Publications
FENS-SfN JOINT STATEMENT ON THE TREATMENT OF PROFESSOR NIKOS LOGOTHETIS AND HIS COLLEAGUES AT THE MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL CYBERNETICS
The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) and the Society for Neuroscience (SfN)The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) and the Society for Neuroscience (SfN)are extremely dismayed by the treatment of Professor Nikos Logothetis and his colleagues at theMax Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (MPIK) in Tübingen.
The value of research for wide-reaching scientific and medical advances, including the experimentscarried out at the MPIK, cannot be overstated.
Animal research is of course an emotive topic,however, scientists should be able to depend upon support from their institutes when faced withunfounded attacks from animal rights organisations and public smearing, as in the case of ProfessorLogothetis.
We are aware that Professor Logothetis has been accused of wrongdoing in his animal research andthat some issues may remain under investigation.
Nevertheless, Professor Logothetis has beenexonerated of the majority of the accusations that he initially faced. Even if minor issues remain tobe investigated, it is wrong that he is assumed to be guilty by the Max Planck Society even beforehe has had a chance to defend himself and that he remains tarnished by the earlier allegations thathave proven false.
The treatment of Professor Logothetis and his colleagues by the Max Planck Society sets analarming precedent whereby institutions neglect to support affiliated scientists facing similarunproven accusations and disregard the presumption of innocence.
Moreover, the recentcancellation of the Scientific Advisory Board’s visit to the Institute - a key element of the institute’susual transparent scientific review process - denies Professor Logothetis and his colleagues thepossibility to explain and defend their research.
The withholding of such a review from scientistswho have not faced allegations seems particularly unfair.The scientific community looks to bodies such as the Max Plank Society for leadership and clarity. Inaddition to letters addressed directly to the Max Planck Society, SfN and FENS hereby reiterate theircall on the Max Planck Society to rectify their unfair treatment of Professor Logothetis. Moreover,the society should reinstate the aforementioned scientific review procedure, which is fundamentalfor the research performed at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. Furthermore, wecall upon all research institutions to develop mechanisms that will guarantee support for theiraffiliated scientists when targeted in a similar way by animal activists.
The Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and the Society for Neuroscience represent morethan 60,000 scientists globally.
FENS and SfN aim to advance neuroscience research and education,support their members and the wider neuroscience community, and facilitate scientific exchange.FENS and SfN strongly advocate the responsible use of animals in biomedical research and work,through their respective committees on animals in research, to promote public awareness andunderstanding of the importance of the use of animals in neuroscience.
References•
Max Planck scientists criticize handling of animal-rights charges against leadingneuroscientist, A. Abbott, Nature, 30th May 2018https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05187-w• Max Planck Society’s actions raise serious concerns about leadership and the future ofGerman neuroscience, Speaking of Research, 7th June 2018https://speakingofresearch.com/2018/06/07/max-planck-societys-actions-raise-seriousconcerns-about-leadership-and-the-future-of-german-neuroscience/• Open Letter Regarding the Max Planck Society’s Actions Against MPI-BC DirectorProf. Logothetis, Speaking of Research, 25th July 2018https://speakingofresearch.com/2018/07/25/open-letter-regarding-the-max-plancksocietys-actions-against-mpi-bc-director-prof-logothetis/
Site-Selective Neurotoxicity
David S Lester, William Slikker Jr, Philip Lazarovici
Site-Selective Neurotoxicity contains useful information for graduate students and academic and industrial researchers in the fields of toxicology, pharmacology, neurosciences and medicine.
Managing Idiopathic Basal Ganglia Calcification: Fahr's Disease
by João Oliveira, Recife-Brazil
Augmenting Cognition edited by Idan Segev and Henry Markram
הכימיה של האהבה
The Chemistry of Love
By Zvi NAOR
The biological foundations of consciousness, feelings and love and the neural basis of mental phenomena have begun to emerge. Sex hormones affect the organization of gender-specific brain centers. Genes and hormones shape the structures of male and female sex centers in the brain. Cognitive variations between the sexes is due to sex differences in the brain.
Neuropeptide Techniques
Illana Gozes, Prof.
Neuropeptides have impact on multiple essential functions, from endocrine control and sexual function, to proper embryonic development and growth to cancer diagnostics and therapy, pain management and neuroprotection. The technologic advances over the last decades are tremendous and this book provides the reader with broad perspectives and breadth of knowledge on current topics related to neuropeptide research
Living with an Aging Brain: A self-help guide for your senior years
Robert Werman, M.D.
The Author: The late Professor Robert Werman, was a diplomate of the U.S. Board of Neurology and Psychiatry. He trained for three years in neurology at Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York City, with an additional two years as a neurologist and psychiatrist in the U.S. Navy. He then began postdoctoral work on the properties of single nerve cells and was appointed assistant professor of neurology at Columbia University Medical School. After a year’s research in Cambridge, England, he was appointed Research Professor of Psychiatry at Indiana University. He also served as professor of anatomy and physiology at Indiana University. Dr. Werman subsequently moved to Israel in 1967 as professor of neurophysiology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has more than 200 publications related to the nervous system. Dr. Werman led the team that discovered the first new central nervous system transmitter, a simple chemical called glycine, active as a short-term inhibitory transmitter in the spinal cord. This groundbreaking work (1964-1967) opened the way to the discovery of a host of other chemical messengers in the central nervous system, particularly in the brain.
http://lobster.ls.huji.ac.il/~rwerman/
Brain Dynamics and Mental Disorders: Project for a Scientific Psychiatry
Avi Peled
This work is the forerunner for the upcoming psychiatric revolution. For the first time complex systems knowledge and neuroscience are systematically combined to provide psychiatry with a real basic science of mental disturbances.
Theory is useless without the ability to generate testable predictions. This manuscript provides insight toward new therapies as well as diagnosis of mental disorders. Researchers will find testable predictions for the next generation of psychiatric knowledge and clinicians will find a new neurosciences-oriented etiologicallygenerated diagnostic language for psychiatry.
Link to a review in American J Psychiatry
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/162/7/1396?etoc