March 2014 - Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

NEURAL COMPUTATION - April, 2014
by Terry Sejnowski April 24, 2016

April 24, 2016

Neural Computation - Contents -- Volume 26, Number 4 - April 1, 2014 Available online for download now: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/toc/neco/26/4 ----- Article Parametric Inference in the Large Data Limit Using Maximally Informative Models Justin Block Kinney, Gurinder Singh Atwal Letters Input Statistics and Hebbian Crosstalk Effects Anca R. Radulescu Learning Nonlinear Regularities in Natural Images by Modeling the Outer Product of Image Intensities Peng Qi, Xiaolin Hu Dissociable Forms of Repetition Priming: A Computational Model Kirill Makukhin, Scott Bolland Refined Rademacher Chaos Complexity Bounds With Applications to the Multi-Kernel Learning Problem Yunwen Lei, Lixin Ding Large Margin Low Rank Tensor Analysis Guoqiang Zhong, Mohamed Cheriet Large-scale Linear RankSVM Ching-Pei Lee, Chih-Jen Lin ------------ ON-LINE -- http://www.mitpressjournals.org/neuralcomp SUBSCRIPTIONS - 2014 - VOLUME 26 - 12 ISSUES USA Others Electronic Only Student/Retired $70 $193 $65 Individual $124 $187 $115 Institution $1,035 $1,098 $926 Canada: Add 5% GST MIT Press Journals, 238 Main Street, Suite 500, Cambridge, MA 02142-9902 Tel: (617) 253-2889 FAX: (617) 577-1545 journals-orders(a)mit.edu ------------

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2 Post-doc positions on the relation of information and causation (Prof. Giulio Tononi)
by Larissa Albantakis Dec. 17, 2014

Dec. 17, 2014

Up to 2 postdoctoral positions are available at the center for sleep and consciousness science in the laboratory of Dr. Giulio Tononi (University of Wisconsin, Madison), to study the relation of information and causation within the framework of the integrated information theory of consciousness (Balduzzi & Tononi, 2008; Tononi, 2012). Immediate funding is available for a range of projects related to foundational questions regarding the ontological status of information, and its relation to causation, emergence, adaptation, evolution, and consciousness (see detailed scope of work below). Successful candidates will work at the center for sleep and consciousness science, dedicated to a broad range of research problems focused on two neurobiological problems -- the mechanisms and functions of sleep and the neural substrates of consciousness. Candidates are expected to have strong training in an analytically rigorous discipline such as theoretical biology/neuroscience, physics, mathematics, computer science, or engineering. For at least one of the positions, we explicitely encourage mathematicians to apply. Experience in information theory, complex systems, and an interest in the philosophy of information/causation are a plus. Programming experience is required (knowledge of MATLAB and/or C++ is of advantage). Appointments are renewable from year to year for up to 3 years, starting as soon as possible or until the positions are filled. Post-doc salaries correspond to the National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award (NRSA) stipend schedule for postdoc trainees, based on number of years of postdoctoral experience. Candidates should send a CV, brief statement of previous research and future research interests, and email addresses and phone numbers of three references to: Giulio Tononi, gtononi(a)wisc.edu. Balduzzi D, Tononi G (2008) Integrated information in discrete dynamical systems: motivation and theoretical framework. /PLoS Comput Biol/ 4:e1000091. Hoel, E. P., Albantakis, L., & Tononi, G. (2013). Quantifying causal emergence shows that macro can beat micro. /PNAS/, /110/(49), 19790--19795. Tononi G (2012) Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness: An Updated Account. /Arch Ital Biol/ 150:56--90. The scope of work will range from: -theoretical development and computational implementation of the notion of intrinsic causal information -causal analysis, including the systematic use of perturbations, counterfactuals, and irreducibility -analysis of complex systems in terms their causal/informational structure -meaning (understanding and control) from the intrinsic perspective of the system -actual causation (causal explanation) -examining similarities and differences between existing notions of information and causation (Shannon information, algorithmic information,...) -defining emergence in terms of the spatio-temporal grain size at which a system of elements achieves a maximum of causal power -evolutionary/adaptive aspects of information/causation including simulations based on small adaptive neural networks (animats), which evolve and adapt to an environment that requires sensitivity to context for survival

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KOGWIS 2014 Last Call for Papers
by Anna Belardinelli May 8, 2014

