The Norwegian Consortium on Brain Development is pleased to announce the seminar: "Nature and Nurture in Brain Development"

Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Auditorium 13, Domus Medica, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, UiO

The seminar is one of several events taking place at the University of Oslo during Brain Awareness Week (March 15-21), the global campaign to increase public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research.

Brain development - a research area of profound importance for society

Understanding the function of the human brain is one of the great challenges facing modern science and society. The workings of the brain form the basis for human behavior and thought. They create the means by which we learn about and interact with the world around us. They represent the most pivotal influence that shapes human relationships, on the scale of families, societies and nations. Our brain is the basis of our identities as individuals; without it we cease to be. The more we learn about the human brain, the better we will be able to understand ourselves and our potentials and limitations as human beings.

Brain development is the area of neuroscience that addresses how the brain is formed during embryonic and fetal life and how it matures as we grow from child to adult. Brain development lies at the seat of learning and cognitive development. A better understanding of normal brain development and the many disturbances that can arise during brain development will better equip us to deal with such serious problems as congenital brain defects, childhood brain tumors, learning disabilities, behavioral pathologies, a variety of developmentally-linked neurological diseases and psychiatric disorders, drug abuse, the repair of brain and spinal cord injuries, and brain aging.