The tenth edition of the BRAINN Congress was celebrated in 2024, held from April 3rd to 5th, 2024, in the auditoriums of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). The event was organized by the Brazilian Research Institute on Neuroscience and Neurotechnology (BRAINN), a Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Center (RICD) at FAPESP.

This year, more than 180 researchers, students, and attendees participated in the event, which featured 123 submitted works. These works will be published in the Journal of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology.

International scientists lectured throughout the 3-day event. Dr. Mariana Bento, an assistant professor at the Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, discussed the use of machine learning to improve brain imaging. Dr. Matthias Van Osch, a professor of experimental cerebrovascular imaging at Leiden University in the Netherlands, presented non-invasive strategies for obtaining brain images. From Brazil, Dr. Daniel Papoti, an adjunct professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Federal University of ABC, lectured on radiofrequency coil technologies for brain imaging.

Also participating in the event were BRAINN researchers Dr. Fernando Cendes, Dr. Gabriela Castellano, Dr. Iscia Lopes-Cendes, and Dr. Lília Freire Li, with lectures on various topics in neuroscience. The presentations explored topics ranging from the panorama of genetic research in epilepsy over the past 30 years (Iscia) to brain changes post-rehabilitation training (Gabriela) and the challenges and controversies in classroom learning (Lília).

Awards

Each edition, the Congress awards students and researchers with the Best Paper Awards, in the categories “Oral Presentations” and “Poster Presentations”. Check out the list of winners of the 10th edition below:

Oral Session Winners

Undergraduate:

• Mariana L. Han (Faculdade de Medicina da USP) – Insights into Post-COVID Anosmia: unraveling neural alterations through 7T MRI and DTI analysis of olfactory pathways
• Vitor A. Oya (UNICAMP) – Seed-based functional connectivity changes in elderly subjects playing serious games

Master’s:

• Rodrigo M. C. Carvalho (Federal University of ABC) – A Novel Method to Investigate Neurodevelopment Using Ising Temperature and Graph Neural Networks

Doctorate:

• Rafael Batista João (UNICAMP) – Comparisons between traditional and brief, and ultra-brief anxiety and depression inventories in people with epilepsy

Post-Doctorate:

• Gabriel Chaves de Melo (UNICAMP) – Timing Investigation of EEG Functional Connectivity Changes During a Motor Imagery Task

Poster Session Winners

Undergraduate:

• Lucas F. Teodosio (Unicamp) – Analysis of the Neural Correlates of Problem Solving in Physics Measured with Functional Near-Infrared
• Thierry K. Alves Silva Souza (Unicamp) – Hypothalamic Changes and Post-COVID Symptoms

Master’s:

• Caetano Ternes Coimbra (UNICAMP) – Exploring the relationship between physiological and inertial characteristics in induced tremor events

Doctorate:

• Ricardo Brioschi (Unicamp) – Persistent seizures modify supra and infratentorial Gray Matter in Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy

Post-Doctorate:

• Kauê T. N. Duarte (University of Calgary) – Exploratory Prenatal Alcohol Exposure classification in infants using brain MR: 3D Convolutional Neural Networks assisted by Data Augmentation