Comparative Brain Workshop

The comparative brain workshop aims at stimulating exchanges on comparative brain analyses, with special emphasis on the use of in-vivo and ex-vivo MRI and histology methods. We will discuss the acquisition and availability of comparative data, tools for comparative analyses, and ways to work together to explore the vertebrate phylogenetic tree to its fullest possible extent.

Currently, research labs in this field often build their expertise on a few species. Our aim is to build a space for interaction which would allow the combination of datasets, knowledge, and scientific questions.

Institut Pasteur is an important actor in the field of comparative brain imaging, thanks to the Brain Catalogue project, initiated by Roberto Toro (U5 NAAT) and developed in collaboration with the National Natural History Museum Paris and the Paris Brain Institute. We have hosted a very successful Comparative Brain Meeting in 2023 – thanks also to support from INCEPTION –, strengthening the position of France and the Institut Pasteur in the field of brain evolution.

Our meeting brings together a diverse group of international researchers, expertise in a variety of vertebrate species, collecting and analysing data using different modalities, going from neuronal cell counts, histology, gene expression, receptor architecture, polarised light imaging, MRI and electrophysiology, to behaviour and robotics. These datasets span all scales from the microstructural ultra high resolution to meso- and macroscale anatomy and function across a large variety of species. We will have presentations on multi-modal multi-scale data analysis approaches, tools and methods for cross-species comparisons, and cutting-edge methods for comparative neuroanatomy and phylogenetic analyses. We designed this workshop as a catalyst for people to meet, discuss in depth, and keep engaged in building a community, with a biannual meeting hosted at Institut Pasteur.