International Keynote Speakers
Professor Sergio Della Sala
Established Chair of Human Cognitive Neuroscience
University of Edinburgh, UK
 Professor Sergio Della Sala holds a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Milan (where he was also first appointed as Consultant in Neurology) and he has a PhD in Neuropsychology. He joined the University of Edinburgh in April 2004 from Aberdeen where he held the Chair of Neuropsychology for over 10 years. He has held appointments at various institutions, including the University of Milan - Italy, the University of Berkeley - California, the Applied Psychology Unit – Cambridge, the University of Western Australia - Perth.
Professor Sergio Della Sala holds a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Milan (where he was also first appointed as Consultant in Neurology) and he has a PhD in Neuropsychology. He joined the University of Edinburgh in April 2004 from Aberdeen where he held the Chair of Neuropsychology for over 10 years. He has held appointments at various institutions, including the University of Milan - Italy, the University of Berkeley - California, the Applied Psychology Unit – Cambridge, the University of Western Australia - Perth.
His research focuses on the relationship between brain and behaviour, with particular reference to memory and amnesia and the cognitive impairments associated with Alzheimer's Disease. He has published over 350 papers in peer-reviewed journals, as well as several monographs. He is the editor of Cortex. He is also interested in the dissemination of science and, wearing that hat, has organised several events and exhibitions, particularly addressed to young people; he is an active member of the Skeptical Inquirers society for the promotion of critical thinking and the recipient of the first (2009) Tam Dalyell Prize for Excellence in Engaging the Public in Science.
Professor Della Sala will be speaking on the use and misuse of neuroscience in education. This presentation should be particularly pertinent to educational psychologists, but all of us will learn from his warnings not to oversimplify the findings from neuroscience and over-interpret the outcome. He will also be presenting on the topic of retroactive interference as an account for amnesia and on the fascinating topic of Anarchic Hand Syndrome, which demonstrates that agency and free will might be rooted in our brain.
Professor Bryan Kolb
Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience,
University of Lethbridge.
 Professor Bryan Kolb is one of the founding fathers of modern behavioural neuroscience in Canada. Over the past two decades he has challenged long-held scientific beliefs about the brain's structure, organisation and ability to regenerate, with profound implications for treatment of brain injury, drug addiction and conditions such as stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Professor Kolb and his team were the first in the world to demonstrate that the brains of mammals could regenerate after injury under certain conditions, contrary to traditional scientific belief. He also overturned a scientific myth that children recover better than adults from brain injury, by showing that there are critical times when the reverse is true.
Professor Kolb has earned numerous honours, including the Hebb Lecturer prize from Dalhousie University and the Hebb Prize from both the Canadian Psychological Association and the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Science. No other scientist has won all three Hebb prizes. He is a member of the prestigious International Neuropsychology Symposium – known as the “Group of One Hundred” – comprising the world's most eminent behavioural neuroscientists.
Professor Kolb will be presenting on brain plasticity in the developing and adult brain. This presentation will include information on various aspects of brain development and information on leading edge work showing how experience can influence brain organisation in adulthood and interact with brain perturbations throughout life. Various ethical issues related to brain plasticity and behaviour will also be covered. He will also be presenting on identifying principles of brain plasticity, he will review the cascade of neural changes following neural injury and provide us with a summary of recent advances in the development of new rehabilitation strategies.
South African Keynote Speaker
Professor Merryll Vorster
Vice-Dean
University of the Witwatersrand
Faculty of Health Sciences
 Professor Vorster holds an MMed degree in Psychiatry as well as a PhD (Med) in Forensic Psychiatry. She also has a Certificate in Medicine and Law from UNISA and a diploma in International Research Ethics from UCT. She is a past president of the South African Society of Psychiatry and she has presented at numerous conferences, seminars and workshops both nationally and internationally on the topic of ethics in psychiatry and psychology. Professor Vorster will be presenting a keynote address on ethics in neuropsychology.
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