From sirota at axon.rutgers.edu Tue Sep 1 10:10:20 2009 From: sirota at axon.rutgers.edu (Anton Sirota) Date: Tue Sep 1 13:00:03 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] PhD and PostDoctoral positions in Tuebingen, Germany Message-ID: <4A9CD6EC.2090800@axon.rutgers.edu> Cortical Neurophysiology of Memory Laboratory at the Center for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN) at the University of Tuebingen (Germany) is looking for a highly motivated individuals for a PhD and Post-Doctoral positions. Our group is part of the newly established interdisciplinary scientific environment (http://www.cin.uni-tuebingen.de). The candidate will be involved into cutting edge research on network mechanisms of memory. Research in the lab is focused on the mechanisms of information representation within and propagation between different cortical networks. Specifically, we are exploring the neurophysiological mechanisms of information transfer within and between the neocortex and hippocampus, as one of the key questions in learning and memory research. Our approach employs simultaneous recordings of multiple (>50) neurons and local field potentials in different cortical areas in behaving rats with state-of-the-art multichannel electrodes followed by advanced signal processing and data mining aimed to uncover the rules that govern communication between these structures. Electrophysiology is combined with various brain activity perturbation techniques and quantitative control of animal behavior. Applicants are expected to be creative and capable of independent analytical thinking. A strong background in biology/physiology and/or math/physics/engineering is required. Solid experience in electrophysiology, animal behavior or data analysis (signal processing, multivariate statistics etc) would be a plus. Fluency in English is required. Applications should include a CV, a brief statement of research experience and interests, publications list and names of at least 2 referees. Please, send your application electronically as a single .pdf file to Dr Anton Sirota (anton.sirota@cin.uni-tuebingen.de). -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: sirota.vcf Type: text/x-vcard Size: 257 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090901/ebe4fbe9/sirota.vcf From kampis.george at gmail.com Tue Sep 1 17:31:41 2009 From: kampis.george at gmail.com (George Kampis) Date: Wed Sep 2 11:24:38 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] position available in Collegium Budapest Message-ID: <28F2F1E2577B4D859E187B23496B2A41@KAMPIS> POSITION AVAILABLE One PhD or PostDoctoral position is available starting October 1 (or later) in Collegium Budapest, The Institute for Advanced Study in Hungary (www.colbud.hu), in the newly formed project group researching dynamic networks. We are seeking a talented and enthusiastic research assistant or research fellow with a PhD plan or a PhD awarded in physics, mathematics, engineering, biology or computer science; prior experience in computational science and network science is desirable but not necessary. Our project links network features of natural systems with dynamics and information propagation in systems, including epidemiological and ecological networks. The position will involve the analysis of experimental data, large-scale simulations of real and abstract networks, and related software development. Familiarity with Java is an asset. The project is generously funded by an FP7 FET Open grant of the European Commission, featuring 6 research groups across Europe. ColBud faculty and workspace are housed in a 400-years old building at the heart of the historic city center in Budapest, atop Castle Hill. ColBud is an international and interdisciplinary organization hosting leading researchers from all around the world on a temporary basis. Applications, including CV, list of publications, recommendations (if any), and statement of interests should be sent via email to George Kampis (gkampis@colbud.hu) or Laszlo Gulyas (lgulyas@colbud.hu). The search begins today and closes when the position is filled. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090901/7c112570/attachment-0001.html From alex at cns.montana.edu Tue Sep 1 17:52:14 2009 From: alex at cns.montana.edu (Alexander Dimitrov) Date: Wed Sep 2 11:26:22 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Special issue of JCNS on Information Theory Message-ID: <4A9D432E.4080807@cns.montana.edu> * Second announcement of the outstanding call for papers: * *Journal of Computational Neuroscience: Special issue on Methods of Information Theory in Neuroscience Research Submission deadline: December 15st, 2009** */edited by Alexander G. Dimitrov, Aurel A. Lazar and Jonathan D. Victor/ Methods originally developed in Information Theory have found wide applicability in computational neuroscience. Beyond these original methods, novel tools and approaches have been developed that are driven by problems arising in neuroscience. A number of researchers in computational/systems neuroscience and in information/communication theory are investigating problems of information representation and processing. The goal of the special issue of the Journal of Computational Neuroscience is to showcase the latest techniques, approaches and results in this area. The subject of the papers must fit the Aims & Scope of the journal, and must in particular not be purely methodological but also illustrate results that advance our understanding of brain function in a broad sense. The papers must contain new material, but we encourage the authors to also include review material to help the reader fully understand the context of the study. Papers that include experimental work are especially encouraged. Submission is open to all as long as it fits the above criteria. The papers will go through the standard review process, with the same criteria as for normal articles submitted to the journal. They will be further reviewed for relevance to the special issue by the guest editors listed above. At submission, please indicate in comments that you wish to be considered for this issue. Sincerely, Alex Dimitrov -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: alex.vcf Type: text/x-vcard Size: 324 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090901/dedd8f2c/alex.vcf From dglanzma at mail.nih.gov Thu Sep 3 18:15:03 2009 From: dglanzma at mail.nih.gov (Glanzman, Dennis (NIH/NIMH) [E]) Date: Fri Sep 4 09:48:27 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Final Call For Posters -- Dynamical Neuroscience Satellite Symposium -- Dynamical Disease In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <87A69598824B3D4EBF14080B3F0906BE092D7672@NIHMLBX12.nih.gov> This is the final call for posters for the 17th Annual Dynamical Neuroscience Satellite Symposium - "Dynamical Disease" (Preceding the 39th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience) Thursday and Friday, October 15-16, 2009 The Buckingham Ballroom of the Allerton Hotel, 701 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois The concept of dynamical diseases has been in existence for over 30 years, with numerous re-views drawing attention to disorders that are characterized by the recurrence of certain symptoms, or exhibit oscillations that appear in the intensity of an ongoing nervous system disease. Neuropsychiatric and neurological diseases exhibiting periodicity or cyclicity include Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Klein-Levin Syndrome, Sleep Disorders, Binging, Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Jet-Lag and Headache. The time course of the disorders can range from seconds and minutes to months and years. This symposium will examine a number of dynamical disorders of the nervous system, with the aim of providing an overarching perspective into potential underlying mechanisms, detection, prevention and treatment strategy. Confirmed Speakers: Markus Dahlem, Uri Eden, Bard Ermentrout, Leon Glass, Isabela Granic, Suzanne Haber, Nancy Kopell, Marc Lewis, Alfred Lewy, Haim Sompolinsky, Peter Tass, Jonathan Victor and Miles Whittington Keynote Address: Winner of the 2nd Annual Swartz Prize in Computational Neuroscience Symposium Organizers: Nicholas Schiff, Weill Cornell Medical Center, and Dennis Glanzman, NIMH/NIH Registration: http://neuro.dgimeetingsupport.com/ To Submit a Poster (Deadline September 18, 2009): http://neuro.dgimeetingsupport.com/Call_For_Posters.aspx For programmatic information, please contact: Dennis Glanzman > National Institute of Mental Health Telephone: (301) 443-1576 For logistics information, please contact: Nakia Wilson > The Dixon Group Telephone: (877) 772-9111 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090903/6181235c/attachment.html From fhamker at uni-muenster.de Tue Sep 8 11:31:50 2009 From: fhamker at uni-muenster.de (Fred Hamker) Date: Tue Sep 8 12:10:00 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Post-Doc or PhD Position for Cognitive Computational Neuroscience Message-ID: <83290892-F404-4D3E-A8A9-33DD52EB955D@uni-muenster.de> Post-Doc or PhD Position for Cognitive Computational Neuroscience A Post-Doc or PhD position is available at the Technical University of Chemnitz in the Department of Computer Science. The position is for three years, starting immediately. The research position is part of the research network ?Neuro-cognitive mechanisms of conscious and unconscious visual perception? (http://www.uniulm.de/unbewusst/index.htm ). The goal in our project is to elucidate the role of reentrant processing for visual masking and stimulus encoding. Subliminal perception is typically investigated using masked stimuli. Previous priming experiments of the partners in the network have demonstrated various effects of subliminal perception that altogether suggest unconscious stimulus processing to a significant degree, even when stimuli are masked. In previous computational work we have established a framework of attentive visual perception by means of reentrant processing (Hamker, 2005; Hamker, 2007), which has been used as a theoretical basis for the design of experimental studies of the partner groups in the network. We intend to extend this framework to include mechanisms of visual masking with a particular focus on reentrant processing based on previous work of learning receptive fields (Wiltschut & Hamker, 2009). This computational work complements the experimental studies of the Haynes, Ansorge and Mattler groups and also relates to the work of other partner projects. We will provide a description of the neural stimulus trace of masked stimuli that will be important for the interpretation of the experimental results obtained in other groups of the network. See http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/informatik/KI/veroe.php for references. The canditate should have prior experience in developing neurocomputational systems, particularly with respect to data in the neurosciences and psychology. Experience in interdisciplinary projects or own experimental studies is welcome. Good programming experience is essential. The salary is according to German standards (E 13 TV-L). The university is an equal opportunity employer. Women are encouraged to apply. Disabled applicants will receive priority in case they have equal qualifications. Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the state of Saxony and close to scenic mountains. Major cities nearby are Leipzig and Dresden with a rich tradition of music and culture. Applications should be sent by email (preferebly in PDF format) to (fred.hamker@informatik.tu-chemnitz.de ) as soon as possible. Applications will be considered until the position is filled. -------------------- Prof. Dr. Fred H Hamker Artificial Intelligence Department of Computer Science Technical University Chemnitz Strasse der Nationen 62 D - 09107 Chemnitz Germany Tel: +49 (0)371 531-37875 Fax: +49 (0)371 531-25739 email: fred.hamker@informatik.tu-chemnitz.de www: http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/informatik/KI/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090908/5274d9b0/attachment.html From vcu at cs.stir.ac.uk Tue Sep 8 14:24:54 2009 From: vcu at cs.stir.ac.uk (Cutsuridis, Vassilis) Date: Tue Sep 8 14:37:57 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] 2 papers on hippocampus, microcircuits and associative memory Message-ID: <1B115D7453BE48A6973CBBDEFEC5304A@Zeus> Cutsuridis V, Cobb S, Graham BP. (2009). Encoding and retrieval in a model of the hippocampal CA1 microcircuit. Hippocampus, in press The article can be found in http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~vcu/papers/CutCobGra2009Hippo.pdf Its NEURON source code can be found in http://senselab.med.yale.edu/modeldb/ShowModel.asp?model=123815 ABSTRACT It has been proposed that the hippocampal theta rhythm (4-7 Hz) can contribute to memory formation by separating encoding (storage) and retrieval of memories into different functional half-cycles (Hasselmo et al. (2002) Neural Comput 14:793-817). We investigate, via computer simulations, the biophysical mechanisms by which storage and recall of spatio-temporal input patterns are achieved by the CA1 microcircuitry. A model of the CA1 microcircuit is presented that uses biophysical representations of the major cell types, including pyramidal (P) cells and four types of inhibitory interneurons: basket (B) cells, axo-axonic (AA) cells, bistratified (BS) cells and oriens lacunosum-moleculare (OLM) cells. Inputs to the network come from the entorhinal cortex (EC), the CA3 Schaffer collaterals and medial septum. The EC input provides the sensory information, whereas all other inputs provide context and timing information. Septal input provides timing information for phasing storage and recall. Storage is accomplished via a local STDP mediated hetero-association of the EC input pattern and the incoming CA3 input pattern on the CA1 pyramidal cell target synapses. The model simulates the timing of firing of different hippocampal cell types relative to the theta rhythm in anesthetized animals and proposes experimentally confirmed functional roles for the different classes of inhibitory interneurons in the storage and recall cycles (Klausberger et al., (2003, 2004) Nature 421:844-848, Nat Neurosci 7:41-47). Measures of recall performance of new and previously stored input patterns in the presence or absence of various inhibitory interneurons are employed to quantitatively test the performance of our model. Finally, the mean recall quality of the CA1 microcircuit is tested as the number of stored patterns is increased. KEYWORDS: CA1 microcircuit model; storage and recall; pyramidal cell; basket cell; bistratified cell; OLM cell; axo-axonic cell; STDP --------------------------------------------- Cutsuridis V, Wennekers T. (2009). Hippocampus, microcircuits, and associative memory. Neural Networks, in press The article can be found in http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~vcu/papers/CutWenNN2009.pdf ABSTRACT The hippocampus is one of the most widely studied brain region. One of its functional roles is the storage and recall of declarative memories. Recent hippocampus research has yielded a wealth of data on network architecture, cell types, the anatomy and membrane properties of pyramidal cells and interneurons, and synaptic plasticity. Understanding the functional roles of different families of hippocampal neurons in information processing, synaptic plasticity and network oscillations poses a great challenge but also promises deep insight into one of the major brain systems. Computational and mathematical models play an instrumental role in exploring such functions. In this paper, we provide an overview of abstract and biophysical models of associative memory with particular emphasis on the operations performed by the diverse (inter)neurons in encoding and retrieval of memories in the hippocampus. KEYWORDS: Hippocampus; Microcircuit; Associative memory; Hebb; STDP; Interneurons; Rhythms -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090908/61ef2c8a/attachment.html From dayan at gatsby.ucl.ac.uk Tue Sep 8 18:48:06 2009 From: dayan at gatsby.ucl.ac.uk (Peter Dayan) Date: Tue Sep 8 19:57:22 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Postdoctoral position in computational motor control at UCL Message-ID: <20090908164805.GA32344@flies.