Director's Message

Thank you for your interest in the Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO). INECO was founded in October 2005 in order to generate a space where professional interdisciplinary approaches to health care and science play a fundamental role in helping patients with cognitive and behavioral problems, as well as their families, while contributing to the joint work of professionals from the basic sciences (biologists, mathematicians, physicists, etc.) and mental health fields in order to further our knowledge of basic cognitive processes (e.g. memory, decision-making, consciousness, social cognition, and empathy, among others). The Institute combines state-of-the-art clinical specialization with cutting-edge scientific research with positive international repercussions in the field of cognitive neurosciences and neuropsychiatry.

Ever since its foundation, clinical work at INECO has increased exponentially. Thanks to the international reputation of its professionals, INECO receives patients from Europe, USA, and the rest of Latin America for cognitive rehabilitation or complex diagnosis of neuropsychiatric disorders. We were pioneers in our country regarding the development of several novel clinical programs, among which one can find the Cognitive Training program aimed at individuals seeking to improve their mental fitness, and the Communication and Social Skill Training program for patients with neurobehavioral disorders. As well, we constantly aim to maintain a fluid contact with colleagues from around the country and the rest of the world who refer their patients to INECO, so that we can provide them with comprehensive reports about the assessment of their patients at our institution.

As part of its commitment to continuing education, we hold weekly symposia where guest professionals from various fields present their clinical cases for their interdisciplinary discussion by our group. Moreover, these meetings are a space for international researchers to present their work to our group, generating a space for debate in cognitive neurology and neuropsychiatry. Our institute organized several internationally renowned events. For the first time in our country, INECO organized the World Federation of Neurology Aphasia and Cognitive Disorders Research Group meeting. As well, we organized an International Workshop on "Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Corticostriatal Systems", which hosted international leaders in the field of biological psychiatry, and was sponsored by the prestigious International Brain Research Organization (IBRO). We are frequently visited by international professors of top leading universities worldwide in the field of Cognitive Neurology and Psychiatry. In only three years, more than 200 international leaders have visited INECO, where they discussed patients, scientific projects, and nurtured us with their scholarship through lectures.

INECO is also dedicated to higher education. Our professionals have developed different annual graduate courses on different fields of neuroscience at Favaloro University and are professors at the undergraduate level in neuroscience-related courses at this university. INECO also hosts the Prof. Dr Tomas A. Mascitti Museum of Neuroanatomy, and our professional staff hosts weekly talks for the community on clinical aspects of all pathologies treated at our institute. In addition, we offer community workshops for relatives of patients with dementia and other pathologies several times a month.

INECO is an institution that hopes to contribute to the education of national talented students and professionals by providing the means to provide clinical and scientific training abroad, in one of the many leading institutions that we hold academic relationships with. The Institute has its own scientific committee board. Among the most important contributions of our group is the identification of brain areas related with the process of decision-making in human beings, the neural mechanisms of aggression, the role of the insula in cognitive and emotional processes, the brain areas involved in the development of symptoms of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorders, the characterization of a new syndrome called Transient Epileptic Amnesia, and the development of a new neuropsychological batter to detect early frontotemporal dementia. As well, our group described, for the first time in the field, the emotional processing of patients in the minimally conscious state.

Since 2008, we created the INECO Foundation (FINECO) for research in cognitive neurosciences. FINECO's mission is to support research programs for the prevention, detection,and treatment of cognitive and behavioral disorders, while encouraging scientific training of our professional staff, and raising awareness of relevant topics in cognitive neurology and neuropsychiatry within the community. FINECO seeks to provide the means to generate new spaces for patients, professionals, families, and those interested in fighting against cognitive and behavioral problems. Meanwhile, one our primary goals is to look after our patients with solid integrity, knowledge, and thoughtfulness. This has been our reason to progress up to date, and will continue to be the reason to progress toward the future.

Dr. Facundo Manes
Director
INECO

Click here to see Dr. Facundo Manes' academic and professional bio