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<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>Second Call for Papers
on</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>======= Cortical
Microcircuits ======== </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>(formerly known as Neural models of Cortical
microcircuits) <BR> </FONT></FONT></DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial>
<DIV><BR>Guest Editors:<BR>J.G. Taylor, T. Wennekers, B.P. Graham, I. Vida, V.
Cutsuridis<BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR>Special issue of the Elsevier Journal of Neural
Networks</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><A
href="http://helen.pion.ac.uk/~thomas/microcircuits08"></FONT><FONT
face="Times New Roman"
size=3>http://helen.pion.ac.uk/microcircuits08</A><BR><BR> <BR>= SCOPE
=<BR> <BR><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">To
understand how perception, attention, action, </SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT
size=2><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">learning
and memory work, </SPAN></FONT></FONT><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">we
need to gather data </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">from
multiple levels of complexity and from various </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">brain
states (normal and diseased) and integrate them </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">at
the brain-scale level. </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">We
need to identify the neuronal </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">groups
involved in these functions, their laminar </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">distributions
</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">and
their different types of neurons, draw detailed circuit diagrams, </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">determine
the forms of synaptic transmission and plasticity </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">between
different </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">neurons
and study the dynamics of the cortical </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">microcircuits
at the cellular and </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">synaptic
level that comprise these </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">neuronal
groups. Recent years have witnessed </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">a
dramatic </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">accumulation
of knowledge about the morphological, physiological </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">and
</SPAN><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">molecular
characteristics, as well as the connectivity and </SPAN></FONT><FONT
size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">synaptic
properties of </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">cortical
neurons. Despite these advances, </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">however,
only limited insight was gained </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">into
the computational </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">function
of the neurons; in particular, the role of the various </SPAN></FONT><FONT
size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">types
</SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">of
interneurons remains elusive. Mathematical and computational </SPAN></FONT><FONT
size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">microcircuit
</SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">models
play an instrumental role in<SPAN style="COLOR: red"> </SPAN>exploring
microcircuit </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">functions
and facilitate the </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">dissection
the operations performed by </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">diverse
interneurons. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">The
goal of the </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">special
issue is to provide a </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">snapshot
and a </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">resumé
of </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">the
current </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">state-of-the-art
of the ongoing research </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">avenues
concerning cortical microcircuits </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">with
particular </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">emphasis
on the functional roles of the various inhibitory interneurons
</SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">in
information processing within normal and diseased behavioural
</SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">and
cognitive states. </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">The
emphasis will be on computational models </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">that
are tightly grounded on experimental </SPAN></FONT><FONT size=+0><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">data.</SPAN><FONT
face=Arial size=2> </FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=+0><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=+0><FONT face=Arial size=2> </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=+0><FONT face=Arial size=2> = SPECIFIC
AIMS =</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=+0><FONT face=Arial size=2><BR> </DIV><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3></FONT></FONT></FONT>
<DIV><FONT size=+0><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>-
The interaction between the local micro circuit activity and global processing
to </FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT size=+0><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>achieve the desired overall
</FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT size=+0><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>processing functionality observed, say in
perception </FONT></FONT></FONT><FONT size=+0><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>and action,<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>attention, learning and memory</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=+0><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>-
Microcircuit architectures: networks of principal and inhibitory inter-neurons
</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>within and between lamina,
</FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>columns, mini-columns, modules, areas
and/or across </FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>areas in the brain and
their functional roles in the network.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 72.0pt"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> -- Neo-cortex</FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 72.0pt"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> -- Hippocampus</FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; tab-stops: list 72.0pt"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3> -- Sensory and Motor
Systems</FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>- Cross-comparison of architectures from different
brain areas</FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>- Identified computations performed by each type
of neuron in a network</FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>- Identified modes of operation of a neuronal type
and how they are related </FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>potentially
to behaviour and cognition </FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>- What synaptic plasticity rules are
used</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR> <BR>= SUBMISSIONS =<BR> <BR><STRONG>Extended submission
deadline:</STRONG> February 1st, 2009 </DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN><FONT face=Arial><STRONG>Author notification:
</STRONG>May 2, 2009</FONT> <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black">Revised
manuscripts: </SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black">July 1,
2009 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; TEXT-ALIGN: justify; mso-layout-grid-align: none"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%">Publication by
journal: </SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11.5pt; COLOR: black; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%">~September/October,
2009</SPAN></FONT></P><BR> <BR>Electronic submissions for the Neural
Networks journal </FONT></FONT><FONT size=+0><FONT face=Arial size=2>can be
found under <A
href="http://ees.elsevier.com/neunet/">http://ees.elsevier.com/neunet/</A></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Please indicate in your cover letter that your
article is for the </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>special issue "Cortical
Microcircuits"</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Regards,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Vassilis</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>Dr.
Vassilis Cutsuridis<BR>Department of Computing Science and
Mathematics<BR>University of Stirling<BR>Stirling FK9 4LA
<BR>SCOTLAND</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Tel: +44 1786 467422<BR>Fax: +44 1786
464551<BR>Email: <A
href="mailto:vcu@cs.stir.ac.uk">vcu@cs.stir.ac.uk</A><BR>Web: <A
href="http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~vcu/">http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~vcu/</A></DIV>
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