Given the multidisciplinarity of our work and team, we recently had two projects accepted to be presented at the Society of British Neurological Surgeons’ (SBNS) 2025 Conference. The SBNS is the UK’s leading professional body for neurosurgery and its biannual meetings bring together surgeons, clinicians, researchers, and industry leaders from across the UK and abroad to share cutting-edge developments in neurosurgical science and clinical practice.
This year’s conference was held in Bristol and featured a diverse scientific programme spanning Neil’s home discipline of neuro-oncology, cranial and spinal surgery, neurovascular and paediatric neurosurgery, and neuropsychology. While this wide-ranging programme reflected the multifaceted nature of the profession, modern brain research and patient care, it also offered a perfect opportunity to shine a light on the work we have been doing in our Lab.
As such, Sonia had the opportunity to showcase the findings of our UK-wide survey (described in more detail here), and Hajra presented BOATIM, the world’s first standardised and clinically tested resource for English-language object and action naming, that is now freely available to clinicians through our open-access platform (accessible via this link). Hajira’s session drew considerable interest from neurosurgeons and clinicians attending the conference, many of whom expressed enthusiasm about incorporating BOATIM into their own intraoperative protocols. Hajira’s presentation was awarded the SBNS 2025 Best Oncology Presentation, acknowledging the originality and clinical importance of this work within the neuro-oncological field.
To round things off, Anna delivered the prestigious Sir Hugh Cairns Lecture, an invited plenary that closed the final day of the conference. Her talk took the audience on a journey through several decades of psycholinguistic research, tracing how our understanding of the brain’s language system has evolved — from early debates about whether bilingualism could “rot the brain” to contemporary discussions on how human language processing compares to large language models (LLMs).
The lecture highlighted how psycholinguistic evidence continues to inform modern neurosurgical practice, especially in the context of awake brain surgery, where precise knowledge of language organisation in the brain is essential for preserving communication during tumour resection. The lecture took an engaging and interdisciplinary perspective, which resonated strongly with the audience, reinforcing the vital role of language science in advancing clinical innovation and patient care.
The SBNS conference reinforced the crucial role of cross-disciplinary collaboration in advancing both surgical techniques and our understanding of the brain. We are proud that the BLB Lab’s research was showcased alongside the UK’s most innovative neurosurgical work — and even more honoured that our contribution was recognised with an award.
The insights and connections gained at SBNS 2025 will continue to guide our work as we develop and refine clinically grounded, linguistically informed tools for use in awake brain surgery. We look forward to returning to future SBNS meetings and continuing to strengthen the dialogue between neurosurgery, cognitive neuroscience and psycholinguistics.