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk> Dear colleagues, There is an opening for a postdoctoral fellow in computational motor control at UCL, as part of the newly established motor control group at the Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience: http://www.icn.ucl.ac.uk/motorcontrol/ Details of the position can be found at: http://www.icn.ucl.ac.uk/Vacancies/index.html best wishes, Joern Diedrichsen From pprodrigues at liaad.up.pt Tue Sep 8 18:35:16 2009 From: pprodrigues at liaad.up.pt (Pedro Pereira Rodrigues) Date: Tue Sep 8 19:57:57 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Extended Deadline - Data Streams Track - ACM SAC 2010 Message-ID: <4AA687C4.1050009@liaad.up.pt> ** Apologies for cross-posting ** ACM Symposium on Applied Computing The 25nd Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing Lausanne, Switzerland, March 22 - 26, 2010. http://www.acm.org/conferences/sac/sac2010/ Data Streams Track http://www.liaad.up.pt/~jgama/SAC10/ Important dates: Paper Submission: 15 September, 2009 ** EXTENDED ** Author Notification: 19 October, 2009 Camera-ready Copy: 2 November, 2009 Paper Submission Guidelines: Papers should be submitted in PDF using the SAC 2010 conference management system: http://sac.cs.iupui.edu/SAC2010/ The paper should omit authors and affiliations. Author names and addresses must not appear in the body of the paper, self-reference must be in the third person, attribution to the author(s) must be in the form of "author", and bibliographical entries by the author(s) must also be in the form of "author". This is to facilitate blind review. Only the title should be shown at the first page without the author's information. Each submitted paper will be fully refereed and undergo a blind review process by at least three referees. The conference proceedings will be published by ACM. All accepted papers should be submitted in ACM 2-column camera ready format for publication in the symposium proceedings. The maximum number of pages allowed for the final papers is 5 pages (about 4000 words), with the option (at additional expense) to add up to three (3) more pages. There is a set of templates to support the required paper format for a number of document preparation systems at: http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html From celiasmith at uwaterloo.ca Wed Sep 9 16:20:11 2009 From: celiasmith at uwaterloo.ca (Chris Eliasmith) Date: Wed Sep 9 19:42:41 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Two Tenure Track Positions in Theoretical and Systems Neuroscience Message-ID: <4AA7B99B.2080906@uwaterloo.ca> Feel free to contact me for more information on the positions or the Centre. Best, Chris Eliasmith (celiasmith@uwaterloo.ca) Director, CTN ------------------------------------------- Tenure Track Positions in Theoretical and Systems Neuroscience The Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo, in conjunction with the Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience (CTN), is seeking two Faculty at the Assistant or Associate Professor level in the area of Neuroscience. Applicants involved in the measurement and/or modeling of neural circuits and systems (systems neuroscience) are especially encouraged to apply. Applicants, both experimental or theoretical in approach, should demonstrate the linkage of their program to the Department of Biology and the CTN. One successful applicant will be invited to apply for a Tier II Canada Research Chair. Duties of the successful applicants will include research, teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the Department of Biology, and graduate student supervision. Applicants must have a Ph.D., relevant postdoctoral experience with a strong indication of independent productivity, and be prepared to establish active research programs. Applicants should send their curriculum vitae, the names of three individuals willing to furnish letters of reference, and a brief outline of their future research and teaching direction to: Dr. David R. Rose, Professor and Chair, Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, CANADA. This information may also be sent to the Biology Chair's Secretary: Mrs. Gini Kennings at: givan@scimail.uwaterloo.ca Review of applications will commence November 1, 2009, but applications will be accepted until the positions are filled. Anticipated starting date is on or after July 1, 2010. http://www.biology.uwaterloo.ca/ http://ctn.uwaterloo.ca/ From moritzgw at tuebingen.mpg.de Wed Sep 9 19:17:40 2009 From: moritzgw at tuebingen.mpg.de (Moritz Grosse-Wentrup) Date: Wed Sep 9 19:43:36 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for Contributions: NIPS 2009 Workshop on Connectivity Inference in Neuroimaging Message-ID: <4AA7E334.7070709@tuebingen.mpg.de> ---------------------- CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS ---------------------- *NIPS 2009 WORKSHOP ON CONNECTIVITY INFERENCE IN NEUROIMAGING* *Webpage* http://cini2009.kyb.tuebingen.mpg.de *Workshop description* Over the past decade, brain connectivity has become a central theme in the neuroimaging community. At the same time, causal inference has recently emerged as a major research topic in machine learning. Even though the two research questions are closely related, interactions between the neuroimaging and machine-learning communities have been limited. The aim of this workshop is to initiate productive interactions between neuroimaging and machine learning by introducing the workshop audience to the different concepts of connectivity/causal inference employed in each of the communities. Special emphasis is placed on discussing commonalities as well as distinctions between various approaches in the context of neuroimaging. Due to the increasing relevance of brain connectivity for analyzing mental states, we also highly welcome contributions discussing applications of brain connectivity measures to real-world problems such as brain-computer interfacing or mental state monitoring. *Topics* We solicit contributions on new approaches to connectivity and/or causal inference for neuroimaging data as well as on applications of connectivity inference to real-world problems. Contributions might address, but are not limited to, the following topics: * Effective connectivity & causal inference o Dynamic causal modelling o Granger causality o Structural equation models o Causal Bayesian networks o Non-Gaussian linear causal models o Causal additive noise models * Functional connectivity o Canonical correlation analysis o Phase-locking o Imaginary coherence o Independent component analysis * Applications of brain connectivity to real-world problems o Brain-computer interfaces o Mental state monitoring *Invited speakers* * Jean Daunizeau, University of Zurich & University College London * Rainer Goebel, Maastricht University * Scott Makeig, University of California San Diego *Workshop format* CINI 2009 is a one-day workshop at the Twenty-Third Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS 2009). Besides three invited talks, in which the audience will be introduced to current approaches for inferring connectivity in neuroimaging data, there will be several contributed talks and an evening poster session. Special emphasis will be placed on a balanced contribution of talks from the neuroimaging and machine learning communities. To foster interaction between communities, approximately 50% of workshop time is reserved for discussions. *Key dates* * Extended abstract submission deadline: October 9th, 2009, 5 pm (PT) * Notification of acceptance: October 23rd, 2009 * Workshop: December 11th or 12th, 2009 *Submission instructions* Please submit extended abstracts (maximum two pages) in either pdf or doc format through the CINI 2009 submission site at https://cmt.research.microsoft.com/CINI2009/. Upon notification of acceptance, authors will also be notified whether their contribution has been accepted as a contributed talk or poster. *Workshop location* Westin Resort and Spa / Hilton Whistler Resort and Spa Whistler, B.C., Canada *Organization committee* * Moritz Grosse-Wentrup (primary contact), MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen * Uta Noppeney, MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen * Karl Friston, University College London * Bernhard Schoelkopf, MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen *Program committee* * Olivier David, Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale, Grenoble * Justin Dauwels, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge * Michael Eichler, Maastricht University * Jeremy Hill, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen * Guido Nolte, Fraunhofer FIRST, Berlin * Will Penny, University College London * Alard Roebroeck, Maastricht University * Klaas Enno Stephan, University of Zurich * Ryota Tomioka, University of Tokyo * Pedro Valdes-Sosa, Cuban Neuroscience Center, Havana From ijcsiseditor at gmail.com Tue Sep 8 21:10:14 2009 From: ijcsiseditor at gmail.com (IJCSIS editor) Date: Wed Sep 9 19:43:46 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] =?windows-1252?q?IJCSIS_=96_OCTOBER_2009?= Message-ID: <642127590909081210u832de1eudcd6b510c5c0509a@mail.gmail.com> Skipped content of type multipart/alternative-------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: CFP IJCSIS Oct 2009.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 19324 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090909/fd9a30b0/CFPIJCSISOct2009-0001.pdf From b.graham at cs.stir.ac.uk Fri Sep 11 16:36:18 2009 From: b.graham at cs.stir.ac.uk (b.graham@cs.stir.ac.uk) Date: Sat Sep 12 01:34:55 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] lectureship in Computational Intelligence Message-ID: <1394.139.153.254.219.1252679778.squirrel@www.cs.stir.ac.uk> We welcome applicants in any area of Computational Intelligence (including computational/theoretical neuroscience, neural networks, evolutionary computation, machine learning etc) to the following post: University of Stirling, Scotland, U.K. Lecturer in Computing Science Salary ?36,533 - ?43,622 p.a. As a part of the Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA) we have available a lectureship in Computing Science for candidates with research interests in Computational Intelligence (to fit within the Modelling and Abstraction theme of SICSA). Full details of the post can be found at: http://www.hr-services.stir.ac.uk/vacancies/academic.php This post is suitable for someone with a PhD in a relevant discipline, plus some postdoctoral experience and a good publication record. The lecturer will be expected to actively contribute to research and will be ably to apply for research funding in their own right, from the U.K. research councils and elsewhere. Interaction with related groups in the other universities in Scotland will be actively encouraged. Further details of the Department of Computing Science & Mathematics at the university of Stirling can be found at: http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/ and the Computational Intelligence research group at: http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/research/groups/comp-int.html Further details of SICSA can be found at: http://www.sicsa.ac.uk/ Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Leslie S. Smith at l.s.smith@cs.stir.ac.uk (please quote reference number 15911/6812) Closing date for applications is Monday 28th September, 2009. We hope to have the lecturer in post before 1st April, 2010. ------------------ Dr Bruce Graham, Reader (b.graham@cs.stir.ac.uk) Dept. of Computing Science and Mathematics, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA phone: +44 1786 467 432 fax: +44 1786 464 551 -- Academic Excellence at the Heart of Scotland. The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159. From announce at ccnconference.org Fri Sep 11 22:02:55 2009 From: announce at ccnconference.org (ccnc-announce) Date: Sat Sep 12 01:35:51 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] CCNC 2009: Call for Fellowship Applicants Message-ID: <200909111402.55633.announce@ccnconference.org> ~ CCNC 2009 --- CALL FOR FELLOWSHIP APPLICANTS ~ The CCNC organizing committee is pleased to announce the availability of a limited number of $500 fellowship awards to early-career computational cognitive neuroscience researchers and potential researchers. Eligible candidates should be undergraduates, graduate students, or post-docs. It is anticipated that approximately ten (10) stipends will be awarded. Criteria to be used in selection will include (in approximate order of weighting): * Financial need: e.g., student status, specific hardship, etc. * Membership in a group underrepresented in science: e.g., African-American, Hispanic, Native American ancestry; female gender * Distance to be traveled: Transoceanic vs. North America * Participating author: e.g., are you a sole presenter, first author, auxiliary author on a poster? Interested applicants should send an email to the conference administrator no later than midnight Friday September 25, 2009: Thomas E. Hazy, MD thazy@colorado.edu Your email should include your career status and address all of the selection criteria listed above. Please also include the name and contact info of a faculty reference who is familiar with your career status, academic work and/or research interests and can corroborate your application if asked. An overview of CCNC 2009 is provided below. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4th CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE www.ccnconference.org To be held in conjunction with the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society at the Sheraton Boston Hotel in Boston, MA. CCN CONFERENCE DATES: Wed-Thu November 18 & 19, 2009 All three of our previous meetings have been a great success, two as satellites to Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting (2005, 2007) and in 2006 with Psychonomics. Attendance has ranged from 115-250. ____________________________________________________________________________ * DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS: CLOSED A limited number of late posters may be accepted on a space available basis. Abstracts can be submitted online via the website: www.ccnconference.org. * Online registration is available at the conference website: www.ccnconference.org. As in past years, there are two categories of submissions: -Poster only -Poster, plus short talk (15 min) to highlight the poster Abstracts should be limited to 250 words. Women and underrepresented minorities are especially encouraged to apply. Reviewing of posters will be inclusive and only to ensure appropriateness to the meeting. Short talks will be selected on the basis of research quality, relevance to conference theme, and expected accessibility in a talk format. Abstracts not selected for short talks will still be accepted as posters as long as they meet appropriateness criteria. * NOTIFICATION OF POSTER ACCEPTANCE: September 7, 2009 * CONTRIBUTED SHORT TALK SELECTION: September 7, 2009 __________________________________________________________________________ Program: * 2009 Keynote Speakers: Neil Burgess, University College London Josh Tenenbaum, MIT * Three symposia, each including a mixture of modelers and non-modelers and focused on a common theme or issue: ** Top-Down Mechanisms of Visual Attention Moderator: Steven Bressler, Florida Atlantic University ** Our Vision for the Word: Modeling Orthographic Processing Moderators: Carol Whitney, University of Maryland, College Park Jonathan Grainger, CNRS, France ** Context, Memory, and the Brain Moderators: Michael Hasselmo, Boston University Ken Norman, Princeton University * Approximately 12 short talks will be chosen featuring selected posters. * Poster sessions * We plan to award a limited number of competitive travel fellowships for students -- look for a notice by late summer. We especially encourage applications from members of underrepresented minorities. * Registration fees: $175 ($75 for students). ____________________________________________________________________________ 2009 Planning Committee: Suzanna Becker, McMaster University Carlos Brody, Princeton University Nathaniel Daw, New York University Michael Hasselmo, Boston University David Noelle, University of California, Merced Ken Norman, Princeton University Maximilian Riesenhuber, Georgetown University Ex officio: Randall O'Reilly, University of Colorado, Boulder Jonathan Cohen, Princeton University Executive Organizer: Thomas Hazy, University of Colorado, Boulder For more information and to sign up for the mailing list visit: www.ccnconference.org From Christina.Weaver at mssm.edu Fri Sep 11 23:04:11 2009 From: Christina.Weaver at mssm.edu (Weaver, Christina) Date: Sat Sep 12 01:49:04 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] In memoriam: Susan L. Wearne Message-ID: Dear colleagues, I am deeply saddened to announce the death of my dear friend and mentor Susan Wearne, who lost her battle with cancer earlier this week. It is likely that many of you were unaware of her illness, which is testimony of her strength and determination not to let this slow her down. For almost a decade, Dr. Wearne served as an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Biomathematical Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, NY. An expert in biomathematics and bioinformatics, Dr. Wearne led the Laboratory of Biomathematics in the Arthur M. Fishberg Department of Neuroscience where she conducted research that helped advance the understanding of neural function through the application of computational mathematical models. Dr. Wearne?s laboratory used high-resolution three-dimensional models to study how dendritic spine shape, spine density, and global dendritic structure determine neuronal functions, such as electrical and biochemical signaling. Her research findings produced insight on the development of several neurological disorders, including Alzheimer?s