This last week, the Brainlab conveyed in Escaló (Catalan Pyrenees) to have its IV Brainlab Workshop, this time in collaboration with the Auditory Neurophysiology Lab (ANL) of the University of Salamanca (Spain) led by Prof. Manuel S. Malmierca. During the course of three days, several symposiums were organized which addressed current research and scientific inquiry in the two labs, in seek of mutual growth and continuing collaboration.
We first reviewed the big known predictive coding with an introduction by Iria SanMiguel on the neurophysiological correlates of prediction and attention in humans. This set the ground for Guillermo V. Carbajal and Gloria G. Parras (both from ANL) to overview what animal models can tell us about repetition suppression and prediction error, and to suggest an update of traditional predictive coding models by proposing a dual route of hierarchical processing.
Then we immersed into the Frequency-Following Response (FFR) world where after a short overview by Carles Escera, Natalia Gorina-Careta and David Pérez-González (ANL) opened the discussion about FFR sources as disclosed by human and animal studies, respectively. Given the complexity of the FFR, Teresa Ribas, Paco Díaz and Jordi Costa-Faidella concluded the symposium with the different technical and analytical aspects to consider when dealing with this fascinating neurophonic brain signal.
Sessions continued with Marc Via and Manuel S. Malmierca (ANL) with their respective discussions on the genetics and neuropharmacology of the auditory system, adding altogether another level of discussion on the functionality of the auditory brain.
The workshop finished with a evening-long general discussion session to overview the different aspects tackled during the dedicated previous sessions.
Of course, in addition to scientific discussions, and as in every carefully-planned scientific meeting, we had the opportunity to enjoy from exquisite cuisine, drinks, social activities and team-building fun, yielding and unique experience which altogether we are very much looking forward to repeat very soon!