May 8, 2014

Please consider to submit your work to the following conference: ================ FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS ================ * KOGWIS 2014 * * 12th Biannual Conference of the German Society for COGNITIVE SCIENCE * * 29th of September - 2nd of October 2014 * * Topical focus: How Language and Behavior Constitute Cognition * Submission deadline: 7 May 2014 * * http://www.ccs.uni-tuebingen.de/kogwis14 * ====================================================== KogWis 2014 invites submissions of extended abstracts on current work in cognitive science. Generally *all topics related to cognitive science* are welcome. Contributions that address the focus of this meeting, that is, language and behavior and the construction of cognition due to language and behavior are particularly encouraged. Submissions will be sorted by topic and paradigms and will be independently reviewed. Notifications of acceptance will depend on the novelty of the research, the significance of the results, and the presentation of the work. Submission and Proceedings: KogWis calls for submissions in extended abstract format. Abstracts for oral presentations should not exceed 4 pages, abstracts for poster contributions should not exceed 2 pages, including pictures and references. All accepted contributions will be published in the form of a *Supplement KogWis 2014* in the journal *Cognitive Processing* (Springer Verlag). ——— PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS —————— Confirmed plenary speakers: * Prof. Dr. Harold Bekkering * Prof. Dr. Henrik Ehrsson * Prof. Dr. Karl Friston * Prof. Dr. Wayne Gray * Prof. Dr. Gregor Schöner * Prof. Dr. Natalie Sebanz Confirmed symposia: * Processing Language in Context: Insights from Empirical Approaches Organizers: Christian Brauner , Bettina Rolke, & Gerhard Jäger (University of Tübingen) * Manual action Organizer: Dirk Koester (Bielefeld University) * How language and number representation contribute to numerical cognition Organizer: Hans-Christoph Nürk (University of Tübingen) * Eye tracking, linking hypotheses and measures in language processing Organizers: Pia Knoeferle and Michele Burigo (Bielefeld University) * Cognition of human actions: From individual actions to interactions Organizer: Stephan de la Rosa (MPI, Tübingen) * Cortical Systems of Object Grasping and Manipulation Organizer: Marc Himmelbach (University of Tübingen) * Modelling of cognitive aspects of mobile interaction Organizers: Nele Russwinkel, Sabine Prezenski, & Stefan Lindner (TU Berlin) * Predictive processing: philosophical and neuroscientific perspectives Organizer: Alex Morgan (University of Tübingen) * PhD Symposium Organizers: Dong-Seon Chang, Zhen Peng, Stefan Kopp, Marco Ragni, and Kai Vogeley (MPI Tübingen, Bielefeld University, University of Freiburg, & University Hospital Cologne) * History of Cognitive Science Organizers: Stefan Kopp and Kai Vogeley (Bielefeld University and University Hospital Cologne) ****** PRIZES AND AWARDS****** * CCS - Best Student Paper Award, sponsored by the Cognitive Science Society (plus 1 year Membership) * SMI - Best Poster Award, sponsored by SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI,www.smivision.com) * Brain Products - Best Paper Award, sponsored by BRAIN PRODUCTS _____________ The Organizing Committee: General chair: Martin V. Butz Local organizers: Anna Belardinelli, Elisabeth Hein and Jan Kneissler ------------------------------------------- Anna Belardinelli, Cognitive Modeling, Department of Computer Science University of Tübingen http://www.wsi.uni-tuebingen.de/lehrstuehle/cognitive-modeling/staff/staff/…

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Summer school in Computational Sensory-Motor Neuroscience (CoSMo 2014)
by Gunnar Blohm March 31, 2014

March 31, 2014

*Fourth Annual Computational Sensory-Motor Neuroscience Summer School (CoSMo 2014)* University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA August 3-17, 2014 We would like to invite you to join us for the third annual Computational Sensory-Motor Neuroscience Summer School. The course is about experimental, computational and medical aspects of sensory-motor neuroscience with a focus on data/model sharing. Covered topics include Bayesian approaches, motor control, computational neuroimaging, sensory-motor transformations and prosthetics. An important focus is on doing research as opposed to just hearing about it. Each teaching module will take up two days with morning lecture sessions. Afternoon sessions involve hands-on Matlab programming, simulation and data-analysis. Newly acquired computational tools can also be applied in 2-week evening group research projects. The course is aimed at students and post-doctoral fellows from diverse backgrounds including Life Sciences, Psychology, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics and Engineering. Basic knowledge in calculus, linear algebra and Matlab is expected. Enrollment will be limited to 40 trainees. *Application deadline: April 27, 2014* For more information and to apply, please go to http://www.compneurosci.com/CoSMo/ The school is co-organized by Drs Gunnar Blohm, Paul Schrater and Konrad Körding. It receives funding from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) via an NSERC-CREATE training grant on "Computational Approaches in Neuroscience – Action, Control & Transformations", and from the National Science Foundation (NSF, USA). -- ------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Gunnar BLOHM Assistant Professor in Computational Neuroscience Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Departments of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics, and Psychology, School of Computing, and Canadian Action and Perception Network (CAPnet) Queen’s University 18, Stuart Street Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6 Tel: (613) 533-3385 Fax: (613) 533-6840 Email:Gunnar.Blohm@QueensU.ca Web:http://www.compneurosci.com/

