June 2024 - Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

Post-doc position [LAST CALL]: How long-term memories affect decision making and rule selection?

by Pablo Jercog

A postdoc position is available at the Department of Functional and Systems Neurobiology of the Cajal Institute (https://cajal.csic.es/en/home/) part of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in collaboration with the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. The aim of this position is to develop a new framework for the analysis and interpretation of animal behavior and electrophysiological data from a high-throughput memory-based behavioral paradigm ( https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00064/full) developed in the Jercog Lab. Such a framework will involve different theories and modelling approaches such as reinforcement learning, stochastic decision processes, and history-dependent biases over a range of timescales from seconds to months, under the co-supervision of Yashar Ahmadian <https://cbl.eng.cam.ac.uk/ahmadian/>, University of Cambridge. The overarching aim of the project is to understand how long-term memories affect the decision making process in a volatile environment, focusing in particular on the hippocampal contribution to control (e.g. Lengyel & Dayan 2008 <https://proceedings.neurips.cc/paper_files/paper/2007/file/1f4477bad7af3616…>, Stachenfled et al. 2017), and using approaches such as rational control (Wu et al 2020 <https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1912336117>) to infer the internal beliefs and models used by animals in the task. Our lab is part of a larger network of Spanish neuroscience institutes including the CINC <https://www.cinc.csic.es/research-areas/>, the Neurotech <https://espanadigital.gob.es/lineas-de-actuacion/spain-neurotech> and the IN <https://in.umh-csic.es/en/>. The institute is located in the center of Madrid, one of the most exciting cities in the south of Europe, well connected with the rest of the world. Candidates should have a Ph.D. in computational neuroscience or a related field. Prior experience with the analysis of animal behavior, neuroimaging, machine learning, and/or computational modeling will be valued. Competitive financial support is provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science. *INITIAL APPOINTMENT:* two years. *APPLICATION:* Send a curriculum and motivation letter with a list of three contacts for recommendation letters to pjercog(a)gmail.com. Informal inquiries are welcome. *DEADLINE:* applications will start to be reviewed on June 17th until the position is filled. *STARTING DATE:* before September 2024. -- Pablo Jercog, Ph.D. Team Leader Instituto Cajal, CSIC Avda. del Doctor Arce, 37 (Room C-11) Madrid, Madrid, 28002, Spain cell: +34 620562808 email: pjercog(a)gmail.com Lab webpage <https://sites.google.com/view/pablojercogteam/>

June 4, 2024

Call for contribution and registration for Systems Vision Science Virtual Symposium July 12, 2024

by Pavlovic, Maria

Systems Vision Science Virtual Symposium: July 12th, 2024 -------------------------------- <https://summerschool.lizhaoping.org/symposium-2024/> Systems Vision Science Virtual Symposium takes place on July 12th, 2024, 15:00-19:00 German time, as the end of the <https://summerschool.lizhaoping.org/virtual-systems-vision-science-summer-s chool-symposium-2024/> Systems Vision Science Virtual Summer School. This summer school and symposium are the virtual editions of the onsite <https://summerschool.lizhaoping.org/> summer school and symposium in 2023. We invite contribution and free registrations for this symposium. The presentations at the symposium will include two keynote speeches (30 minutes each) and contributed speeches (15 minutes each). The topics of the presentations will be any topic of <https://www.lizhaoping.org/Systems-Vision-Science.html> Systems Vision Science, which combines computational, behavioral, and neuroscience methods to discover and investigate functions and algorithms for vision in various brain regions and their implementations in neural circuits. -------------------------------- To contribute or register, please fill out our registration form (including an abstract for contribution), which can be found here: <https://summerschool.lizhaoping.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Form-to-regi ster-or-submit-a-contribution-to-the-SVS-symposium-2024.docx> https://summerschool.lizhaoping.org/Form-to-register-or-submit-a-contributio n-to-the-SVS-symposium-2024.docx and send the filled form to svs.summerschool(a)tue.mpg.de <mailto:svs.summerschool@tue.mpg.de> Please direct inquiries to svs.summerschool(a)tue.mpg.de <mailto:svs.summerschool@tue.mpg.de> . -------------------------------- Organizing Team Li Zhaoping Maria Pavlovic Junhao Liang Ali Gholamzadeh Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics University of Tuebingen www.lizhaoping.org <http://www.lizhaoping.org>

