Sparks Brain Preservation Announces Oregon Brain Preservation Summit for September 19–20

Sparks Brain Preservation Announces Oregon Brain Preservation Summit for September 19–20

On September 19–20 in Salem, the organizers will bring together people working on connectome preservation, which aims to preserve the map of connections between neurons, as well as tissue fixation, cryobiology, electron microscopy, and long-term storage. The program includes fifteen-minute talks followed by five minutes for questions, tours of the brain specimen repository, and a partial list of 18 confirmed speakers.

On August 26, Sparks Brain Preservation, an organization developing methods for preserving the brain, published the program for the Brain Preservation Summit. The summit will take place on September 19–20 at the organization’s facility in Salem, Oregon.

Sparks links long-term memory and personality traits to the brain’s fine physical structure. Its approach uses aldehyde fixation to stabilize tissue with chemical solutions. Cryobiology addresses how tissue is handled at low temperatures, while electron microscopy makes it possible to examine synapses, the contact points between neurons, in a small tissue sample. The program connects these areas with connectome preservation and long-term tissue storage.

The organizers describe the purpose of the meeting as follows:

“The purpose of this meeting is to strengthen both the Sparks Brain Preservation community and the broader community of people working seriously on this problem. We also want to make the current state of the science more transparent to people interested in the subject.”

Each talk will last 15 minutes, followed by five minutes for questions. The program also includes group tours of the Sparks brain specimen repository.