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2014 NEURON Summer Course
by Ted Carnevale March 31, 2014

March 31, 2014

This year's NEURON Summer Course has two components that can be taken individually or together. NEURON Fundamentals, which runs from June 21-24, addresses all aspects of using NEURON to model individual neurons, and also introduces parallel simulation and the fundamentals of modeling networks. Parallel Simulation with NEURON is for users who are already familiar with NEURON and need to create models that will run on parallel hardware. Registration is limited, and the registration deadline is Friday, May 30, 2014. For more information regarding NEURON courses see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/courses --Ted

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Open Source Brain workshop 2014: Building and sharing models of the cortex
by solinas March 31, 2014

March 31, 2014

(Apologies for cross postings) Announcing the 2014 Open Source Brain Workshop: Building and sharing models of the cortex. May 14-16th, Alghero, Sardinia. There are an increasing number of cortical cell and network models being developed and made publicly available, from networks of leaky integrate and fire neurons based on cortical connectivity and firing properties, to multicompartmental, conductance based cell models. Many of these are being reused, reimplemented and extended to address new scientific questions by labs around the world. In this meeting, we will look at the range cortico-thalamic models out there which are of widespread interest and work towards getting these into public, open source repositories, in standardised formats such as NeuroML and PyNN. We will investigate the steps needed to ensure these models are well tested, annotated and ready for use as research tools by the attendees and the wider community. There will be presentations from experimentalists who are producing the data to constrain these models, as well as simulator and application developers who will create the infrastructure to build, simulate, analyse and share the models. On the morning of Friday 16th, there will be a symposium on Oscillation and Resonance in CNS Network Loops. The symposium will focus on the reconstruction and analysis of oscillating networks. These methods can be applied at multiple levels of brain modelling providing valuable constraints for single neuron and network models. There will be presentations of modelling studies on how the brain generates oscillations and how external, oscillating electro-magnetic fields influence brain activity. Confirmed speakers Sharon Crook, Arizona State University, USA Markus Diesmann, Research Center Jülich, Germany Dirk Feldmeyer, Aachen University, Germany Alon Korngreen, Bar-Ilan University, Israel Dave Lester, SpiNNaker project, University of Manchester, UK Robert A. McDougal, Yale University School of Medicine, USA Michele Migliore, National Research Council, Italy & Yale University School of Medicine, USA Eilif Muller, Blue Brain Project, EPFL, Switzerland Ole Paulsen, University of Cambridge, UK Angus Silver, University College London Tim Vogels, University of Oxford, UK Daniel Wójcik, Nencki Institute, Poland Full details of the workshop can be found here: http://www.opensourcebrain.org/projects/osb/wiki/OSB2014 There will also be a NeuroML Editorial Board meeting on Tues 13th. More details will follow on the NeuroML mailing lists. Interested parties are welcome to attend; please email p.gleeson(a)ucl.ac.uk. The Open Source Brain initiative aims to encourage collaborative, open source model development in computational neuroscience and is primarily supported by the Wellcome Trust. The OSB symposium is primarily supported by the IRCCS C. Mondino and the Italian Ministry of Health through the research project GR-2009-1493804. Regards, The OSB 2014 organising committee

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New book - Directed Information Measures in Neuroscience
by Joseph Lizier March 31, 2014