disease and schizophrenia, and could help researchers and clinicians create more targeted treatments for these illnesses. A native of Australia, Dr. Wearne earned a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia, where she also taught statistics. In 1993, she came to Mount Sinai and served as a Research Associate in the Department of Neurology for three years. She then briefly served as a Visiting Scientist at the Center for Biodynamics in the Department of Mathematics at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1999, Dr. Wearne returned to Mount Sinai where she fulfilled the remainder of her career. She was named an Assistant Professor in the Center for Biomathematical Sciences. She then joined the Department of Neuroscience where she was appointed Associate Professor in 2006. All who knew Susan could appreciate the quality and impact of her innovative research, and enjoyed her spirit and good humor. She will be greatly missed. Sincerely, Christina M. Weaver Assistant Professor Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Franklin & Marshall College P.O. Box 3003 Lancaster, PA 17604-3003 E-mail: christina.weaver@fandm.edu From ahu at cs.stir.ac.uk Sat Sep 12 13:54:03 2009 From: ahu at cs.stir.ac.uk (Dr. Amir Hussain) Date: Sat Sep 12 17:45:48 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Table of Contents Alert: "Cognitive Computation" (Springer, NY, USA) - Vol. 1, Issue 3, Sep 2009 Message-ID: <11277.78.148.91.236.1252756443.squirrel@www.cs.stir.ac.uk> Dear Colleagues: (with advance apologies for any cross-postings) We are delighted to announce the publication of the third (quarterly) Issue (Sep 2009) of Springer's exciting new multi-disciplinary journal in the neurosciences: "Cognitive Computation" - www.springer.com/12559 The list of published articles (Table of Contents) can be found at the end of this message. You will also be pleased to know that ALL (full) articles in Cognitive Computation are FREELY AVAILABLE for access/download through December 31, 2009. Please ask your library to subscribe for 2010 and beyond! The full listing of Issue 3 (Sep 2009) can be viewed here: http://springerlink.com/content/m224t1178m77/?p=61f9d0eb786e434783d7e55414ff013f&pi=0 The full listing of the Inaugural Issue 1 (March 2009) can be viewed here (which includes invited authoritative reviews by leading researchers in their areas - including keynote papers from London University's John Taylor, Igor Aleksander and Stanford University's James McClelland, and invited papers from Kevin Gurney, Ron Sun, Pentti Haikonen, Geoff Underwood, Claudius Gross, Anil Seth and Tom Ziemke): http://www.springerlink.com/content/w2826455k852/?p=603724902f224ec4ab2a0e52213f8d3e&pi=0 The full listing of Issue 2 (June 2009) can be viewed here (which includes invited reviews and original research contributions from leading researchers, including Rodney Douglas, Giacomo Indiveri, Jurgen Schmidhuber, Thomas Wennekers, Pentti Kanerva and Friedemann Pulvermuller): http://www.springerlink.com/content/n6134575mg14/?p=0ae0e58e2b8444c48fc62261e6b6a13f&pi=0 Other 'Online First' published articles not yet in a print issue can be viewed here: http://www.springerlink.com/content/121361/?Content+Status=Accepted For further information and to sign up for electronic "Table of Contents alerts" please visit the Cognitive Computation homepage: http://www.springer.com/biomed/neuroscience/journal/12559 Finally, we would like to invite you to submit short or regular papers describing original research or timely review of important areas - our aim is to peer review all papers within approximately SIX WEEKS of receipt. We also welcome relevant proposals for Special Issues. With our very best wishes for all aspiring readers and authors of Cognitive Computation, Amir Hussain, PhD (Editor-in-Chief: Cognitive Computation) Igor Aleksander, PhD (Honorary Editor-in-Chief: Cognitive Computation) John Taylor, PhD (Chair, Advisory Board: Cognitive Computation) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents: Springer's Cognitive Computation, Vol.1, No.3, Sep 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Full listing of Articles, in PDF, is available here: http://springerlink.com/content/m224t1178m77/?p=61f9d0eb786e434783d7e55414ff013f&pi=0 ) Articles Actor-Critic Learning for Platform-Independent Robot Navigation David Muse and Stefan Wermter http://www.springerlink.com/content/83xk7n24hh7n8273 A Cognitive Computation Fallacy? Cognition, Computations and Panpsychism John Mark Bishop http://www.springerlink.com/content/uq06742357143589 Multiple Model-Based Control Using Finite Controlled Markov Chains Enso Ikonen and Kaddour Najim http://www.springerlink.com/content/c40m1227215311k8 A Consequence of Failed Sequential Learning: A Computational Account of Developmental Amnesia Qi Zhang http://www.springerlink.com/content/l74pm0r430m72633 Biometric Recognition Performing in a Bioinspired System Joan F?bregas and Marcos Faundez-Zanuy http://www.springerlink.com/content/14n81k768426r137 The Perceptual and Cognitive Role of Visual and Auditory Channels in Conveying Emotional Information Anna Esposito http://www.springerlink.com/content/m028u137vh4132nq -- Dr. Amir Hussain Dept. of Computing Science & Mathematics, University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK Tel/Fax: (++44) (0)1786-467437 / (0)1786-464551 Email: ahu@cs.stir.ac.uk http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~ahu/ -- Academic Excellence at the Heart of Scotland. The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159. From hans.ekkehard.plesser at umb.no Mon Sep 14 13:19:27 2009 From: hans.ekkehard.plesser at umb.no (Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser) Date: Mon Sep 14 14:15:24 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Wanted: Associate Professor in Applied Mathematics / Computational Biology Message-ID: <4AAE26BF.8000100@umb.no> Dear Colleagues! The Department of Mathematical Sciences and Technology (IMT) at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) is currently inviting applications for a position as Associate Professor in Applied Mathematics. Teaching/supervision -------------------- The successful candidate is expected to be able to teach all existing courses at the basic and intermediate level. He/she shall also take active part in the development of the course curricula in mathematics. The successful candidate is also expected to teach courses at the M Sc and PhD level as well as supervising master and PhD students in his /her speciality. Research -------- IMT has for the time being responsibility for two eVITA research programs in Computational Biology financed by The Norwegian Research Council. The successful candidate is expected to play an active role in the development of Computa-tional Biology at UMB. Therefore it is natural that he/she participates scientifically in one of the two programs and possible future extensions of these programs. In order to achieve this goal it is strategically important for UMB to build up and further de-velop the competence in the following branches of mathematics: * Finite and infinite dimensional dynamical systems. * Computational mathematics Qualifications -------------- * The minimum requirement is a PhD degree in Mathematics or Applied Mathematics. * In the assessment of the applicants emphasis will be put on research documented through scientific work. * Significant emphasis will be put on the potential for doing independent research as well as having a research network. * Applicants with documented research in ?Finite and infinite dimensional dynamical systems? and ?Computational mathematics? will be given preference. * Emphasis will be put on experience in applying for research grants and documented capability of carrying out research projects. * It is desirable that the candidate shows interest for popularization of mathematics and/or labor union activities or other professional organizations. Deadline for application ------------------------ 19 October 2009 More information ---------------- You will find the full announcement of the position at http://www.jobbnorge.no/job.aspx?jobid=61100 NOTE: You need to scroll to the bottom of that page to choose the English language version of the announcement. For further information please contact Head of Section for Mathematical Sciences (phone + 47 6496 5400 , e-mail imt@umb.no) or Professor John Wyller (phone +47 64 96 54 89, e-mail john.wyller@umb.no). Best regards, Hans Ekkehard Plesser -- Dr. Hans Ekkehard Plesser Associate Professor Dept. of Mathematical Sciences and Technology Norwegian University of Life Sciences Phone +47 6496 5467 Fax +47 6496 5401 Email hans.ekkehard.plesser@umb.no Home http://arken.umb.no/~plesser From alex at cns.montana.edu Mon Sep 14 19:41:23 2009 From: alex at cns.montana.edu (Alexander Dimitrov) Date: Tue Sep 15 03:00:24 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for Workshop Proposals, CNS*2010 Message-ID: <4AAE8043.9030500@cns.montana.edu> 19th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting, CNS*2010 July 25-29, 2010 San Antonio, Texas *_CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS_* And what a special meeting that will be! CNS*2010 will be exciting and successful, as it kicks off the 20th year of the CNS meeting series. (Like any self-respecting computational person, we of course count from 0.) CNS*2010 will be co-organized by Mr. CNS himself, Jim Bower. Featuring will be many of the original CNSers, who, among other things, would be clamoring to attend well-organized workshops, and even speak here and there. So let?s give it a fitting workshop session as well! * * At this time, we are requesting proposals for workshops from the international community of computational neuroscientists. Proposals from all levels of faculty as well as advanced postdoctoral fellows are welcome. This is a great opportunity to organize a small meeting with just a few of the headaches of actually organizing it. Workshop proposal aligned with the yearly theme of CNS*2010 will be given preference. The theme for 2010 is /Neural-Machine Interfaces/. *Workshop proposal submission instructions for CNS*2010* The last two days (July 28-29) of the CNS*2010 meeting will be devoted to workshops, in which computationally related Neuroscience topics can be presented and discussed. Workshops can be between one half day to two days in duration. Usually several speakers are invited to introduce a unifying theme, but ample time for discussion should also be planned. When planning the workshops, keep in mind that many high level CNSers will be attending this historic meeting. The author list of /Computational Neuroscience: Trends in Research/ from the early 90s should give you an idea who may be present.// Submit workshop proposals to: Alex Dimitrov, Workshop Chair; workshops@cnsorg.org . An archive of workshops held at previous CNS meetings is available at http://www.cnsorg.org/meetings/archives/. The proposal should contain a workshop title, a brief description of workshop content (approximately 150 words), and a list of potential speakers. Please, indicate who of the speakers have been contacted and who have indicated interest. Workshops submitted before January 5, 2010 will be given preferential acceptance and will be made public when registration opens on January 15, 2010. Workshop proposals arriving after January 15, 2010 will be evaluated based on remaining space for additional workshops. No further workshop acceptances will be anticipated after May 15, 2010. _Travel awards:_ Based on proposal evaluation, a limited number of Travel Awards will be available for postdoctoral researchers, women and minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics to lead and be included as speakers. A few starting Assistant Professors may also be given consideration. Please indicate which speakers you would like to be considered for this mechanism. Support will be partially provided from a National Science Foundation grant # IIS-0943753 to the Center for Adaptive Neural Systems, Arizona State University. _Springer Computational Neuroscience Book Series:_ Some of the workshops may be published by the Springer Series in Computational Neuroscience . Workshop organizers interested in this mechanism should submit a book proposal to Ann.Avouris@springer.com and indicate in the workshop proposal their interest in publishing a book. _Logistics:_ Rooms, AV equipment, snacks and beverages during breaks will be provided by OCNS to the workshop organizers. _Registration:_ Workshop registration will occur through the OCNS registration web site for CNS*2010. All workshop participants, including speakers must register. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: alex.vcf Type: text/x-vcard Size: 324 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090914/88a5a1d7/alex.vcf From roger at eccles.psy.ohio-state.edu Tue Sep 15 21:22:45 2009 From: roger at eccles.psy.ohio-state.edu (Roger Ratcliff) Date: Wed Sep 16 00:46:11 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] positions at Ohio State University Psychology Department Message-ID: <200909151922.n8FJMjkG002912@eccles.psy.ohio-state.edu> These two adverts are for positions at Ohio State. Even though there seem to be aims or specific foci of interest, the guiding factor is quality. I would like to see computational modeling in these positions, but almost anything that fits will be considered. Roger Ratcliff see http://www.psy.ohio-state.edu/department/news/facultysearch.htm for the adverts Note, we are in the planning stages to get a fMRI facility for the basement of our department building. INTEGRATIVE NEUROSCIENCE. The Department of Psychology at The OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY seeks outstanding candidates to fill 2-3 positions over the next several years in Cognitive, Social, Developmental and/or Behavioral Neuroscience. Candidates whose interests cut across traditional program boundaries or complement other existing strengths or priority areas in the department (e.g., health, decision making) will be especially attractive. An interest in imaging at OSU’s new, state-of-the-art functional imaging center is an added plus for one or more of the positions. Pending availability of funds, these positions are expected to be at the Assistant or Associate Professor levels, but may be open to exceptional senior applicants. All applicants are expected to have strong research programs and to contribute to both graduate and undergraduate supervision and instruction. Prospective candidates should send a letter of application, statements of research and teaching interests, a vi! ta, selected reprints, and three letters of recommendation to the Integrative Neuroscience Search Committee, Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, 1835 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1222. To ensure consideration, application materials must be received by September 15th, 2009, but applications will be reviewed until the positions are filled. For more information about the department, visit: www.psy.ohio-state.edu. Ohio State is an EEO/AA Employer. To build a diverse workforce, women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE. The Department of Psychology at The OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY seeks outstanding candidates to fill 2-3 positions over the next few years in Behavioral Neuroscience. Pending availability of funds, these positions are expected to be at the Assistant or Associate Professor levels, but may be open to exceptional senior applicants. Candidates whose interests are in any mainstream focus in behavioral neuroscience, including; the neurobiology of learning and memory, aging, psychiatric disease, mechanisms of neurodegeneration or behavioral genetics are encouraged to apply. New facilities are available that can accommodate a variety of methods. All applicants are expected to have strong research programs and to contribute to both graduate and undergraduate supervision and instruction. Prospective candidates should send a letter of application, statements of research and teaching interests, a vita, selected reprints, and three letters of recommendation to the Beha! vioral Neuroscience Search Committee, Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, 1835 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1222. To ensure consideration, application materials must be received by September 15th, 2009; but applications will be reviewed until the position is filled. Electronic applications will not be accepted. For more information about the department, visit: www.psy.ohio-state.edu. Ohio State is an EEO/AA Employer. To build a diverse workforce, women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. From rjolivet at pharma.uzh.ch Wed Sep 16 12:21:51 2009 From: rjolivet at pharma.uzh.ch (Renaud Jolivet) Date: Wed Sep 16 13:48:31 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] New paper: modeling neuron-astrocyte interactions Message-ID: <4AB0BC3F.7020500@pharma.uzh.ch> Dear colleagues, I would like to draw your attention to a paper we recently published modeling the exchange of metabolites between neuron and astrocytes and providing a new method for evaluating the brain's energy budget. The paper is available at http://frontiersin.org/neuroenergetics/paper/10.3389/neuro.14/004.2009/ Jolivet R, Magistretti PJ, Weber B. Deciphering neuron-glia compartmentalization in cortical energy metabolism. Front. Neuroenerg. 