Milwaukee gets brainy

More than 350 scientists and top brain researchers from around the world will be in Milwaukee for a neuroscience conference beginning today. The conference, scheduled through Sunday, Sept. 19 is focused on gaining insights and understanding of how the brain thinks, develops, how the brain is altered by neurological diseases and how it responds to treatment.
The Second International Conference on Resting-State Functional Brain Connectivity, hosted by the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa, will present the latest findings from researchers from the top academic programs in neuroscience from throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.
“This meeting will provide the key researchers in the field the opportunity to interact and bring us closer to revealing some of the tightly held secrets of the brain giving us vital answers to treating diseases, said Christopher Pawela, Ph.D., conference chairman and assistant professor of plastic surgery and biophysics at the Medical College.
Resting-state functional MRI (r-fMRI) was discovered by researchers at The Medical College of Wisconsin in 1995 who first demonstrated that the brain is never truly at rest. The r-fMRI technique detects the “resting-state” communication between brain regions. Many corporations are exploring the use of r-fMRI as a tool to help diagnose brain diseases and disorders. 
Researchers and physicians from the Medical College of Wisconsin as well as Rutgers University, University of Cambridge, Indiana University, New York University, Stanford University, University of Liege in Belgium will present their research results surrounding brain function at the conference.