CNS*2026 Halifax

Various neuromodulation modalities have been developed to gain understanding of brain function and to treat a wide range of neurological disorders. Examples of brain stimulation technologies that use electric or magnetic fields are deep brain stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, transcranial direct or alternating current stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation and temporal interference neuromodulation. Furthermore, transcranial focused ultrasound neuromodulation targets brain or peripheral nervous system regions with ultrasonic pressure waves. Finally, optogenetics relies on light to control neuronal activity, after expressing light-sensitive ion channels or pumps in the targetted neuronal cells. Each of these neuromodulation modalities has its advantages and drawbacks, e.g., in terms of spatial and temporal resolution, energy efficiency, invasiveness, efficacy, penetration depth, cell type selectivity, etc.

Computational models have been developed for each of these techniques, to improve our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the various neuromodulation technologies and to enable simulation-based optimization and exploration of the parameter space in neural engineering studies (e.g., temporal protocols, optimal opsin properties, transducer and electrode designs, etc.). In this workshop the similarities and differences in computational methodology to investigate the various neuromodulation modalities is discussed.  

CNS 2026 Workshop  - July 15th - Halifax
Computational modeling of neuromodulation technologies

• 9:00 – 9:20                Jan Antolik (Charles University, Czech Republic) 
  Modelling spatio-temporal optogenetic stimulation of primary visual cortex
  
• 9:20 – 9:40                 Laila Weyn (Ghent University, Belgium) 
  Modelling potassium based optogenetic approaches for seizure suppression
• 9:40 – 10:00               Joaquín Gázquez (Ghent University, Belgium) 
  Modeling of Ultrasound-Induced Intramembrane Cavitation in Realistic Neuronal Morphologies
• 10:00 – 10:20             Thomas Knösche (Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany) 
  The effective electric field of TMS - the gap between microscopic and macroscopic models
• 10:20 – 10:40              Break
• 10:40 – 11:00              Erik Müller (Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Germany)
  Coupling TMS induced electric field into motor cortex circuits - dosing, direction dependency, and I-wave generation
• 11:00 – 11:20              Bettina Schwab (University of Twente, the Netherlands) 
  Computational evidence for direct entrainment of cortical neurons by weak E-fields of deep brain stimulation
  
• 11:20 – 11:40              Eleonora Bernasconi (Institute of Computer Science, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic) 
  TMS targeting the cerebellum: a multi-scale modelling approach
  
• 11:40 – 12:00              Alberto Mazzoni (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Italy)
  Network models for adaptive deep brain stimulation design 
• 12:00 – 12:20              Esra Neufeld (IT’IS foundation, Switzerland)
  New Perspectives on Neural Mass Modeling and Sleep

Brain function is mediated by neuronal microcircuits with specific connectivity between neuron types, and it is increasingly evident that altered microcircuitry underlies deficits in brain disorders such as depression and schizophrenia, and in aging and Alzheimer’s. However, our ability to monitor the microcircuitry in living humans is limited, meriting the use of detailed computational simulations to overcome experimental limitations in linking the microcircuit mechanisms with altered cortical activity, functional deficits and biomarkers in clinically-relevant brain signals.
This workshop will showcase the latest efforts from leading groups in large-scale neuronal microcircuit modeling of spiking activity and signals such as EEG and MEG. The workshop will present diverse data-driven microcircuit modeling approaches that integrate neuronal, synaptic and functional data, and the different simulation tools used to generate activity and brain signals from the models. The workshop will highlight clinical applications of the models in establishing target mechanisms for treatment, and estimating microcircuit mechanisms from clinical signals in patient data with machine learning to improve diagnosis. This workshop aims to foster the exchange of methods and ideas, and offer new insights on clinical applications of simulated large-scale cortical microcircuits.

Speakers:
Etay Hay
Assistant Professor, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto

Heng Kan Yao
Postdoc, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto

Salvador Dura-Bernal
Associate Professor, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate

Katharina Duecker
Postdoc, Brown University

Alexandre Guet-McCreight
Postdoc, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto

Please consult the Workshop Website for the detailed program.
https://sites.google.com/view/cns2026workshop/home

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Morning Session: 9 AM -- 1230 PM
0900 -- Jeremie Lefebvre
0945 -- Lida Kanari
Coffee Break
1100 -- Tatyana Sharpee
1145 -- Hermann Cuntz

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Afternoon Session: 2 PM -- 6 PM
1400 -- Sven Dorkenvald
1445 -- Alex Bird
1530 -- Paolo Bonifazi
1615 -- Gabriel Benigno
1645 -- Katharina Duecker
1715 -- Alberto Mazzoni