March 31, 2014

Dear all, We are pleased to announce the publication of the following edited book: "Directed Information Measures in Neuroscience" edited by Michael Wibral, Raul Vicente, Joseph T. Lizier in series "Understanding Complex Systems", Springer, Berlin, 2014. About the book: http://www.springer.com/physics/complexity/book/978-3-642-54473-6 Analysis of information transfer has found rapid adoption in neuroscience, where a highly dynamic transfer of information continuously runs on top of the brain's slowly-changing anatomical connectivity. Measuring such transfer is crucial to understanding how flexible information routing and processing give rise to higher cognitive function. Directed Information Measures in Neuroscience reviews recent developments of concepts and tools for measuring information transfer, their application to neurophysiological recordings and analysis of interactions. Written by the most active researchers in the field the book discusses the state of the art, future prospects and challenges on the way to an efficient assessment of neuronal information transfer. Highlights include the theoretical quantification and practical estimation of information transfer, description of transfer locally in space and time, multivariate directed measures, information decomposition among a set of stimulus/responses variables and the relation between interventional and observational causality. Applications to neural data sets and pointers to open source software highlight the usefulness of these measures in experimental neuroscience. With state-of-the-art mathematical developments, computational techniques and applications to real data sets, this book will be of benefit to all graduate students and researchers interested in detecting and understanding the information transfer between components of complex systems. Downloads of individual chapters (requires Springer access) via: http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-642-54474-3 Contents: Section 1 - Introduction to Directed Information Measures Chapter 1. "Transfer Entropy in Neuroscience", Michael Wibral, Raul Vicente, Michael Lindner -- http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-54474-3_1 Chapter 2. "Efficient Estimation of Information Transfer", Raul Vicente, Michael Wibral -- http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-54474-3_2 Section 2 - Information Transfer in Neural and Other Physiological Systems Chapter 3. "Conditional Entropy-Based Evaluation of Information Dynamics in Physiological Systems", Luca Faes, Alberto Porta -- http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-54474-3_3 Chapter 4. "Information Transfer in the Brain: Insights from a Unified Approach", Daniele Marinazzo, Guorong Wu, Mario Pellicoro, Sebastiano Stramaglia -- http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-54474-3_4 Chapter 5. "Function Follows Dynamics: State-Dependency of Directed Functional Influences", Demian Battaglia -- http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-54474-3_5 Chapter 6. "On Complexity and Phase Effects in Reconstructing the Directionality of Coupling in Non-linear Systems", Vasily A. Vakorin, Olga Krakovska, Anthony R. McIntosh -- http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-54474-3_6 Section 3 - Recent Advances in the Analysis of Information Processing Chapter 7. "Measuring the Dynamics of Information Processing on a Local Scale in Time and Space", Joseph T. Lizier -- http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-54474-3_7 Chapter 8. "Parametric and Non-parametric Criteria for Causal Inference from Time-Series", Daniel Chicharro -- http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-54474-3_8 Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3642544738/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=17… Regards, Michael Wibral, Raul Vicente and Joseph Lizier

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Decision Making Bristol 2014: Abstract Submission deadline EXTENDED to 7 April 2014
by DMB 2014 Mailbox March 31, 2014

March 31, 2014

***The Deadline for submission of abstracts to the Decision Making Bristol 2014 conference has been extended to 7 April 2014.*** *Decision Making Bristol 2014* The Decision-making Group at the University of Bristol invites you to submit abstracts to our second conference - Decision Making Bristol 2014<http://www.bris.ac.uk/decisions-research/conference2014/> - to be held 9-12 September 2014. Following the success of the 2012 conference, this conference aims to embrace a breadth of research, appealing to those interested in all aspects of decision making. We are pleased to announce that the following Key Note speakers have been secured Gerd Gigerenzer<http://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en/staff/gerd-gigerenzer> , Tom Griffiths <http://psychology.berkeley.edu/people/tom-griffiths>, Antonio Rangel <http://www.rnl.caltech.edu/index.html> and Jeffrey D. Schall<http://www.vanderbilt.edu/psychological_sciences/bio/jeffrey-schall>. These will be accompanied by invited talks from Nick Chater<http://www.wbs.ac.uk/about/person/nick-chater/> , Eric-Jan Wagenmakers <http://www.ejwagenmakers.com/> and Daniel Wolpert<http://learning.eng.cam.ac.uk/Public/Wolpert/Wolpert> . Held in the beautiful city of Bristol, at one of the UK's leading science and discovery centres, At-Bristol <http://www.at-bristol.org.uk/>, the conference will promote interdisciplinary collaborations and welcomes attendance from both theoreticians and experimentalists. The *call for short abstracts *(500 words) is now *OPEN *and we invite you to submit your abstract to the following email address: DMB-2014(a)bristol.ac.uk. The closing date for receipt is now *****7 April 2014**.* *Further information and Registration: * http://www.bris.ac.uk/decisions-research/conference2014/ . Registration closing date is 30 June 2014. Please feel free to share this email with your colleagues and research students. We look forward to seeing you in September. Best wishes, Sally-Ann Parry, *on behalf of the Decision-making Group* -- *Decision Making Bristol 2014, * *9- 12 September* e: DMB-2014(a)bristol.ac.uk w: http://www.bris.ac.uk/decisions-research/conference2014/ w: http://www.bris.ac.uk/decisions-research/ a: University of Bristol, 5 Priory Road, Bristol, BS8 1TZ