1:4. doi:10.3389/neuro.14.004.2009 Energy demand is an important constraint on neural signaling. Several methods have been proposed to assess the energy budget of the brain based on a bottom-up approach in which the energy demand of individual biophysical processes are first estimated independently and then summed up to compute the brain's total energy budget. In this paper, we address this question using a novel approach that makes use of published datasets that reported average cerebral glucose and oxygen utilization in humans and rodents during different activation states. Our approach allows us [1] to decipher neuron-glia compartmentalization in energy metabolism and [2] to compute a precise state-dependent energy budget for the brain. Our results suggest that glycolysis occurs for a significant part in astrocytes whereas most of the oxygen is utilized in neurons. As a consequence, a transfer of glucose-derived metabolites from glial cells to neurons has to take place. Furthermore, we find that the amplitude of this transfer is correlated to the activity level of the brain and to the oxidative activity in astrocytes. Our method allows for a straightforward assessment of the brain's energy budget from macroscopic measurements with minimal underlying assumptions. Best regards, Renaud Jolivet -- Dr Renaud Jolivet Roche Research Fellow University of Zurich Institute of Pharmacology & Toxicology University Hospital Z?rich Nuclear Medicine R?mistrasse 100 CH-8091 Z?rich Tel: +41 76 437 9798 rjolivet@pharma.uzh.ch http://www.pharma.uzh.ch/research/functionalimaging/members/jolivet.html From michela.chiappalone at iit.it Wed Sep 16 16:26:00 2009 From: michela.chiappalone at iit.it (Chiappalone Michela) Date: Wed Sep 16 19:54:46 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] PhD positions available at IIT and University of Genova (Italy) - Deadline September 25th Message-ID: <5B2D6D6DDD42414A91B85B082D7C5FC4D0D6B3@EDEN-CLU.netexchange.int.netscalibur.it> Dear all, PhD positions are now available @ NeuroTech Lab (NT), Department of Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy http://www.iit.it @ Neuroengineering and BionanoTechnology Lab (NBT), Department of Biophysical and Electronic Engineering, University of Genova, Genova, Italy http://www.bio.dibe.unige.it The research activities at both NT and NBT Labs are focused on the understanding of the computational properties of neuronal systems at network level and on the capability of interconnected neuronal networks (i.e., cell assemblies) to code, transmit and process information. The biological substrates used for the experiments are networks of dissociated neurons from different brain districts (e.g. cortex, hippocampus, thalamus), cultured over Micro-Electrode Arrays (MEAs), either commercially available or developed in the context of the European projects Neurobit and IDEA. The experimental activities are paralleled by the development of computational models. Specific three years projects within the above general framework of research are available. Candidates must have a master degree or equivalent. We are looking for motivated students with interest in electrophysiology, computational neuroscience and multi-channel neuronal data analysis. A background in physics, engineering or computer science is required but candidates with more biologically-oriented backgrounds are also welcome. Deadline for submitting the applications: September 25th, 2009 If you are interested in, please contact immediately: Sergio Martinoia, PhD Associate Professor of Bioengineering Neuroengineering and BionanoTechnology - NBT - Group Department of Biophysical and Electronic Engineering- DIBE Department of Neurosciences and Brain Technologies - IIT Genova, Italy URL: http://www.bio.dibe.unige.it/ email: sergio.martinoia@unige.it; sergio.martinoia@iit.it Phone: +39 010 353 2251 Michela Chiappalone, PhD Post Doc NeuroTech Lab Department of Neuroscience and Brain Technologies - IIT Genova, Italy URL: http://www.iit.it/ email: michela.chiappalone@iit.it Phone: +39 010 71781 743 Cell: +39 380 3577986 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090916/1cecb4aa/attachment.html From pastak at andromeda.rutgers.edu Thu Sep 17 05:18:48 2009 From: pastak at andromeda.rutgers.edu (Eva Pastalkova) Date: Thu Sep 17 08:24:58 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Two postdoctoral positions in computational and experimental neuroscience at the biomedical research center of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute - Janelia Farm, VA Message-ID: JANELIA FARM (http://www.hhmi.org/janelia/): Janelia Farm Research Center is the "flagship" of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for brain research. In a research culture best described as a scientific think tank, outstanding scientists from diverse disciplines are collaborating on the most challenging neuroscientific problems, supported by the generous HHMI funding. The environment at Janelia Farm is specifically designed for passionate, creative, motivated and highly collaborative people, who are equally committed to exploring cutting edge theories as well as obtaining solid results. I will be starting a lab at the Janelia Farm in January 2010 and I am looking for two creative, independent, communicative, highly collaborative and motivated people. I am currently a post-doc in the lab of Prog. Gyorgy Buzsaki at the Rutgers University, NJ. My web-page: http://osiris.rutgers.edu/~eva/ RESEARCH: I am interested in studying the neuronal mechanisms that internally generate brain activity while an animal is solving a cognitive task (as opposed to the external sensory stimuli induced activity). I have shown in my previous work that the memory task specific internally generated activity can be studied when the external stimuli remain constant (Pastalkova et al., Science 2008; http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/321/5894/1322). One line of the experimental work in the lab will expand and extend the same approach while exploring the interactions between the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex. The second line of work will explore the internally organized activity and interactions between the amygdala and the ventral and dorsal hippocampus. POSITIONS: I. Analysis of complex neuronal data recorded in behaving rats. A candidate must be interested in complex exploratory analysis of neuronal data (unit activity and local field potentials recorded simultaneously from several brain regions combined with behavioral and physiological measures) obtained in freely moving rats performing cognitive tasks. required skill set: - solid experience with the time-series data analysis - solid math and statistics background very welcome skill set: experimental experience background: math, physics, computer sciences, engineering II. Recording of neuronal, behavioral and physiological data in freely moving rats combined with data analysis. required skill set: - basic data analysis very welcome skill set: - electrophysiological recordings in freely moving animals background: - biology, medicine DURATION: 2 years; starting in January 2010 (or anytime afterwards). The position can be extended for up to 5 years (until 2015). FUNDING: all work is funded internally by HHMI ENVIRONMENT: Janelia Farm is highly collaborative, interdisciplinary and creative environment, which assumes high standards of collegiality, openness and fair-play. Janelia offers excellent technical support and extensive computational resources. Our group will be collaborating with multiple groups inside of Janelia: http://www.hhmi.org/janelia/labs.html. LOCATION: Ashburn, Virginia 19700 Helix Drive about 1hr from Washington, DC (free morning and evening shuttle-bus to Airlington is available) SALARY: highly competitive and independent of the NIH standards, based on the experience of the candidate If you are interested, please, email me - a letter describing your research interests, research plans, skills and experience - your C.V. - names of three referees Please, do not hesitate to email me if you have any questions. ------------------ Eva Pastalkova Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Rutgers University 197 University Avenue Newark, NJ 07102 Tel: (973) 353-3645 Fax: (973) 353-1272 E-mail: pastak@andromeda.rutgers.edu pastak@janelia.hhmi.org http://osiris.rutgers.edu/~eva/index.html From giulio.sandini at iit.it Thu Sep 17 08:52:08 2009 From: giulio.sandini at iit.it (Giulio Sandini) Date: Thu Sep 17 10:20:32 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] PhD positions at IIT - Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Science Message-ID: <001f01ca3763$5ffd0d70$1ff72850$@sandini@iit.it> PhD Course: Robotics, Cognition and Interaction Technologies ? XXV Cycle Research Themes Proposed by the Department of Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences Eight PhD positions are available at the Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department (RBCS) of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) within the Doctoral Course ?Robotics, Cognition and Interaction Technologies?. The Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Science department directed by Professor Giulio Sandini, is a multidisciplinary community of scientists sharing research interests and contributing jointly to the emerging field of human centered research and technologies with a focus on learning and development and, in general, on the dynamics of knowledge acquisition and update in the framework of goal directed actions. Among the Senior Scientists coordinating RBCS research activities are Franco Bertora (Brain Imaging), Luciano Fadiga (Brain Machine Interface), Giorgio Metta (Cognitive Robotics), Pietro Morasso (Motor Learning and Robot Rehabilitation), Concetta Morrone (Visuo-haptic Perception), Stefano Panzeri (Brain Signal Analysis), Thierry Pozzo (Physiology of Action and Perception),. Collaborations with international research centers and industries is carried out throught formalized projects and teaching-oriented international networks. RBCS is the home of the iCub humanoid robot (www.icub.org). More information about RBCS research: http://www.iit.it/en/robotics-brain-and-cognitive-sciences.html Within the department?s Research Agenda, proposals for PhD fellowships are accepted with reference to three main streams: 1. Humanoid Robotics and Cognition (themes 3.1 to 3.7): The themes under this heading group the research activities targeting the humanoid platforms of the lab among which iCub (the platform of the RobotCub project www.robotcub.org) and ?James? (a one-arm humanoid build to investigate manipulation and object affordance). The research themes proposed are examples of the planned activities in areas such as cognitive systems, sensorimotor coordination, advanced materials for actuation, sensing and scaffolding. - Theme 3.1: Composite materials design for biocompatible robotic structural elements. - Theme 3.2: Finite element analysis and CAD design of robotic components made from variable stiffness composite materials - Theme 3.3: Learning body dynamics in humans and robots - Theme 3.4: Manipulation and Learning in Humanoid Robots - Theme 3.5: Reaching and Moving in the Peripersonal Space for a Humanoid Robots - Theme 3.6: Neuromorphic sensors for humanoid robots - Theme 3.7: Event-driven vision for robot control 2. Human Behavior, Perception and Biomechanics (themes 3.8 to 3.12): The themes under this heading group the research activities targeting the study of how humans learn, perceive and act. This year?s focus is on multimodal sensory integration, the control of redundant degree of freedom and a new topic addressing the neural correlates of biological motion inference. - Theme 3.8: Measuring the human body - Theme 3.9: Action and task representation in human and robot learning - Theme 3.10: Action and Perception coupling - Theme 3.11: Modular control of natural motor behaviour - Theme 3.12: Psychophysical study of unimodal perception and multimodal integration 3. Brain Machine Interface, (themes 3.13 and 3.14): The themes under this heading will contribute to the multidisciplinary BMI project developed at IIT aiming at 'reading' the brain to understand and extract motor signals which may be used to the development of innovative prosthetic devices. - Theme 3.13: Information theoretic extraction of muscle synergies - Theme 3.14: Nano-scaffolds with on-design tunable properties for tissue engineering Short abstract and scientist in charge of the research themes proposed are included below and are to be considered as indications of this year?s priorities. Research projects within the same areas are welcome and will be also considered. Interested applicants should read the procedure described below and/or refer to the IIT?s website (www.iit.it) to download instructions for application and/or contact directly the scientists in charge for more information regarding the individual research plans. Submission procedure in short Application letters and the required accompanying documents as detailed in the call for applications (http://www.iit.it/media/call/ciclo25_iit_bando_en.doc) should be prepared following the outline of Annex B (application form) and be sent within September, 25th 2009 to Magnifico Rettore dell?Universit? degli Studi di Genova. Besides completing the application form (Annex B) you must provide the following documents: ? Curriculum vitae et studiorum dated and signed ? A photocopy of a valid identity document; ? Title and synthetic description of dissertation (also on cd-rom); ? A list of exams with the grades; ? At least one letter (and not more than three) of presentation of the candidate signed by a university lecturer or an expert in the subject; ? A signed research project concerning one or more of the research themes described above you intend to apply (maximum 10 pages); ? A statement of actual knowledge of the English language; foreign nationals may also state their knowledge of the Italian language; ? Any other qualifications relative to the subject areas of the research dealt with in the course, papers shall not be more than 10 pages long. On the envelope you should indicate the name of the course (Robotics, Cognition an Interaction Technologies) and the number of the research theme you are applying as described above. Application letters and the required documents can be delivered 1. by mail Applications can be sent using a registered letter. The envelope must include in the header the following wording: ?Concorso per ammissione al XXIV ciclo del Dottorato di Ricerca? Doctoral Course: Robotics, Cognition and Interaction Technologies and has to be addressed as follows: Magnifico Rettore dell?Universit? degli Studi di Genova Servizio Alta Formazione e Ordinamenti Didattici Via Balbi 5 16126 ? Genova Italy 2. by hand Letters can be handed personally to the following office (opening time: 9:00 ? 