June 4, 2024

Abstracts closing Friday, early bird reg, & more - INCF Neuroinformatics Assembly 2024

by Heather Topple

Hello! We at INCF would appreciate it if you could forward the information below to your relevant networks in neuroscience, AI, computer and data science. Thank you! /Heather INCF Project Assistant *Join us at the INCF Neuroinformatics Assembly 2024 <https://neuroinformatics.incf.org/> on Sep 23-25 at the University of Texas at Austin!* The meeting is followed by 3 training courses: Driving collaboration in neurophysiology with NWB and DANDI, Introduction to reproducible neuroimaging data processing and analysis, and DataJoint pipelines for your neuroscience experiments on Sep 26-27. The INCF Assembly is a unique venue where neuroscience standards developers, infrastructure providers, and software developers have the opportunity to interact with the research community to share the latest advancements in neuroinformatics. This year's theme Brain Meets AI: Pioneering the Future of Neuroinformatics Abstract submission <https://neuroinformatics.incf.org/abstract-submission> and early bird registration <https://neuroinformatics.incf.org/register> are open - make sure to register before Jun 28 to get the early bird price! *Abstract submission is open until Fri Jun 7 via this link <https://neuroinformatics.incf.org/abstract-submission>.* Note: You need to be signed in to submit an abstract, but you don’t need to be an INCF member to create an account. Our keynote speakers are Elisabeth Bik (Microbiome Digest), Timo Dickscheid (Jülich Research Cente), Hanchuan Peng (SEU-ALLEN Joint Center), Danilo Bzdok (Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute), and Viktor Jirsa (Institut de Neurosciences des Systemès). See you at Assembly 2024! /The INCF Team ---------------------------- Heather Topple, BSc *Project Assistant* *Development and Communications* <https://neuroinformatics.incf.org/> International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility Secretariat Karolinska Institutet. Nobels väg 15A, SE-171 77 Stockholm. Sweden <https://www.google.com/maps/search/Nobels+v%C3%A4g+15A,+SE-171+77+Stockholm…> Email: heather(a)incf.org Phone: +46 085 248 70 65 incf.org neuroinformatics.incf.org

June 4, 2024

Register by June 21st for UK Neural Computation 2024 (July 8 -10th)

by Mark Humphries

Register now for the UK Neural Computation meeting 2024 (Sheffield 8-10th July): https://neuralcomputation.uk/ UKNC is a national meeting for everyone interested in the computations of the brain, both experimentally and theoretically. Speakers include: Andrew Adamatzky; Geoff Goodhill; Dan Goodman; Tim O’Leary; Rasmus Petersen; Rui Ponte Costa; Huiling Tan; Yulia Timofeeva; Mark van Rossum; Eleni Vasilaki. Keynote: Randy Bruno Register by 21st June 2024 Discounted accommodation options also available. 8 July: ECR day. ~40 places are available 9-10 July: main meeting Enquiries: uknc24(a)sheffield.ac.uk Organisers Hannes Saal (Sheffield) Stuart Wilson (Sheffield) Mark Humphries (Nottingham) This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender and delete the email and attachment. Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham. Email communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored where permitted by law.

June 4, 2024

World wide VVTNS series: Wednesday, June 5 at 11am (EDT), Stephanie Palmer, University of Chicago | Using ML tools in neuroscience to define optimality in complex natural behaviour

by David Hansel

[image: VVTNS.png] https://www.wwtns.online - on twitter: wwtns@TheoreticalWide You are cordially invited to the lecture given by Stephanie Palmer University of Chicago on the topic of *Using ML tools in neuroscience to define optimality * *in complex natural behaviour* The lecture will be held on zoom on *June 5, 2024*, at *11:00 am EDT * To receive the link: https://www.wwtns.online/register-page *Abstract: *Biological systems must selectively encode partial information about the environment, as dictated by the capacity constraints at work in all living organisms. For example, we cannot see every feature of the light field that reaches our eyes; temporal resolution is limited by transmission noise and delays, and spatial resolution is limited by the finite number of photoreceptors and output cells in the retina. Classical efficient coding theory describes how sensory systems can maximize information transmission given such capacity constraints, but it treats all input features equally. Not all inputs are, however, of equal value to the organism. Our work quantifies whether and how the brain selectively encodes stimulus features, specifically predictive features, that are most useful for fast and effective movements. We have shown that efficient predictive computation starts at the earliest stages of the visual system in the retina. We borrow techniques from machine learning, statistical physics, and information theory to assess how we get terrific, predictive vision from these imperfect (lagged and noisy) component parts. In broader terms, we aim to build a more complete theory of efficient encoding in the brain, and along the way have found some intriguing connections between approaches to coarse graining in biology, machine learning, and physics. *About VVTNS : Created as the World Wide Neuroscience Seminar (WWTNS) in November 2020 and renamed in homage to Carl van Vreeswijk in Memoriam (April 20, 2022), its aim is to be a platform to exchange ideas among theoreticians. Speakers have the occasion to talk about theoretical aspects of their work which cannot be discussed in a setting where the majority of the audience consists of experimentalists. The seminars, **held on Wednesdays at 11 am ET,** are 45-50 min long followed by a discussion. The talks are recorded with authorization of the speaker and are available to everybody on our YouTube channel.* ᐧ ᐧ ᐧ ᐧ

June 2, 2024