Posters, People and Perspectives

One of the highlights of the day was meeting new friendly researchers. Right next to me was Guy Sion from Israel, at poster number 23. His work was titled “Varanid Teeth Asymmetry and Correlation to Body Size.” It was interesting to see how his research connected biological structures with functional asymmetry, something quite different from neuroscience but very inspiring to hear about.

The conference sessions were equally stimulating. I attended a keynote lecture by Professor John Foxe from the University of Rochester, USA. His talk on “Oscillatory Brain Activity and the Deployment of Selective Attention” was both insightful and inspiring. One key lesson I took away was that delivering a great scientific presentation is not just about one paper or one piece of work – it is about building a coherent story across a series of studies, something that takes time and accumulation.

Another fascinating session was by Professor Daniel Smith from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. His topic, “A circadian neuroscience perspective on bipolar disorder,” reminded me of the Chinese traditional medical theory of Yin and Yang balance. While Chinese medicine approaches this from centuries of human experience and observation, modern neuroscience is now uncovering biological mechanisms that echo this balance – in this case, circadian rhythms and mental health. It was inspiring to see how ancient ideas and modern science sometimes align.