12:00, Monday to Friday; extra opening on Tuesday and Wednesday from 14:30 to 16:00): Universit? degli Studi di Genova Servizio Alta Formazione e Ordinamenti Didattici Via Bensa 1 - 2nd floor 16124 Genova Italy For any further information regarding the application procedure please contact: Ms Anastasia Bruzzone Doctoral School UNIGE-IIT Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Via Morego, 30 - 16163 Genova Tel. +39 010 71781472 Fax. +39 010 7170817 Email: anastasia.bruzzone@iit.it RESEARCH TOPICS PROPOSED BY RBCS Department STREAM 1: Humanoid Robotics and Cognition Theme 3.1: Composite materials design for biocompatible robotic structural elements. Tutors: Dr. Davide Ricci, Dr. Alberto Barone This Ph.D. thesis proposal originates from the collaboration of the IIT Robotic, Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department with the IIT Nanobiotechnology Facility. An essential task that needs to be addressed in the realization of robotic prosthetic devices is the coupling of structural elements of artificial limbs with bone tissue. Many pre-clinical and also clinical reports demonstrate that poor scaffold design and inadequate tissue culture conditions are currently the major problems in bone tissue engineering that may prevent its successful applications. To overcome these limitations, novel structural biomaterials and better bio-reactor processes are needed, capable of sustaining and guiding bone tissue precursors generation and differentation. Within this project, we will pursue the integration of bio-hybrid synthetic techniques, nanotechnologies and advanced material processing technologies to obtain three-dimensional scaffolds able to guide and control tissue growth, differentiation and proliferation. Requirements: Potential candidates should have basic background in one or more of the following fields: materials science, polymer science, biomechanics For further details concerning the research project, please contact: davide.ricci@iit.it alberto.barone@iit.it Theme 3.2: Finite element analysis and CAD design of robotic components made from variable stiffness composite materials Tutor: Prof. Giorgio Metta A traditional robot is made of mechanical parts that are assembled with screws, bearings, levers, gears and other components to obtain the desired functionality. An emerging trend in robot design relies instead on deriving the required functionality directly from the materials properties. Two approaches can be envisaged: either by appropriately combining functional materials with different properties via methods similar to the "shape deposition manufacturing" (Kutkosky et al. 1989) or by locally modifying a composite material properties changing the density and nature of fillers. To this end, CAD and FE simulations are essential tools to choose the appropriate materials and shape for the robot components. The goal of this project is the design of a robot hand for the iCub ( http://www.robotcub.org) that includes variable stiffness mechanics, sensorization (proprioceptive and tactile), wiring and tendon driven actuation. Appropriate controllers are also required to match and exploit natural compliance but also to compensate for e.g. backlash. The reference task will be manipulation. The ideal candidate would have a background in mechanical engineering or related disciplines, and in particular, skills in finite element analysis/modelling, robotics, and more in general in the use of polymers in mechanical design. On the other hand, IIT will provide a fully equipped machine shop with CNC and rapid prototyping machines both on polymers and metal. The successful candidate is expected to work in a team and contribute substantially to the design of a future release of the iCub. Requirements: physics, mechanical or material engineering, For further details concerning the research project, please contact: giorgio.metta@iit.it Theme 3.3: Learning body dynamics in humans and robots Tutor: Dr. Francesco Nori Humans exhibit a broad repertoire of motor capabilities far beyond the capabilities of modern robots. Remarkably, there is strong evidence that these capabilities are strongly linked to human adaptability to novel dynamical contexts (J.R. Lackner and P. Dizio, 1994) (R. Shadmehr and F.A. Mussa-Ivaldi, 1994) (J. Konczak et al., 1995). Related neurophysiological experiments suggest that this adaptability can be the result of a modular organization of the central nervous system which forms forward and inverse dynamical representations by means of multiple modules. The final goal of this research project will be to enhance a ?state of the art? humanoid robot (http://www.icub.org) with a ?beyond the state of the art? adaptive dynamical controller. The project should focus on the robot ability to develop, learn and adapt a multisensory representation of its own body dynamics and of the surrounding dynamical environment, possibly exploiting the generalization potentialities behind a modular representation. Requirements: engineering background, confidence with dynamical system analysis, (optional) machine learning, adaptive control For further details concerning the research project, please contact: francesco.nori@iit.it and giorgio.metta@iit.it Theme 3.4: Manipulation and Learning in Humanoid Robots Tutor: Dr. Lorenzo Natale Object manipulation is a key ability for robots. However current robots are very poor at manipulating objects in dynamical or unmodeled environments. Unfortunately this situation is quite common in practical scenarios and seriously hampers the possibility to employ robots outside industries or research laboratories. In this project we will study the role of haptic information (touch, proprioception and force) for manipulation. The goals of the project are two: i) to implement control strategies for grasping and manipulating objects and ii) to investigate how to use the sensory information originating from the manipulation of objects (haptic but also visual or auditory) for learning about objects and the environment. The project will be carried out working on the robot iCub. The iCub is a 53 degree of freedom humanoid robot equipped with dexterous arms and hands (respectively 7 and 9 degrees of freedom). We have recently added torque sensing on the arm and realized tactile sensors to be mounted on the hand and the arm of the robot. We seek candidates with a strong background in computer science and engineering that are interested in studying perception and learning in artificial systems. Backgrounds of electronics and mechanics are not required, but the candidates should have a strong motivation to work on robotic systems. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: lorenzo.natale@iit.it and giorgio.metta@iit.it Theme 3.5: Reaching and Moving in the Peripersonal Space for a Humanoid Robots Tutor: Prof. Giorgio Metta, Prof. Luciano Fadiga Tantalizing evidence from neuroscience is showing that the control of reaching in humans and animals is correlated with the activation of several neural pathways, where touch, proprioception, and vision are intertwined with motor information in a multisensory representation of the space around the body (Fogassi, Gallese, di Pellegrino, Fadiga, et al. 1992). The goal of this PhD program is to model these multiple neural pathways in the form of a working controller for a humanoid robot. The robot in question is the iCub which is equipped with vision, proprioception and soon with a distributed sensorized skin. We will study how this multisensory representation can be acquired through learning and development during the interaction of the robot with the environment. We will formulate models that are in agreement with neuroscience (Rizzolatti, Fadiga, Fogassi, Gallese, 1997). We are seeking candidates with a strong motivation to implement biologically sound models in a humanoid robot, with a background in engineering or related disciplines, programming skills, and some machine learning or computer vision experience. The successful candidate is expected to work in a team and integrate with the existing development tools and methods. Requirements: engineering or computer science background, some experience in one of more of the following disciplines: machine learning, computer vision, control systems, neuroscience. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: giorgio.metta@iit.it or luciano.fadiga@iit.it Theme 3.6: Neuromorphic sensors for humanoid robots Tutor: Dr. Chiara Bartolozzi Biological sensory systems outperform conventional digital systems in almost all aspects of perception tasks, where the system must process noisy and ambiguous stimuli to produce appropriate behavioral responses. The goal of this project is to introduce in the field of robotic vision the principles of biological sensory systems design. Specifically we aim at combining the design of novel data-driven biologically inspired sensory devices with the development of new asynchronous event-driven computational paradigms, with structure and morphology that are matched to the requirements of the robots body and its application domain. The candidate shall work on testing of existing asynchronous vision sensors and on the design of new sensors, using analog real-time low-power VLSI neuromorphic circuits. The candidate will participate in the whole project development by also interacting with researchers developing supporting data-driven asynchronous computational paradigms for machine-vision methodologies, and participating to the testing of the developed vision system performance on advanced humanoid robotic platforms. Requirements: Applicants should have a strong interest in bio-inspired hardware engineering, fundamental notions of microelectronics and background in neuroscience. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: chiara.bartolozzi@iit.it Theme 3.7: Event-driven vision for robot control Tutor: Drs. Giorgio Metta, Chiara Bartolozzi, R. Benosman The goal of this project is to develop asynchronous event-driven computational paradigms for designing visual systems based on data-driven biologically inspired sensory devices providing spike-based outputs. Such sensors respond with spiking events to relative variations of contrast in their field of view. This approach reduces redundancies and produces a sparse image coding. The generated data are spatiotemporal volumes which size and information depend only on the dynamic content of observed scenes. The real-time asynchronous output nature of the sensors ensures precise timing information and low latency, yet requiring a much lower bandwidth used by frame-based image sensors of equivalent time resolution. The high temporal precision is crucial for real-time interaction with the environment and is especially suitable for tasks requiring fast evaluation of dynamic scenes, involving real time interaction with the environment. At the same time, the nature of the sensor's output requires a radically new framework of data-driven asynchronous computational paradigms for vision. The candidate will work on the development of event-driven algorithms for the visual system of a humanoid robot, the iCub, starting from stereo vision and binocular vergence control to end up with recognition and control of the robot?s own hands dynamics, with the final goal of objects dexterous manipulation. Requirements: Ideal candidates have a strong background in robotics or computer vision; candidates with background in neuroscience are also welcome. They should have potential for excellent research and the capability to collaborate within an interdisciplinary research group with people from all these disciplines. They should be highly motivated to use robotics for tackling fundamental issues in bio inspired perception. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: giorgio.metta@iit.it chiara.bartolozzi@iit.it STREAM 2: Human Behavior, Perception and Biomechanics Theme 3.8: Measuring the human body Tutor: Prof. Luciano Fadiga This ambitious project aims at overpass traditional limitations in precisely measure cinematic, physiological and neuro-vegetative parameters during the normal behavior in healthy subjects. Among the to-be-explored possibilities: occlusion-immune dynamic tracking of body parts, miniaturized eye-motion detectors, measurements of tactile stimulation by determining the modifications of epidermal-dermal electric impedance, multi-technique simultaneous determination of vegetative states (skin resistance, thermal imaging, pupil diameter, changes in prosodic tonality, etc.). The Ph.D. thesis work will be devoted to setup new techniques, to build specifically dedicated hardware and software, to build a normative database during different kind of motor activities, as well as inter-individual interaction and communication. Requirements: Background in electronics and computer science is a must. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: luciano.fadiga@iit.it Theme 3.9: Action and task representation in human and robot learning Tutor: Prof. Pietro Morasso, Dr. Lorenzo Masia In recent years it has become clear that purposive action, in humans and humanoid robots, requires the bi-directional interaction among the brain, the body, and the environment. This has important implications at the computational level, in the sense that task-critical computations must not necessarily be totally centralized in the ?brain? but can be distributed to the implicit dynamics of the body and the environment, thus implementing what is known as ?morphological computation?. However, most research in this area has been focused on robot locomotion (passive dynamic walking or running) or insect flying. The purpose of the thesis instead is to focus on motor learning, while interacting in a haptic and visual way with dynamical processes that emulate an artificial environment generated by means of robotic devices. A variety of robotic platforms will be used to create human robot interaction: monomanual and bimanual tasks involving proximal and distal arm will be implemented using different control scheme and robotic devices. Experiments on human learning will be analyzed in such a way to provide useful insight for the organization of robot learning paradigms. Requirements: Backgrounds in computer sciences, robotics, automatic control, behavioural neurosciences are required. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: pietro.morasso@iit.it, lorenzo.masia@iit.it Theme 3.10: Action and Perception coupling Tutor: Prof. Thierry Pozzo The idea that observation can activate motor representation that do not result from observer past executions (i.e., without sensory and motor signal resulting from actual execution, as in the case of new motor abilities), opens innovative learning methods for humans and robots. Ph.D. thesis work will involve students in the fields of motor control (3D kinematic analysis, optimization control) and robotic (machine learning ). The aim is twofold: 1) To study biological motion recognition using non invasive brain activity measurements (TMS, EEG,FMRi), EOG and psychophysics, making the hypothesis of online action simulation at observation. Moreover the loci of internal models of action will be investigated: TMS will be used to induce virtual lesions of different cortical areas (STS, superior parietal lobule ) during the motion display and the potential effect on the end point estimation in order a) to verify the true role of parietal cortex in the inverse model elaboration, b) to quantify the effect on estimation accuracy and, c) to detail the circuitry of the action to perception matching system. 2) to implement the experimental results performed on human in robot for learning by imitating human movements. For instance the perceived action of a teacher can be mapped onto a set of existing primitives inside the robot. Requirements: Backgrounds in computer sciences, robotic or behavioural neurosciences are required. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: thierry.pozzo@iit.it Theme 3.11: Modular control of natural motor behaviour Tutor: Dr. Thierry Pozzo The research project will be performed on the basis of previous results obtained during an original paradigm developed to study both equilibrium and spatial components of a complex multijoint goal oriented task (Pozzo et al. 2002, Berret et. Al 2009). A number of interesting questions arise when considering together the control of equilibrium and arm trajectory formation. For example: 1) What are the control laws governing a multijoint reaching movements (requiring a high degree of equilibrium control and numerous DoF)? 2) How are integrated equilibrium component with finger manipulating activities performed with distal body parts? 3) Is there a macroscopic representation (motor primitives) at spinal and/or supraspinal level of such components and can they be combined like building blocks to perform this task in different mechanical contexts and to adapt to task changes (velocity, postural stability, lack of gravity, initial sensory state..). These questions will be investigated by using EMG analysis, 3D motion capture and TMS in addition to computational approaches in line with the idea that invariant characteristics of motor behavior reflects optimality criteria used by the CNS to select of the best motor strategy among all possibilities. Requirements: Backgrounds in computer sciences, robotic or behavioural neurosciences are required. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: thierry.pozzo@iit.it Theme 3.12: Psychophysical study of unimodal perception and multimodal integration Tutor: Dr. Monica Gori As no single information-processing system can perceive optimally under all conditions, integration of multiple sources of sensory information makes perception more robust. Many recent studies have demonstrated the capacity of human observers to integrate information across various senses in a statistically optimal (sometimes termed ?Bayesian?) fashion, where greater weight is given to the sense carrying the more reliable information under any particular condition. Importantly, performance in the multimodal condition is always better than in either single modality. The work done in our research group is related to the study of unimodal perception and multimodal integration of different kinds of signals to understand the rules that govern and modulate sensory fusion. This knowledge is fundamental to deepen our understanding of brain processing and will be important to reproduce human abilities in artificial systems. One PhD student will be involved in psychophysical experiments related to this research theme with the goal of understanding the rules that govern multisensory fusion. He will be required to study human perception with psychophysical techniques. Within the many aspects that will be studied we can cite the analysis of dynamic signals (e.g. visual, tactile and haptic) and the development of multisensory fusion (e.g. visual-haptic, visual-audio, audio-haptic) in children of different ages (as in Gori et.al.2008). All these studies will be extended to people with different disabilities. Requirements: Backgrounds in experimental psychology, neuroscience and basic programming skills (in particular Matlab) are required. