December 10 and 11, 2026 | 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm (Peru time) | Online

Hosts: Josué Renner and  Alberto Rasia Filho

Registration

Name, email, institution, and brief motivation  at this link  https://shorturl.at/bpGP7 (Virtual)

Description

Morphogenesis is the ensemble of mechanisms underlying the reproducible formation of patterns and structures and controlling their shape. Because morphogenetic processes are inherently multidisciplinary, they have garnered particular attention as one of the main topics in complex systems science. 

Dendritic spines are highly dynamic neuronal structures whose morphology changes during development, synaptic plasticity, learning, and disease. Their formation, growth, stabilization, and structural remodeling emerge from the interaction of multiple molecular, cellular, and activity-dependent mechanisms. Because spine morphogenesis involves processes operating across different spatial and temporal scales, it provides an important framework for studying neuronal structure and plasticity from a complex systems perspective. 

Goals

• Discuss current approaches for modeling dendritic spine morphogenesis and structural plasticity.

• Explore how computational models can link molecular and cellular mechanisms to changes in dendritic spine morphology.

• Identify future directions for integrating experimental data and computational modeling to study dendritic spine dynamics.

Topics

Dendritic spines

Morphogenesis

Synaptic plasticity 

Electrophysiology

Agent-based Modeling

Morphodynamics Neuroscience

Participants

The speakers are very enthusiastic researchers in the field, they will provide talks about their recent research findings, and it will continue with a lively discussion with the participants.

Enver Oruro PhD Morphodynamics Neuroscience and Behavior Laboratory. Cuzco, Peru

Grace Pardo PhD. Departamento de Psicología, Universidad Continental del Cusco, Cuzco, Peru

Josué Renner PhD(s) Department of Basic Sciences/Physiology and Graduate Program in Biosciences, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Alberto A. Rasia-Filho PhD Department of Basic Sciences/Physiology and Graduate Program in Biosciences, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

Julian Tejada PhD Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Brazil

Norberto Garcia Cairasco PhD Director of the Neurophysiology and Experimental Neuroethology Laboratory (LNNE)   Chairman of the Physiology  Department  Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine  University of São Paulo, Brazil

Maria Elisa Calcagnotto, MD, PhD Head of the Neurophysiology and Neurochemistry of Neuronal Excitability and Synaptic Plasticity Laboratory (NNNESP Lab) Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry Institute of Basic Health Sciences Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil.

Marco A. P. Idiart, PhD Head of the Neurocomputational and Language Processing Laboratory Professor of Physics Institute of Physics Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil.

PROGRAM

Thursday, December 10, 2026

2:00–2:15 pm | Alberto A. Rasia-Filho, PhD.

Title: “Dendritic spines: Questions”

Department of Basic Sciences/Physiology and Graduate Program in Biosciences, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

2:15–3:00 pm | Enver Oruro, PhD.

Title: “Computational models of dendritic spine morphogenesis and dynamics”

Morphodynamics Neuroscience and Behavior Laboratory, Cuzco, Peru

3:00–4:00 pm | Grace Pardo, PhD.

Title: “Mother-infant relationship and early-life experiences: implications for dendritic spine plasticity”

School of Psychology, Universidad Continental, Cusco, Peru

4:00–5:00 pm | Julian Tejada, PhD.

Title: “Dendritic morphology and spine loss: consequences for neuronal and circuit excitability”

Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Brazil

5:00–6:00 pm | Norberto Garcia-Cairasco, PhD.

Title: “Dendritic spine remodeling in epilepsy: from structural plasticity to circuit dysfunction”

Neurophysiology and Experimental Neuroethology Laboratory (LNNE), Department of Physiology, Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

Friday, December 11, 2026

2:00–3:00 pm | Alberto A. Rasia-Filho, PhD.

Title: “Morphological diversity of dendritic spines: from structure to synaptic function”

Department of Basic Sciences/Physiology and Graduate Program in Biosciences, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

3:00–4:00 pm | Josué Renner, PhD(s).

Title: “Morphological diversity of human dendritic spines”

Department of Basic Sciences/Physiology and Graduate Program in Biosciences, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

5:00–6:00 pm | Maria Elisa Calcagnotto, MD, PhD

Title:  “From Spine Morphology to Synaptic Function: The Electrophysiology of Dendritic Spines”

Department of Biochemistry Institute of Basic Health Sciences Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil.

6:00–7:00 pm | Alberto A. Rasia-Filho, PhD. and Marco Idiart PhD.

Title: “Discussion on Computational Models of Dendritic Spines”