In a concerted effort to advance interdisciplinary collaboration and scholarly discourse, the Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences (CCBS) under the Institute of Collaborative Innovation (ICI) at the University of Macau (UM) hosted the 6th Macau Symposium on Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MSCBS 2025). The event showcased 14 presentations delivered by distinguished scholars from Stanford University, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Peking University, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and The University of Hong Kong etc., encompassing key areas such as addiction and decision making, language and cognition, emotion, child development and cognitive aging, visual perception, neuroimaging, and psychiatric and neurological disorders and emotional AI. The symposium attracted over 270 participants.
During the opening address, UM Vice Rector (Research), Prof. Wei GE, extended a cordial welcome to guests, faculty, students, and all participants. In the speech, he highlighted the vital role of cognitive and brain sciences in deepening insights into human behavior and promoting synergies among disciplines like psychology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence, while also thanking speakers and participants for their invaluable contributions.
The symposium program included four keynote presentations and ten invited talks. Among the keynote speakers, Prof. Allan Reiss, Robbins Professor of Psychiatry, Radiology, and Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, introduced intricate concepts and unresolved questions in neuropsychiatry and clinical neuroscience. Prof. Dean Mobbs, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the California Institute of Technology, proposed a psychobiological framework to distinguish between anxiety and fear. Prof. Benjamin Becker, Full Professor at The University of Hong Kong, outlined integrated translational approaches to pinpoint the neural underpinnings of emotions through machine learning and Prof. Anqi Qiu, Director of the Mental Health Research Centre and Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, examined fetal programming and its connections to maternal mental health, child brain maturation, and psychopathology.
The symposium incorporated poster sessions featuring 52 posters. The poster committee evaluated submissions and conferred totally 20 awards, including 10 Best Poster Awards and 10 Merit Awards.
The event was attended by Kun Wai CHEANG, Member of the Administrative Committee of the Science and Technology Development Fund, and renowned scholars from local universities; and UM members including Prof. Cheng-Zhong XU, Interim Director of Institute of Collaborative Innovation (ICI), Prof. Zhen YUAN, Associate Director of ICI, Head of Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, and the Chair of the symposium organizing committee, and Prof. Christian MONTAG, Distinguished professor and Associate Director of ICI.
The Institute of Collaborative Innovation (ICI) is dedicated to promoting interdisciplinary research among higher education institutions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and beyond, cultivating innovative talent, creating an environment conducive to innovative thinking, innovative capabilities, and innovative industries, and fostering industry-academia collaboration. The symposium exemplified ICI’s efforts to achieve its objectives. The event brought together experts from academia, government, and society to discuss the latest trends and challenges in cognitive neuroscience, and brain science and facilitated discussion and exchange among scholars