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: monica.gori@iit.it STREAM 3: Brain Machine Interface Theme 3.13: Information theoretic extraction of muscle synergies Tutor: Dr. Stefano Panzeri In this 4-year-long PhD project, we aim at determining the patterns of muscle activation that best describe, using the minimal number of variables, many different types of complex movements which underlie the execution of tasks involving both reaching objects and maintaining equilibrium [1]. The project will be jointly supervised by Prof. Stefano Panzeri and Prof. Thierry Pozzo. The student will analyze electromyographic recordings of large numbers of muscles spread throughout the subject?s body by using and adapting to this particular purpose advanced techniques arising from the theory of communication [2]. The student will also help with data collection and the refinement of the experiment design. Requirements: The ideal candidate will have a degree in a numerate discipline (engineering, physics or mathematics), a multidisciplinary attitude, and a very keen interest in applying mathematical concepts to understanding biological processes. A good understanding of information theory is a plus. For further details concerning the research project, please contact: stefano.panzeri@iit.it Theme 3.14: Nano-scaffolds with on-design tunable properties for tissue engineering Tutor: Dr. Davide Ricci In the past years, great progress has been made in understanding the essential requirements that have to be satisfied by synthetic materials to be used as scaffolds for tissue engineering. Presently, there is an ever increasing request for materials whose morphological, elastic and bioactive properties may be tuned on demand to investigate their effect on growth and differentiation of specific cell lines. The aim is to create highly efficient tree-dimensional interfaces between biological and artificial systems, allowing the development of innovative prosthetic devices. This ambitious goal may be pursued by a bottom-up approach in the design and assembly of appropriate nano-materials, such as carbon nanotubes and electrospun polymers, thus giving rise to a new generation of cellular scaffolds Requirements: Potential candidates should have basic background in one or more of the following fields: bioengineering, materials science, physics, chemistry For further details concerning the research project, please contact: davide.ricci@iit.it -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090917/adc72588/attachment-0001.html From kirsch at bccn.uni-freiburg.de Thu Sep 17 11:57:18 2009 From: kirsch at bccn.uni-freiburg.de (Janina Kirsch) Date: Thu Sep 17 13:04:46 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Postdoc-Position in Biomicrotechnology at the University of Freiburg, Germany Message-ID: <8F40CFF8B3BC4EB3AC162FE0A4E1B5E9@janina> Development of an electrophysiological in vitro neurotoxicology assay Project Description: In a new project that started september '09 we evaluate the activity patterns in neuronal networks in vitro to assess developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) in long-term multi-electrode electrophysiological recordings. The result should contribute to the development of pharmacological safety tests that would reduce the number of animals needed for DNT testing of industrial chemicals. Requirements: A PhD or doctoral degree in natural sciences is required. The candidate should have extensive experience with cell cultures and ideally also with electrophysiological recordings and their analysis. Knowledge on pharmacological testing would be a plus. Job offer: You would work in an interdisciplinary and international group interested in the properties of neuronal networks and their pathologies. The group is located at the IMTEK, an institute of the technical faculty, and is well embedded in the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and the Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology in Freiburg. The position is limited to 2 years. The salary is based on TV-L E13 (40.700-47.200 EUR depending on relevant work experience). Contact: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Egert Faculty of Engineering, Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg Biomicrotechnology , Department of Microsystems Engineering Georges-Koehler-Allee 102 79110 Freiburg Germany Phone: +49 761 203 7524 Fax: +49 321210 34 429 E-mail -- Dr. Janina Kirsch -- Coordinator for the Teaching & Training Programs Bernstein Center Freiburg Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg Hansastr. 9a D - 79104 Freiburg Germany Phone: +49 (0) 761 203-9575 Fax: +49 (0) 761 203-9559 Email: kirsch @bcf.uni-freiburg.de Web: www.bcf.uni-freiburg.de -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090917/0f44383b/attachment.html From bcseet at ieee.org Sat Sep 19 02:15:17 2009 From: bcseet at ieee.org (Boon-Chong Seet) Date: Sat Sep 19 07:25:22 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Call for Posters and Demos: Sensor Networks and Ambient Intelligence Message-ID: <009c01ca38be$4628c860$ff845a79@yourbbc104cd11> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CFP: 2nd International Workshop on Sensor Networks and Ambient Intelligence --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2nd International Workshop on Sensor Networks and Ambient Intelligence In conjunction with PDCAT'09 http://www.cs.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/pdcat09/ December 8-11, 2009, Hiroshima, Japan Call for Posters and Demos In addition to full-length papers, SeNAmI 2009 welcomes submissions in the form of posters and demos that feature late-breaking results, innovative work in progress, preliminary research findings, or any interesting early ideas and visions, in areas of relevance to sensor-based ambient intelligence systems. Demonstrations are intended to showcase the practical implementation of novel new technologies, applications, techniques, and research prototypes or testbeds among others. We are particularly interested to see emerging young researchers in this field, applying their creativity and skills to innovate new technologies that could make a real difference by solving some of the most challenging issues facing our world today. We welcome both academic and industrial submissions. Abstract submission Poster and Demo abstracts should be in single-column format and not exceed one page, including figures and references. The abstract should be prepared using the template provided on the website, and submitted as a Word document to: senami@aut.ac.nz The information fields for the contact author and type of presentation (poster or demo) on second page of the abstract template should be completed as appropriate. For demo authors, please further specify any space requirements and/or any other equipment-specific requirements. The abstracts of accepted posters and demos would be distributed to all conference participants through the USB memory version of the proceedings, but they would not be published by IEEE Computer Society. However, they would be published online with citable DOI (Digital Object Identifiers) and permanently archived by the Frontiers Research Foundation (a Swiss-based non-profit academic publisher). Special registration fee A special registration fee of 35,000 JPY has been planned for poster and demo authors. At least one of the authors must register and present their work in the workshop. All registrations shall go through the main conference (PDCAT) registration website. Best Poster and Demo award A selection panel will convene to select the recipients for the Best Poster and Best Demo awards, courtesy of the Global COE (Centers of Excellence) Program for Founding Ambient Information Society Infrastructure of Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University. Important dates Abstract submission due : October 23, 2009 Acceptance notification : November 1, 2009 Registration due: November 15, 2009 For further details, please visit: http://senami.aut.ac.nz -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090919/71385814/attachment.html From kirsch at bccn.uni-freiburg.de Mon Sep 21 15:55:05 2009 From: kirsch at bccn.uni-freiburg.de (Janina Kirsch) Date: Mon Sep 21 17:05:50 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Position for a Junior Scientist (Research Associate) in Neurophysiology, University of Freiburg Message-ID: <6EA2180A5AB348D6910C8FF3D27C86F2@janina> % apologies for multiple postings % Junior Scientist Position (Research Associate) at the Laboratory for Biomicrotechnology, Dept. of Microsystems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering University of Freiburg, Freiburg The Laboratory for Biomicrotechnology ( Prof. Ulrich Egert) offers a junior scientist position ( A13, up to 4 years) for a biologist with expertise on electrophysiology, cell culture of neuronal networks, neurophysiology in acute brain slices and/or Ca-imaging. We are interested in the mechanisms and structures underlying the activity dynamics in neuronal networks and the processing of neuronal activity within the network. In joint projects with computational neuroscientists we investigate how the biological neuronal networks process incoming stimuli, what determines intrinsic activity, how pathological dynamics arise and how to contain them. To address these questions we use acute brain slices, cell cultures and animal models with a variety of techniques. A central technology is extracellular recording the neuronal activity with microelectrode arrays to analyze the spatio-temporal structure of activity. Recordings with these arrays are combined with paired intracellular recordings, calcium imaging, microstimulation and advanced data analyses. New technical and analysis tools are developed as needed in collaborations with microsystems engineers. This work is embedded in the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Freiburg (BCCN Freiburg) and the new Bernstein Focus Neurotechnology - Freiburg/Tuebingen. The successful candidate is expected to contribute to the teaching and training program of these iniatives. Candidates should have outstanding academic records and an interest in translational neuroscience and neurotechnology. The position is open immediately until filled. For further information, please contact Prof. Ulrich Egert (Head of laboratory) or Dr. Janina Kirsch (Coordinator for the Teaching & Training Programs). -- Dr. Janina Kirsch -- Coordinator for the Teaching & Training Programs Bernstein Center Freiburg Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg Hansastr. 9a D - 79104 Freiburg Germany Phone: +49 (0) 761 203-9575 Fax: +49 (0) 761 203-9559 Email: kirsch @bcf.uni-freiburg.de Web: www.bcf.uni-freiburg.de -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090921/212af83b/attachment.html From byronyu at stanford.edu Mon Sep 21 18:19:55 2009 From: byronyu at stanford.edu (Byron Yu) Date: Tue Sep 22 10:48:28 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Announcing Cosyne 2010 Message-ID: ================================================================= Computational and Systems Neuroscience (Cosyne) MAIN MEETING 25 - 28 Feb, 2010 Salt Lake City, Utah WORKSHOPS 1 - 2 Mar, 2010 Snowbird Ski Resort, Utah http://cosyne.org ABSTRACT SUBMISSION OPENS: 20 Oct 2009 ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 20 Nov 2009 ================================================================= Cosyne is an annual meeting providing an inclusive forum for the exchange of experimental and theoretical approaches to problems in systems neuroscience. The meeting is expected to draw over 500 researchers from a wide variety of disciplines. The MAIN MEETING is organized in a single track, and consists of both oral and poster sessions. Some oral presentations are invited (see below), while others are selected based on short submitted abstracts. Poster presentations are also selected from the submitted abstracts. The WORKSHOPS are held in 6-10 parallel sessions, allowing for more in-depth discussion of specialized topics. CONFIRMED INVITED SPEAKERS: - Keynote: Clay Reid (Harvard Medical School) - Tirin Moore (Stanford University) - Jackie Schiller (Technion) - Eve Marder (Brandeis University) - Michael Platt (Duke University) - Daphne Bavelier (University of Rochester) - John Lisman (Brandeis University) - Tony Zador (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories) - Adrienne Fairhall (University of Washington) - Howard Berg (Harvard University) Cosyne 2010 will include a special symposium in honour of Horace Barlow, featuring talks by: - Honorary Lecturer: Horace Barlow (Cambridge University) - Geoff Hinton (University of Toronto) - Bill Geisler (University of Texas) - David Field (Cornell University) EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: - Tony Zador (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) - Alex Pouget (University of Rochester) - Zach Mainen (Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia) ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: - General Chair: Maneesh Sahani (University College London) - Program Chairs: Anne Churchland (University of Washington) and Bartlett Mel (University of Southern California) - Workshop Chairs: Adam Kohn (Yeshiva University) and Mark Laubach (Yale University) - Communications Chair: Byron Yu (Stanford University and CMU) ADVISORY BOARD: - Matteo Carandini (University College London) - Eero Simoncelli (New York University) - Peter Dayan (University College London) - Steven Lisberger (UC San Francisco) - Karel Svoboda (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) From antonior at ffclrp.usp.br Mon Sep 21 19:48:16 2009 From: antonior at ffclrp.usp.br (Antonio Carlos Roque da Silva Filho) Date: Tue Sep 22 10:48:59 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] LASCON 2010: Third Latin American School on Computational Neuroscience (final call for applications) Message-ID: <200909211448.AA1208680634@srv1.ffclrp.usp.br> **** Apologies for cross-posting **** 3rd Latin American School on Computational Neuroscience - LASCON 2010 January 17 - February 9, 2010, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil http://neuron.ffclrp.usp.br/LASCON FINAL CALL FOR APPLICATIONS Dear Colleagues, Following the success of the previous two editions of LASCON (Latin American School on Computational Neuroscience), held in 2006 and 2008, I am pleased to announce the 3rd LASCON, which will take place between January 17th and February 9th 2010 in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. LASCON aims at introducing advanced undergraduate and graduate students to the use of computational and mathematical methods for modeling neurons and neuronal circuits. These models will be ilustrated with the use of programs like neuroConstruct, GENESIS, NEURON, XPPAUT and Matlab. The school will last for 24 days, and will consist of theoretical lectures and hands on tutorials given by the lecturers and computational exercises made by the students. Students also will have to work on individual research projects, which they will present orally at the end of the school. Lectures and tutorials will be organized into three tracks: Track 1: Realistic neural modeling; Track 2: Simplified neural modeling and phase-plane methods of analysis; Track 3: Plasticity and Learning The following researchers will be in charge of lectures and tutorials: Alessandro Treves Arnd Roth Avrama Blackwell David Beeman Gennady Cymbalyuk Reynaldo Pinto Volker Steuber William Lytton There will also be some invited lecturers and tutors (mostly former LASCON students) who will help students and lecturers during the school. The number of students is limited to 22 and applications should be made electronically via the application form in the school's web page (http://neuron.ffclrp.usp.br/LASCON). Applicants are also requested to submit a detailed CV (in English) and to provide two letters of recommendation. Costs for accommodation and meals will be covered by the school organization. In the selection procedure, priority will be given to Latin-American students, but students from other parts of the world are encouraged to apply as well. The application deadline has been postponed (due to requests) to October 2nd 2009. I am looking forward to see you in Ribeirao Preto. Best regards, A. Roque, LASCON Organizer Antonio Roque Departamento de Fisica e Matematica FFCLRP, Universidade de Sao Paulo 14040-901 Ribeirao Preto-SP Brazil - Brasil Tels: +55 16 3602-3768 (office); +55 16 3602-3859 (lab) FAX: +55 16 3602-4887 E-mails: antonior@neuron.ffclrp.usp.br antonior@ffclrp.usp.br URL: http://neuron.ffclrp.usp.br ________________________________________________________________ Sent via the WebMail system at srv1.ffclrp.usp.br From jean-pascal.pfister at eng.cam.ac.uk Wed Sep 23 15:28:22 2009 From: jean-pascal.pfister at eng.cam.ac.uk (Jean-Pascal Pfister) Date: Wed Sep 23 15:53:59 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro]: Call for abstract: NIPS 2009 workshop on normative electrophysiology Message-ID: ------------------------------- CALL