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2nd announcement: Summerschool "Neurocomputational Models of Speech Processing", 14th to 18th of Sept. 2015, Aachen Germany
by Kröger, Bernd Joachim Aug. 10, 2015

Aug. 10, 2015

Summerschool: Neurocomputational Models of Speech Processing 14th to 18th September 2015 Topic: Constructing a Neurocomputational Model of Speech Processing Date: 14th to 18th of September 2015 Location: RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany Costs: Accommodation at RWTH Aachen University Guest House or A&O-Hostel or other hotel in Aachen city: round about 80€ (Single or Double) per day; Food round about 30€ per day. Workshop is free. Accommodation and food will be arranged by Bernd J. Kröger www.SpeechTrainer.eu. Please contact bkroeger(a)ukaachen.de Next airport to Aachen, Germany: Duesseldorf International Airport, Germany Planned schedule: 1st day: 9-12am: Lecture (Bernd J. Kröger www.SpeechTrainer.eu<http://www.SpeechTrainer.eu>): Introduction to Neurocomputational Models of Speech Production including learning szenarios occurring in speech acquisition. Afternoon 2-5pm: Discussion and computer exercises in NENGO www.nengo.ca<http://www.nengo.ca> or Neural Processing Toolboxes of your choice 2nd day: 9-12am: Lecture (Bernd J. Kröger www.SpeechTrainer.eu<http://www.SpeechTrainer.eu>: Introduction to Neurocomputational Models of Speech Perception and Comprehension Afternoon 2-5pm: Discussion and Computer exercises in NENGO www.nengo.ca<http://www.nengo.ca> or Neural Processing Toolboxes of your choice 3rd day: 9-12am: Lecture (Bernd J. Kröger www.SpeechTrainer.eu<http://www.SpeechTrainer.eu>): Introduction to a physiological and acoustic model of speech production ( www.VocalTractLab.de<http://www.VocalTractLab.de> ) Afternoon 2-5pm: How to integrate VocalTractLab into an Neurocomputational Model of Speech Processing 4th and 5th day: 9am-5pm: Programming exercises and introduction to available speech data bases Please contact: Prof. Dr. Bernd J. Kröger Department of Phoniatrics, Pedaudiology, and Communication Disorders Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstraße 30, D-52074 Aachen, Germany Email: bernd.kroeger(a)rwth-aachen.de Homepage: www.speechtrainer.eu<http://www.speechtrainer.eu>

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Call for posters/registration: Orbitofrontal Cortex and Cognition in the City of Lights, Sept 30 – Oct 2, 2015 @ Paris, France
by Mehdi Khamassi Aug. 7, 2015

Aug. 7, 2015

[Please accept our apologies if you get multiple copies of this message] Dear colleagues, It is our great pleasure to invite you to the Third Quadrennial Meeting on Orbitofrontal Cortex Function, entitled "Orbitofrontal Cortex and Cognition in the City of Lights", which will take place in Paris, France, on Sept 30th – Oct 2nd 2015. Online registration is now open at http://ofc2015.isir.upmc.fr The deadline for poster submission is: July, 31st. The deadline for registration is: August 31st. Registration fees (250 euros) also include the social event. Please circulate widely and encourage your colleagues and team members to attend. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX AND COGNITION IN THE CITY OF LIGHTS (OFC 2015) Sept 30-Oct 2, 2015, Paris, France Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, Hôpital La Pitié Salpêtrière, Paris, France. & Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. http://ofc2015.isir.upmc.fr ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PRESENTATION: The Third Quadrennial Meeting on Orbitofrontal Cortex Function which will take place in Paris, France, on Sept 30th – Oct 2nd 2015 at the Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle Epinière, Paris, France. The objective of this three day meeting is to bring together researchers with a deep interest in the role of the orbitofrontal cortex in supporting cognition (behavior, learning, decision-making) across species. The meeting is the third, following up on similar meetings in 2007 and 2011. As such, it is intended to focus specifically on new ideas and research that has influenced the field over the past 4 years and that appear likely to lead the way into the next 4 years. The meeting consists of both invited talks and poster sessions. The invited talks are loosely organized into six different sessions that are titled to reflect the various stages of processing underlying cognition. Talks will be relatively short with ample time for questions and discussion after each talk and sub-group of talks. Poster sessions will be interspersed to allow participants to interact and present their own unique findings of relevance to advancing our understanding of this fascinating brain region. CONFIRMED SPEAKERS: Tim Behrens (Oxford University, UK) Yogita Chudasama (McGill University, Canada) Howard Eichenbaum (Boston University, USA) Lesley Fellows (McGill University, Canada) Jay Gottfried (Northwestern University, USA) Shannon Gourley (Emory University, USA) Christina Gremel (UCSD, USA) Ben Hayden (University of Rochester, USA) Patricia Janak (John Hopkins, USA) Thorsten Kahnt (Northwestern University, USA) Daeyeol Lee (Yale University, USA) Elisabeth Murray (NIMH, USA) Yael Niv (Princeton University, USA) John O'Doherty (Caltech, USA) Camillo Padoa-Schioppa (Washington Univ. St Louis, USA) Mathias Pessiglione (INSERM-ICM, France) Angela Roberts (Cambridge University, UK) Peter Rudebeck (Mount Sinai School, USA) Matthew Rushworth (Oxford University, UK) Geoffrey Schoenbaum (NIDA-NIH, USA) Wolfram Schultz (Cambridge University, UK) Matthew Shapiro (Mount Sinai School, USA) Philippe Tobler (University of Zurich, Switzerland) Jonathan Wallis (University of California at Berkeley, USA) Catharine Winstanley (University of British Columbia, Canada) IMPORTANT DATES: July 31, 2015 Deadline for Poster Submission August 31, 2015 Deadline for Registration Sept 30-Oct 2, 2015 Symposium Venue ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Jay Gottfried (Northwestern University, USA) Mehdi Khamassi (CNRS / UPMC, Paris, France) Elisabeth Murray (NIMH, USA) Mathias Pessiglione (INSERM / ICM, France) Geoffrey Schoenbaum (NIDA-NIH, USA) CONTACT INFORMATION : Website, registration, poster submission and detailed program: http://ofc2015.isir.upmc.fr Contact: ofc2015 [ at ] isir.upmc.fr / ofc2015-registration(a)isir.upmc.fr -- Mehdi Khamassi, PhD Researcher (CNRS) Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique (UMR7222) CNRS - Université Pierre et Marie Curie Pyramide, Tour 55 - Boîte courrier 173 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France tel: + 33 1 44 27 28 85 fax: +33 1 44 27 51 45 cell: +33 6 50 76 44 92 http://people.isir.upmc.fr/khamassi

