Brain Roads

Like the sculptor with marble, neurosurgeons dialogue with the brain they operate on. They explore its inner plasticity. Mapping and representing these »brain roads« can be achieved through various imaging devices and methods, which help neurosurgeons extend their knowledge of the cerebral anatomy and activity. It can also be done with less use of medical imagery. The French Professor in neuro-oncology Hugues Duffau is famous for operating on low-grade gliomas by performing awake surgery with very little technology. His methodology includes a complex mix of techniques, disciplines and experiments based on the concept of neuroplasticity, a limited use of medical imaging in the operating room, and on a dynamic mapping of the different regions of the central nervous system. He will present his research in a dialogue with the researchers of the project »Adaptive Digital Twin« and »Sensing Knife« (group »Cutting«) of the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity«, as well as the students from two art and design academies (École Supérieure d’Art et de Design in Reims, France, and weißensee academy of art and design berlin), who produced visual interpretations of his ideas and operating mode.

Speakers

Hugues Duffau (MD, PhD) is Professor and Chairman of the Neurosurgery Department in the Montpellier University Medical Center and Head of the INSERM 1051 Team »Plasticity of the central nervous system, human stem cells and glial tumors« at the Institute for Neurosciences of Montpellier (France). He is an expert in the awake cognitive neurosurgery of slow-growing brain tumors, as low-grade gliomas.

Patricia Ribault is Professor for Performative Design Research at the weißensee kunsthochschule berlin since 2020 and Principal Investigator of the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity. Image Space Material« at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. She is also a lecturer at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Olaf Avenati is a graphic and digital designer in Paris and Professor in graphic and digital design at École Supérieure d’Art et de Design in Reims. He is an Associated Member of the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity«. Within the »Adaptive Digital Twin« research, he is leading the »Brain Roads« project.

Horst Bredekamp is an art historian and professor of Art & Image History at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. As Senior Co-Director, he leads the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity. Image, Space, Material« together with Peter Fratzl, Claudia Mareis and Wolfgang Schäffner.

Thomas Picht is a Neurosurgeon, head of the Image Guidance Lab and co-director of the Berlin Simulation and Training Center of the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. His research group deals with non-invasive brain function diagnostics, connectivity analyses and neuromodulation with the aim of optimally treating brain tumors with individualized therapy concepts.

Jürgen P. Rabe has been Professor of the Physics of Macromolecules at the Department of Physics at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin since 1994. His research aims to correlate the structure and dynamics of molecular systems at interfaces with mechanical, electronic, optical and (bio)chemical properties, from the molecular to the macroscopic length and time scales. He is also the Founding Director of the Integrative Research Institute for the Sciences – IRIS Adlershof at HU Berlin.

Alice Iacobone is PhD candidate in Philosophy at FINO Consortium (Genoa/Turin) and a visiting fellow at the Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, with a dissertation on »Plasticity and Sculpture. Forms, Materials, Imprints«.

This event is part of Berlin Science Week 2023.

Please register here:
matters-of-activity.de/registration-bsw23