FOR ABSTRACT ------------------------------- *NIPS 2009 WORKSHOP ON NORMATIVE ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY* We are now soliciting abstracts (see format below) for the NIPS 2009 Workshop on : Normative Electrophysiology: explaining cellular properties of neurons from first principles. Authors of accepted abstracts will be entitled to present a poster during the workshop. *Webpage* http://blg.eng.cam.ac.uk/t/bin/view/Public/Lengyel/EventNips09 *Key dates* - abstract submission deadline: October 15th, 2009 - Notification of acceptance: October 30th, 2009 - Workshop: December 11th, 2009 *Workshop description* In the past decades, computational neuroscience has seen a burgeoning of normative approaches. These studies made significant advances in formulating formal theories of optimality, and optimal computations, identifying relevant physical and computational constraints under which those computations need to be implemented, developing analytical methods and numerical algorithms to solve the resulting constrained optimization problems, and relating these solutions to biological substrates. However, only a relatively small fraction of these studies attempted to make specific predictions about, and thus interpret in normative terms, the cellular-level electrophysiological properties of individual neurons or synapses. Small in numbers it may be, the potential impact of this particular line of research cannot be ignored as such theories may provide a way to bridge the gap between the cellular-molecular and the systems-level branches of neuroscience by connecting low-level properties of the nervous system to its high-level functions. Our workshop aims to highlight and discuss recent work in this field. Since much of the theoretical background in this field has been adopted from information theory, machine learning, and related fields, we expect that not only experimental and computational neuroscientists, but also machine learning researchers will be interested in the general topic and the specific talks. *Speakers* - Sophie Den?ve, ?cole Normale Sup?rieure - Adrienne Fairhall, U Washington - M?t? Lengyel, U Cambridge - Jean-Pascal Pfister, U Cambridge - Tatyana Sharpee, Salk Institute - Taro Toyoizumi, Columbia U *Workshop location* Westin Resort and Spa / Hilton Whistler Resort and Spa Whistler, B.C., Canada *Submission instructions* Please submit abstracts (maximum 300 words) in plain text format by email directly to jean-pascal.pfister@eng.cam.ac.uk with the mention "Normative Electrophysiology". *Organizers* Jean-Pascal Pfister (primary contact) Computational and Biological Learning Lab Department of Engineering University of Cambridge Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ United Kingdom tel: +44 (0)1223 748 506 fax: +44 (0)1223 332 662 e-mail: jean-pascal.pfister@eng.cam.ac.uk M?t? Lengyel Computational and Biological Learning Lab Department of Engineering University of Cambridge Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ United Kingdom tel: +44 (0)1223 748 532 fax: +44 (0)1223 332 662 e-mail: m.lengyel@eng.cam.ac.uk -- Jean-Pascal Pfister, PhD Computational and Biological Learning Lab Cambridge University Engineering Department Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK tel: +44 (0)1223 748 506, fax: +44 (0)1223 332 662 email: jean-pascal.pfister@eng.cam.ac.uk http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/~jptp2/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090923/1abaef43/attachment.html From jns9 at cornell.edu Wed Sep 23 22:36:39 2009 From: jns9 at cornell.edu (Jascha Sohl-Dickstein) Date: Thu Sep 24 10:53:22 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] learning, partition functions, and probability flow Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, It is my pleasure to draw your attention to a recent pre/e-print describing a new technique for parameter estimation in probabilistic models with intractable partition functions. http://arxiv.org/abs/0906.4779 Minimum Probability Flow Learning. Jascha Sohl-Dickstein, Peter Battaglino, Michael R DeWeese. Learning in probabilistic models is often severely hampered by the general intractability of the normalization factor and its derivatives. Here we propose a new learning technique that obviates the need to compute an intractable normalization factor or sample from the equilibrium distribution of the model. This is achieved by establishing dynamics that would transform the observed data distribution into the model distribution, and then setting as the objective the minimization of the initial flow of probability away from the data distribution. Score matching, minimum velocity learning, and certain forms of contrastive divergence are shown to be special cases of this learning technique. We demonstrate the application of minimum probability flow learning to parameter estimation in Ising models, deep belief networks, multivariate Gaussian distributions and a continuous model with a highly general energy function defined as a power series. In the Ising model case, minimum probability flow learning outperforms current state of the art techniques by approximately two orders of magnitude in learning time, with comparable error in the recovered parameters. It is our hope that this technique will alleviate existing restrictions on the classes of probabilistic models that are practical for use. - arXiv (2009) vol. cs.LG Best, Jascha Sohl-Dickstein(, Peter Battaglino, Michael R DeWeese) From jakob at tuebingen.mpg.de Thu Sep 24 11:52:43 2009 From: jakob at tuebingen.mpg.de (Jakob Macke) Date: Thu Sep 24 12:15:54 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Deadline Reminder: Statistical analysis of multi-cell recordings In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <7AF6F3C6-236A-4A3C-B4EA-E958CD707DB9@tuebingen.mpg.de> Dear all, this is a reminder that the deadline for submitting abstracts to our special topic in Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, 'Statistical analysis of multi-cell recordings: Linking population coding models to experimental data' is coming up soon. Short abstracts/outlines describing the focus of the study should be submitted by October 1st, i.e. one week from now. The deadline for submitting full papers will be November 15. More details can be found in the attached call for papers, as well as at http://frontiersin.org/computationalneuroscience/specialtopics/36/ . We look forward to having an exciting and interesting special topic! Best regards, Matthias Bethge, Jakob Macke and Philipp Berens Statistical analysis of multi-cell recordings: Linking population coding models to experimental data HOSTED BY Matthias Bethge, mbethge@tuebingen.mpg.de, Jakob Macke, jakob@tuebingen.mpg.de and Philipp Berens, philipp.berens@tuebingen.mpg.de ABOUT THE SPECIAL TOPIC Modern recording techniques such as multi-electrode arrays and 2- photon imaging are capable of simultaneously monitoring the activity of large neuronal ensembles at single cell resolution. This makes it possible to study the dynamics of neural populations of considerable size, and to gain insights into their computations and functional organization. The key challenge with multi-electrode recordings is their high-dimensional nature. Understanding this kind of data requires powerful statistical techniques for capturing the structure of the neural population responses and their relation with external stimuli or behavioral observations. Contributions to this special topic should advance statistical modeling of neural populations. Questions of particular interest include: 1. What classes of statistical methods are most useful for modeling population activity? 2. What are the main limitations of current approaches, and what can be done to overcome them? 3. How can statistical methods be used to empirically test existing models of (probabilistic) population coding? 4. What role can statistical methods play in formulating novel hypotheses about the principles of information processing in neural populations? This Special Topic is connected to a one day workshop at the Computational Neuroscience Meeting 2009 in Berlin (http:// www.cnsorg.org/2009/workshops.shtml and http:// www.kyb.tuebingen.mpg.de/bethge/workshops/cns2009/). DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION November 15, 2009 INFORMATIONS FOR AUTHORS Submission Procedure: Researchers are invited to submit on or before October 1st 2009 a max. 1 page abstract/outline of work related to the focus of the special section to Philipp Berens for consideration for potential inclusion as an elaborated full article in the special topic. Please include a provisional title, a full author list, and format the subject of your email as follows: "[Statistical Modeling] outline - Your Name". Authors will be notified whether their article would be suitable for the special topic by October 15th 2009. Full Article Information: Full articles will be invited based on the abstracts/outlines we receive by October 1st 2009 The deadline for submission of invited full articles is November 15th 2009. All articles will go through a full peer review process. Article formatting will be as for standard Frontiers "Original Research Articles". Guidelines and instructions for their preparation can be found at www.frontiersin.org/ authorinstructions#manuscriptGuidelines. Frontiers is an open access journal, following a pay-for-publication model. You will find more details on http://frontiersin.org/ publicationfees/ _______________________________________________ Comp-neuro mailing list Comp-neuro@neuroinf.org http://www.neuroinf.org/mailman/listinfo/comp-neuro From djaeger at emory.edu Fri Sep 25 04:31:09 2009 From: djaeger at emory.edu (Dieter Jaeger) Date: Fri Sep 25 11:00:23 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Postdoctoral Position in Cerebellar Modeling Message-ID: <4ABC2B6D.6080400@emory.edu> Postdoctoral position open in the area of modeling biological cerebellar processing in the Jaeger lab at Emory University http://www.biology.emory.edu/research/Jaeger/. This position is funded under a CRCNS NIH grant and is placed in the framework of a collaborative approach determining how the deep cerebellar nuclei are integrating synaptic input in awake mice. Candidates should have a PhD, and good grasp of cellular electrophysiology and working knowledge with Matlab script writing and compartmental modeling approaches. Potential applicants please contact: Dieter Jaeger, djaeger@emory.edu. -- Dieter Jaeger Associate Professor Department of Biology, Emory University 1510 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30322 404 727 8139, e-mail: djaeger@emory.edu http://www.biology.emory.edu/research/Jaeger From feldman at ICSI.Berkeley.EDU Fri Sep 25 17:22:36 2009 From: feldman at ICSI.Berkeley.EDU (Jerry Feldman) Date: Fri Sep 25 18:14:42 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Utilities, neural codes Message-ID: <4ABCE03C.9000902@icsi.berkeley.edu> There is a new survey article *Ecological expected utility and the mythical neural code* now available on SpringerLink http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&id=doi:10.1007/s11571-009-9090-4 This is a nice hyper-linked version. The abstract is: Neural spikes are an evolutionarily ancient innovation that remains nature?s unique mechanism for rapid, long distance information transfer. It is now known that neural spikes sub serve a wide variety of functions and essentially all of the basic questions about the communication role of spikes have been answered. Current efforts focus on the neural communication of probabilities and utility values involved in decision making. Significant progress is being made, but many framing issues remain. One basic problem is that the metaphor of a neural code suggests a communication network rather than a recurrent computational system like the real brain. We propose studying the various manifestations of neural spike signaling as adaptations that optimize a utility function called ecological expected utility. If you can't get access, you could ask me for a preprint. From stephen.coombes at nottingham.ac.uk Sat Sep 26 17:41:37 2009 From: stephen.coombes at nottingham.ac.uk (Stephen Coombes) Date: Sun Sep 27 13:16:34 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Mathematical Neuroscience 2010 - First announcement In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4C45B0CC-07D6-4204-9940-854E36B4BCEA@nottingham.ac.uk> Mathematical Neuroscience 2010 Apr 19-21 2010 Edinburgh First announcement This three-day conference will provide an overview of the current state of research in mathematical approaches to neuroscience, bringing together both physical and life scientists. Drawing together the field in this way will allow for a critical discussion of the relevant experimental facts and of various mathematical methods and techniques that have been successfully applied to date. Importantly, it will draw attention to, and help develop, those pieces of mathematical theory which are likely to be relevant to future studies of the brain. The meeting will consist of invited speakers and registered participants, though will be limited to 100 people. The schedule will allow for a number of poster presentations. Invited speakers: Paul Bressloff (Oxford Centre for Collaborative Applied Mathematics, Oxford) Romain Brette (D?partement d'Etudes Cognitives, Ecole Normale Sup?rieure, Paris) Peter Dayan (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Institute, UCL, London) Bard Ermentrout (Department of Mathematics, University of Pittsburgh) Kevin Gurney (Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield) Yixin Guo (Department of Mathematic, Drexel University) Arjen van Ooyen (Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, VU University Amsterdam) Alex Roxin (Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Columbia University) Steven Schiff (Center for Neural Engineering, Penn State University) Eric Shea-Brown (Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington) Louis Tao (Center for Bioinformatics, Peking University) Paul Tiesinga (Radboud University Nijmegen) Xiao-Jing Wang (Department of Neurobiology, Yale University) John White (Department of Bioengineering, Utah) Si Wu (Neural Information Processing, Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences) The registration fee for the conference is 80.00 GBP. A one-day training workshop for PhD students and post-docs entitled ?An introduction to Mathematical Neuroscience? will also take place prior to the meeting (on 18 April). Some financial assistance is available to assist graduate students who attend BOTH the training workshop and the conference. Further details of this meeting may be found at http://www.icms.org.uk/workshops/neuro2010 Note that registration will not open until Dec 1st 2009. Scientific Organisers Professor Stephen Coombes, University of Nottingham Dr Yulia Timofeeva, University of Warwick Training Workshop Organiser Dr Mark van Rossum, University of Edinburgh Enquiries should be addressed to Irene Moore: irene.moore@icms.org.uk ------------------------------------------------------- Stephen Coombes Professor of Applied Mathematics School of Mathematical Sciences Nottingham, UK Tel: 0115 846 7836 Fax: 0115 951 3837 http://www.maths.nott.ac.uk/~sc/ http://mathneuronet.org.uk/ ------------------------------------------------------- On 10 Sep 2009, at 13:17, UK Nonlinear News wrote: > > Do you have any news to go into UK Nonlinear News? > > The next issue (issue 56) will be ready for distribution on Friday > 25th September 2009. The deadline for material for the issue is 5pm > Friday 18th September 2009. > > If there are any announcements or information that you would like > included, > please send them in as soon as possible by email to: > > uknonleditor at maths.leeds.ac.uk > > All items of broad interest to the UK nonlinear dynamics community > are very > welcome. (Don't just assume we already know about them!) > > For example are there any > * upcoming meetings/conferences ? > * new or recent appointments ? > * new research initiatives ? > * open job offers ? > * recent theses ? > * Nonlinear MSc courses ? > -- or any other news items of interest ? > > Format: Plaintext email is fine. All material will be converted to > HTML, > so please be sure to include any WWW links. > > We look forward to hearing from you, > > John Brindley > Grant Lythe > Alastair Rucklidge > Jaroslav Stark > Rob Sturman > > For the editors, UK Nonlinear News. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > UK NONLINEAR NEWS > Editors: John Brindley, Grant Lythe, Alastair Rucklidge, > Jaroslav Stark and Rob Sturman > WWW: http://www.amsta.leeds.ac.uk/Applied/news.dir > editorial: uknonleditor at maths.leeds.ac.uk > subscriptions: uknonlsubs at maths.leeds.ac.uk > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From m.lengyel at eng.cam.ac.uk Mon Sep 28 13:01:07 2009 From: m.lengyel at eng.cam.ac.uk (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?M=E1t=E9_Lengyel?