NOVEMBER 6-27, 2025
Conferences
The lecture series offered by the Science Museum of the University of Navarra brings together experts in public health, neuroscience and genetics to analyze the brain from different perspectives.
Throughout the series "The Science Museum Explains 2025", which will take place in November, topics such as the impact of technology, neurodegenerative diseases and brain evolution will be addressed. A series of key conferences to understand the great neurological challenges of the 21st century.
Smartphones are weapons of mass distraction
Miguel Angel Martinez
Professor of Public Health, University of Navarra, Spain
Thursday, November 6, 2025 - 7:00 pm.
Assembly Hall of Civivox Iturrama (C/ Esquíroz, 24. Pamplona)
Author of "12 solutions to overcome the challenges of screens" and "Salmons, hormones and screens", he states that smartphones and social networks are not suitable for minors, because a brain in formation cannot compete against the powerful algorithms behind them because it does not have the neurological resources to do so.
The challenge of protecting the brain: therapeutic alternatives in development.
Mar Cuadrado
Professor of Pathology, Anatomy and Physiology, University of Navarra, Spain
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 19:00 h.
Assembly Hall of Civivox Iturrama (C/ Esquíroz, 24. Pamplona)
The protection of the brain against neurodegenerative diseases is one of the great current challenges. This session will address common mechanisms in pathologies such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, and will present experimental data on PLA2G4E, a phospholipase involved in the maintenance of key lipids in the brain. Its potential as a neuroprotective therapy will be discussed, based on preclinical studies that support its development as a promising therapeutic alternative.
Molecules in your brain
José Ramón Isasi
Professor of Chemistry at the University of Navarre.
Thursday, November 20, 2025 - 7:00 pm.
Assembly Hall of Civivox Iturrama (C/ Esquíroz, 24. Pamplona)
Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, ... what are all these "inas" that circulate in our brain? They are natural, but where do they come from? How do they work? There are also other quite dangerous "inas", such as amphetamines, heroin, cocaine, .... Many substances are addictive, why? This session will address, in an informative tone, the chemistry in a healthy brain, as well as the therapeutic uses or "recreational" abuses of natural and artificial molecules.
Evolution of the brain: the tortuous path to the human mind
Francisco Javier Novo
Professor of Genetics at the University of Navarre.
Thursday, November 27, 2025 - 19:00 h.
Assembly Hall of Civivox Iturrama (C/ Esquíroz, 24. Pamplona)
In this session we will travel through the last 500 million years of evolution, from the first animal brains to the human brain. We will first review some of the genetic milestones that have marked this itinerary, and then focus on the most recent events: those that have led - in four million years - to the sophisticated brain of Homo sapiens.