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PhD position available at the School of Engineering, University of Lincoln
by Basabdatta Sen Bhattacharya March 31, 2014

March 31, 2014

A fully funded PhD is available at the School of Engineering, University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, to work under the supervision of Dr. Basabdatta Bhattacharya <http://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/bbhattacharya> and Prof. Timothy Gordon <http://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/tgordon>. The details and how to apply are available at: https://sites.google.com/site/bsenbhattacharya/phd/fully-fundedphdstudentsh… The *Deadline* for Application is *18th April 2014.* For informal enquiries please contact Basabdatta Sen Bhattacharya at bbhattacharya(a)lincoln.ac.uk or at basab(a)ieee.org. A link to the advert on the University website is available at the link below; scroll down to the heading 'College of Science': http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/studyatlincoln/postgraduateprogrammes/postgra… *Note:* The *full funding* is for UK/EU students *only*. International students would need to provide the difference in fees as appropriate. --------------------------------------------------------------- Basabdatta Sen Bhattacharya, PhD Lecturer, School of Engineering ENG 321, Engineering Hub University of Lincoln Brayford Pool, Lincoln LN6 7TS United Kingdom Telephone: +44(0)1522837947 *http://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/bbhattacharya <http://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/bbhattacharya>* Personal page: https://sites.google.com/site/bsenbhattacharya

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application deadline extended till Apr 14 for international summer school: CAMP@Bangalore
by Aditya Gilra March 29, 2014

March 29, 2014

The deadline for applying to the international summer school: Computational Approaches to Memory and Plasticity, CAMP@Bangalore 2014<http://www.ncbs.res.in/camp/>is extended to 14th April, 2014. Please download the poster <http://www.ncbs.res.in/camp/content/poster> and circulate widely. Details follow ... Computational Approaches to Memory and Plasticity (CAMP @ Bangalore) 2014<http://www.ncbs.res.in/camp> . Website: http://www.ncbs.res.in/camp/ Venue: National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India<http://www.ncbs.res.in/> Dates: 28th June to 12th July, 2014 Organizer: Upinder Bhalla (NCBS, Bangalore, India)<http://www.ncbs.res.in/bhalla> CAMP @ Bangalore is a 15-day summer school on the theory and simulation of learning, memory and plasticity in the brain. PhD students and post-docs from theoretical and/or experimental backgrounds (physics, math, neuroscience, engineering, etc.) are welcome. Familiarity with programming, dynamical systems, and/or computational neuroscience is highly desirable. Master's or Bachelor's degree students can apply if they have sufficient background beyond course-work. The school will start with remedial tutorials on neuroscience / math / programming and then work upwards from sub-cellular electrical and chemical signaling in neurons, onward to micro-circuits and networks, all with an emphasis on learning, memory and plasticity. Students worldwide are encouraged to apply online at www.ncbs.res.in/camp latest by 14th Apr, 2014. Lecturers: Sumantra Chattarji (NCBS, Bangalore) <http://www.ncbs.res.in/shona>, Xiao-Jing Wang (New York University, New York)<http://www.cns.nyu.edu/wanglab/> , Suhita Nadkarni (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune)<http://www.iiserpune.ac.in/~suhita/Suhita/Home.html> , Claudia Clopath (Imperial College, London)<http://www.bg.ic.ac.uk/research/c.clopath/> , Eve Marder (Brandeis University, Waltham/Boston)<http://blogs.brandeis.edu/marderlab/> , Rishikesh Narayanan (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore)<http://mbu.iisc.ernet.in/~rngrp/> , Arthur Wingfield (Brandeis University, Waltham/Boston)<http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/faculty/wingfield.html> , Michael Hausser (University College, London)<http://www.ucl.ac.uk/WIBR/research/neuro/mh/index.htm> , Arvind Kumar (Bernstein Center, Freiburg)<http://www.bcf.uni-freiburg.de/people/details/kumar> , Stefano Fusi (Columbia University, New York)<http://neurotheory.columbia.edu/stefano.html> , Raghav Rajan (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune)<http://www.iiserpune.ac.in/~raghav/> For more information, email camp2014(a)ncbs.res.in Best Regards, Aditya. ---- Aditya Gilra, Prof Upinder S Bhalla's lab, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, GKVK, Bellary Road, Bangalore - 560065, India. Ph: 91-80-23666507.

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