=) Date: Mon Sep 28 14:21:20 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] postdoc in computational neuroscience Message-ID: UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The University is committed to equality of opportunity DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING Senior Research Associate in Computational Neuroscience A position exists for a Senior Research Associate (equivalent of a senior postdoctoral fellow) to work on theories of spike timing-based memory in the hippocampus. The project is funded by the Wellcome Trust and will involve work in the group of Mate Lengyel at the recently established Computational and Biological Learning Lab (learning.eng.cam.ac.uk) in close collaboration with Peter Dayan (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, UCL, www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk). The project also involves collaboration with the groups of Ole Paulsen (Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford University, noggin.physiol.ox.ac.uk) and Francesco Battaglia (SILS Center for Neuroscience, University of Amsterdam, http://www.sils-cns.nl/PGBattaglia.html) providing direct access to relevant in vitro and in vivo electrophysiological data. The aim of the project is to develop normative theories of spike- timing based interactions (neural dynamics and synaptic plasticity rules) between hippocampal neurons for efficient memory processing that make testable prediction at the electrophysiological level (starting from Lengyel et al, Nat Neurosci 2005; Lengyel & Dayan, Advances in NIPS 2007). The successful candidate will have a strong analytical background and demonstrable interest in theoretical neuroscience. They should have a PhD or equivalent in computational neuroscience, physics, mathematics, computer science, machine learning or a related field. Preference will be given to candidates with sufficient programming skills to run numerical simulations (eg. in C or MatLab) and expertise with neural network models, analysis of dynamical systems, and Bayesian techniques. Familiarity with the neurobiology of the hippocampus is an advantage. The appointment will be for 1 year initially (extendable subject to funding) starting 1 January 2010 or as soon as possible thereafter. Salary is highly competitive and is in the range ?36,532 to ?46,278 p.a. The cover sheet for applications, PD18 is available from www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/personnel/forms/pd18/ . Parts I, II and III should be sent, preferably by e-mail, with a letter of application, a statement of research interests, and a CV (in pdf or plain text formats if possible) with the names and full contact details (including e-mail addresses) of three referees to Ms Diane Unwin, Department of Engineering, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, (Tel +44 (0)1223 3 32600, Fax +44 (0)1223 3 32662, email dsu21@cam.ac.uk ) so as to reach her not later than 9 October 2010. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed on 23 October, 2009. -- Mate Lengyel, PhD Computational and Biological Learning Lab Cambridge University Engineering Department Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK tel: +44 (0)1223 748 532, fax: +44 (0)1223 332 662 email: m.lengyel@eng.cam.ac.uk web: www.eng.cam.ac.uk/~m.lengyel From m.lengyel at eng.cam.ac.uk Mon Sep 28 16:13:29 2009 From: m.lengyel at eng.cam.ac.uk (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?M=E1t=E9_Lengyel?=) Date: Mon Sep 28 16:35:57 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] postdoc in computational neuroscience Message-ID: Correction: Please note that the deadline for applications for the post below is 9 October 2009, not 2010 as originally posted. -- Mate Lengyel, PhD Computational and Biological Learning Lab Cambridge University Engineering Department Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK tel: +44 (0)1223 748 532, fax: +44 (0)1223 332 662 email: m.lengyel@eng.cam.ac.uk web: www.eng.cam.ac.uk/~m.lengyel *** UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The University is committed to equality of opportunity DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING Senior Research Associate in Computational Neuroscience A position exists for a Senior Research Associate (equivalent of a senior postdoctoral fellow) to work on theories of spike timing-based memory in the hippocampus. The project is funded by the Wellcome Trust and will involve work in the group of Mate Lengyel at the recently established Computational and Biological Learning Lab (learning.eng.cam.ac.uk) in close collaboration with Peter Dayan (Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, UCL, www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk). The project also involves collaboration with the groups of Ole Paulsen (Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford University, noggin.physiol.ox.ac.uk) and Francesco Battaglia (SILS Center for Neuroscience, University of Amsterdam, http://www.sils-cns.nl/PGBattaglia.html) providing direct access to relevant in vitro and in vivo electrophysiological data. The aim of the project is to develop normative theories of spike- timing based interactions (neural dynamics and synaptic plasticity rules) between hippocampal neurons for efficient memory processing that make testable prediction at the electrophysiological level (starting from Lengyel et al, Nat Neurosci 2005; Lengyel & Dayan, Advances in NIPS 2007). The successful candidate will have a strong analytical background and demonstrable interest in theoretical neuroscience. They should have a PhD or equivalent in computational neuroscience, physics, mathematics, computer science, machine learning or a related field. Preference will be given to candidates with sufficient programming skills to run numerical simulations (eg. in C or MatLab) and expertise with neural network models, analysis of dynamical systems, and Bayesian techniques. Familiarity with the neurobiology of the hippocampus is an advantage. The appointment will be for 1 year initially (extendable subject to funding) starting 1 January 2010 or as soon as possible thereafter. Salary is highly competitive and is in the range ?36,532 to ?46,278 p.a. The cover sheet for applications, PD18 is available from www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/personnel/forms/pd18/ . Parts I, II and III should be sent, preferably by e-mail, with a letter of application, a statement of research interests, and a CV (in pdf or plain text formats if possible) with the names and full contact details (including e-mail addresses) of three referees to Ms Diane Unwin, Department of Engineering, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, (Tel +44 (0)1223 3 32600, Fax +44 (0)1223 3 32662, email dsu21@cam.ac.uk ) so as to reach her not later than 9 October 2009. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed on 23 October, 2009. -- Mate Lengyel, PhD Computational and Biological Learning Lab Cambridge University Engineering Department Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK tel: +44 (0)1223 748 532, fax: +44 (0)1223 332 662 email: m.lengyel@eng.cam.ac.uk web: www.eng.cam.ac.uk/~m.lengyel From jose at psychology.rutgers.edu Tue Sep 29 13:08:43 2009 From: jose at psychology.rutgers.edu (Stephen Jose hanson) Date: Tue Sep 29 13:37:34 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] New Papers for Computational Neuroimaging and Neuroscience from RUMBA Message-ID: <1254222523.3273.37.camel@max> >From the RUMBA Lab Rutgers University Mind Brain Analysis Three new papers for Computational Neuroimaging and Neuroscience Hanson SJ, Gagliardi AD, and Hanson C. (2009) Solving the brain synchrony eigenvalue problem: conservation of temporal dynamics (fMRI) over subjects doing the same task. Journal of computational neuroscience. Aug;27(1):103-14. This paper describes a new method for extracting synchronous temporal dynamics across subjects doing passive viewing task such as a watching a movie while they are being brain scanned. ".... This general question can be framed in a dynamical systems context and further be posed as an eigenvalue problem about the conservation of synchrony across all brains simultaneously. We show that solving the problem results in a non-arbitrary measure of temporal dynamics across brains that scales over any number of subjects, stabilizes with increasing sample size, and varies systematically across tasks and stimulus conditions." PDF here: http://sites.google.com/site/rumbalab/publications-1/papers/2009 Poldrack, R., Halchenko Y., and Hanson, S.J. (in press). Decoding the large-scale structure of brain function by classifying mental states across individuals, Psychological Science. "...Using a variety of classifier techniques, we achieved cross-validated classification accuracy of 80% across individuals (chance = 13%). Using a neural network classifier, we recovered a low-dimensional representation common to all the cognitive-perceptual tasks in our data set, and we used an ontology of cognitive processes to determine the cognitive concepts most related to each dimension. These results revealed a small set of large-scale networks that map cognitive processes across a highly diverse set of mental tasks, suggesting a novel way to characterize the neural basis of cognition." PDF here: http://sites.google.com/site/rumbalab/publications-1/papers/in-press Ramsey, J. D., Hanson, S. J., Hanson, C., Halchenko, Y. O., Poldrack, R. A., and Glymour, C. (2009). Six problems for causal inference from fmri. NeuroImage. "...To find actual effective connectivity relations, search methods must accommodate indirect measurements of nonlinear time series dependencies, feedback, multiple subjects possibly varying in identified regions of interest, and unknown possible location-dependent variations in BOLD response delays. We describe combinations of procedures that under these conditions find feed-forward sub-structure characteristic of a group of subjects. The method is illustrated with an empirical data set and confirmed with simulations of time series of non-linear, randomly generated, effective connectivities, with feedback, subject to random differences of BOLD delays, with regions of interest missing at random for some subjects, measured with noise approximating the signal to noise ratio of the empirical data." PDF here: http://sites.google.com/site/rumbalab/publications-1/papers/in-press -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090929/5da74792/attachment-0001.html From knorman at Princeton.EDU Wed Sep 30 02:52:07 2009 From: knorman at Princeton.EDU (Kenneth Norman) Date: Wed Sep 30 10:48:24 2009 Subject: [Comp-neuro] Postdoc and Research Assistant: Memory Modeling and Multivariate fMRI/EEG Data Analysis Message-ID: dear colleagues, i have openings for a postdoc and a research assistant in my lab at princeton -- the advertisements are appended below. if you know of anyone in your lab (or elsewhere) who might be suitable for either position, i would be grateful if you could forward the advertisement along to them. best wishes ken ============== postdoc ad ================= Postdoctoral Research Associate, Computational Memory Lab, Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University. The Princeton Computational Memory Lab, led by Professor Ken Norman, is seeking a postdoctoral research associate to work on NIH-funded studies of cortical and hippocampal learning mechanisms. The lab uses both computational models and neuroimaging data (fMRI and EEG) to study learning and memory. To test our models? detailed predictions, we use multivariate neuroimaging analysis methods that allow us to decode what information is represented in the brain and how these representations change over time. The goal of this specific project is to explore how competition between neural representations (e.g., during memory retrieval) affects learning. The postdoctoral researcher will help to build computational models of competition- dependent learning processes. They will also develop and run experiments that use highly sensitive pattern classifier algorithms, applied to fMRI and EEG data, to track the extent to which memories compete on a trial-by-trial basis. This neural readout of the competing memories can be used to test the model?s predictions about how competition drives learning. In addition to this competition- dependent learning project, the postdoctoral researcher will be given the opportunity to participate in other lab research endeavors, and they will be expected to make a strong contribution to the lab?s efforts to improve and validate neuroimaging analysis methods. For more information on our lab, see http://compmem.princeton.edu. Essential qualifications for this position include: a Ph.D. in Psychology, Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Engineering, or other related field; a strong publication record of original research in cognitive neuroscience; prior experience with using fMRI or EEG to study cognitive processes; and fluency in at least one programming language (e.g., Matlab, Python, C/C++). The position will provide training in computational methods, but we prefer applicants who already have some experience with computational modeling or multivariate methods for neuroimaging data analysis. The Norman lab is part of a highly collaborative network of labs at Princeton that are using computational methods to enrich neuroscience theory and data analysis, ranging from the Botvinick, Brody, Cohen, Hasson, and Niv labs in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, to the Blei, Daubechies, and Ramadge research groups in Computer Science, Math, and Engineering. Questions can be addressed to Professor Ken Norman, knorman@princeton.edu. Review of applications will continue until the position is filled. To apply, please visit the website https://jobs.princeton.edu (requisition #0900383), create an online application. Applications should include a cover letter, a CV, one or two representative publications and a list of at least two potential referees. Princeton University is an equal opportunity employer and complies with applicable EEO and affirmative action regulations. For general application information and how to self-identify, see http://www.princeton.edu/dof/policies/forms/newappoint_reclassif/PSoftSelfID.pdf . ============= research assistant ad ================= Research Specialist, Computational Memory Lab, Princeton Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, Princeton University. The Princeton Computational Memory Lab, led by Professor Ken Norman, is seeking a full-time research specialist to work on NIH-funded studies of cortical and hippocampal learning mechanisms. The lab uses both computational models and neuroimaging data (fMRI and EEG) to study learning and memory. To test our models? detailed predictions, we use multivariate neuroimaging analysis methods that allow us to decode what information is represented in the brain and how these representations change over time (see http://compmem.princeton.edu for more information on our lab?s research). The successful candidate will assist with all aspects of our lab?s research, including developing materials, programming experiments, recruiting participants, collecting and analyzing fMRI and EEG data, and miscellaneous research support (literature searches, manuscript and grant preparation, general lab duties). A major part of the research specialist?s duties will be assisting with the development, testing, and dissemination (via open-source software) of new methods for analyzing neuroimaging data. Essential qualifications for this position include: A bachelor?s degree in Psychology, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Computer Science, Engineering, Math, or other related field; demonstrated interest or research experience in cognitive neuroscience; fluency in at least one programming language (e.g., Matlab, Python, C/C++); and an organized, independent, and efficient work ethic. Preferred (but not essential) qualifications include prior experience with neuroimaging data analysis (fMRI and/or EEG) and a working knowledge of modern machine learning methods (e.g., pattern classification algorithms). This position is ideal for candidates who are planning to attend graduate school and want additional research experience. Questions about the position can be addressed to Professor Ken Norman, knorman@princeton.edu . Review of applications will continue until the position is filled. To apply, please visit the website https://jobs.princeton.edu (requisition #0900381), create an online application. Applications should include a cover letter, a CV, and a list of at least two potential referees. Princeton University is an equal opportunity employer and complies with applicable EEO and affirmative action regulations. For general application information and how to self-identify, see http://www.princeton.edu/dof/policies/forms/newappoint_reclassif/PSoftSelfID.pdf . ===================================================== Ken Norman Associate Professor Department of Psychology and Princeton Neuroscience Institute Princeton University http://compmem.princeton.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.neuroinf.org/pipermail/comp-neuro/attachments/20090929/5488a66b/attachment.html