them. Most were surrounded by interested attendees, which appeared to draw folks away from the exhibits.

However, all the exhibitors Photonics.com spoke to expressed satisfaction with the traffic they were receiving. One thing that stood out in this reporter's eye was the large number of women attending – at least as many, if not more, than men. Which seems to put the lie to the notion that women shy away from science.

Through lectures, symposia, workshops, and events, attendees experience innovative neuroscience research, including:

The benefits of exercise on both the brain and body, and, more specifically, underscores the positive influence of regular physical activity on Parkinson's disease, depression, premenstrual syndrome, and memory.
New tools are enabling researchers to identify neural similarities and differences between species. The findings may help to explain faculties, like language, and diseases, like Parkinson's, that are unique to humans.
New insights into male behavior support the idea that many gender differences lie in the brain and are influenced by both genes and environment.
Scientists are developing novel ways to bypass the blood-brain barrier, a network of blood vessels that prevents more than 95 percent of all chemicals from entering the brain from the bloodstream. Researchers described new methods for transporting drugs across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) as well as ways to enhance the brain's own immune response, which is separated from the body's immune system by the BBB.

For more information, visit: www.sfn.org

Charlie Troy
Senior Editor