NYU Langone Medical Center's Neuroscience Institute held its third annual neuroscience symposium last night, providing a forum to present the faculty's latest science and clinical advances for treating diseases and conditions of the brain.

"The more we understand the brain and how it functions, the better we appreciate who we are as individuals and as a society," said Richard Tsien, DPhil, the Druckenmiller Professor of Neuroscience and director of the Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center. "The Neuroscience Institute brings together a unique community that will take the next step toward deciphering the brain's workings and understand its role in specific diseases."

The presentations included:

"Navigating the Brain." John Golfinos, MD, associate professor and chair, Department of Neurosurgery & associate professor, Department Otolaryngology, NYU Langone Medical Center

"Rethinking Schizophrenia: Preemptive Cognitive Experience." Andre A. Fenton, PhD, professor, Center for Neural Science, NYU

"Network Neuroscience of Traumatic Stress." Glenn Saxe, MD, clinical professor and chair, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and director, Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center

"Modulation of Brain Circuits by Oxytocin and Models of Autism." Richard Tsien, DPhil, the Druckenmiller Professor of Neuroscience and director of the Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center

"Hunting for the Neural Substrates Underlying Aggression." Dayu Lin, PhD, assistant professor, Departments of Psychiatry, Physiology and Neuroscience, NYU Langone Medical Center

"Neurobiology of Human Fear." Elizabeth Phelps, PhD, professor of Psychology and Neural Science, Center for Neuroeconomics, NYU

"This symposium provides the opportunity for outstanding researchers in neuroscience to share their work in this fascinating, challenging and extremely important field," said Dafna Bar-Sagi, PhD, professor, vice dean for Science and chief scientific officer at NYU Langone Medical Center, and moderator of this year's symposium. "The presentations today offered a glimpse of the incredible work by our faculty to unravel the complexities of brain disease."

In July of 2009, the Druckenmiller Foundation provided a generous $100 million dollar gift to create a dedicated neuroscience institute at the medical center. Led by Richard Tsien, DPhil, the Druckenmiller Professor of Neuroscience, the NYU Langone Medical Center Neuroscience Institute will build on the Medical Center's prowess in neuroscience and bring together more than 250 basic, translational scientists with clinicians to tackle some of the most challenging health care issues of the day, from Alzheimer's disease to epilepsy to multiple sclerosis and malignant brain tumors.