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Starlab is looking for a Neuroscience Data Scientist
by Aureli Soria-Frisch Aug. 7, 2015

Aug. 7, 2015

Starlab Barcelona is hiring! We are looking for a Data Scientist to help us achieve novel and challenging milestones. Starlab, a private R&D company based in Barcelona (Spain) and Oxford (UK), is looking for an exceptional data scientist with a very hands-on attitude to join our neuroscience team. The successful candidate will work at the forefront of neuroscience research with a focus on real-world applications in close contact with our sister company Neuroelectrics, a world leader in wireless neuromonitoring and neuromodulation technologies. See more at: http://www.starlab.es/js-2015-07-neuroscience-data-scientist/ ________________________________________ Aureli Soria-Frisch (Dr.-Ing.) R&D Manager Neuroscience Research - Starlab Consulting Division Barcelona Offices: Av. Tibidabo, 47 bis - 08035 Barcelona - Spain tel. +34 93 254 03 70, +34 93 254 03 66, Ext -39 United Kingdom Offices: Building R103 - Room 1-11 - Harwell Oxford - Didcot OX11 0QX - UK tel. +44 1865589777 skype aureli.soria-frisch e-mail aureli.soria-frisch(a)starlab.es linkedin es.linkedin.com/pub/aureli-soria-frisch/6/b93/294/ ________________________________________ Starlab, Living Science http://starlab.es Click here to read our e-mail confidentiality and data protection policy

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Workshop on parallel computing resource for modeling and brain image analysis
by Ted Carnevale Aug. 4, 2015

Aug. 4, 2015

What: Using the Neuroscience Gateway Portal for Parallel Simulations A Satellite Symposium at the 2015 Society for Neuroscience Meeting Where: Lodation to be announced in downtown Chicago, IL When: 9 AM - Noon on Saturday, October 17, 2014 Speakers to include: Amit Majumdar, Subha Sivagnanam, and Padraig Gleeson Registration deadline: Friday, October 2, 2015 This workshop is for neuroscientists who need to use parallel supercomputers for large modeling projects, or analysis and visualization of brain imaging data. With support from NSF, we have been developing the Neuroscience Gateway Portal (NSG) http://www.nsgportal.org/, which * provides free CPU time on NSF-supported high performance computing resources * has a browser-based interface that simplifies the tasks of uploading models, specifying job parameters, monitoring job status, and storing and retrieving output data * already has many widely-used simulatiors optimally installed and configured, including NEST, Pynn, Brian, GENESIS3, NEURON and MOOSE. Also available is the FreeSurfer suite of tools for analyzing and visualizing structural and functional brain imaging data. The workshop will combine didactic presentations by NSG's developers, discussions with experienced users, and hands on instruction in how to use the portal. Come find out how the NSG can be useful in your own research! For more information and the online registration form see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/static/courses/nsg2014/nsg2014.html --Ted

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Book: Bayes' Rule With MatLab
by James Stone Aug. 4, 2015

Aug. 4, 2015

I'd like to announce the publication of this book: Bayes' Rule With MatLab A Tutorial Introduction to Bayesian Analysis by JV Stone Reviews, synopsis, and table of contents can be found here: http://jim-stone.staff.shef.ac.uk/BookBayes2012/BayesRuleBookMain.html regards, Dr Jim Stone University of Sheffield, UK. http://jim-stone.staff.shef.ac.uk/BookBayes2012/books_by_jv_stone/index.html

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Job Posting: Research Engineer or Scientist in Machine Learning
by Behnood Gholami Aug. 4, 2015

Aug. 4, 2015

*Research Engineer/Scientist, Machine Learning* *AreteX Engineering – New York, NY* AreteX Engineering, a medical technology startup company accelerating the use of information technology in healthcare, has an immediate opening for a Research Engineer/Scientist in its office located in New York City, SoHo district. AreteX is a former resident of the Harvard Innovation Lab (ilab) and a current resident of the NYU Incubator. The company has received grants from the Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation. The position involves developing machine learning algorithms for innovative biomedical technologies involving physiological signal processing and big data. We are looking for a self-motivated, highly talented individual with an excellent background in machine learning (statistical learning theory). The successful candidate will work closely with a team of physicians, nurses, engineers, and scientists in designing new clinical decision support systems. Candidates with experience in the analysis of experimental data derived from---but not limited to---auditory/visual/cross-sensory psychophysical, EEG, ECG, and galvanic-skin conductance, data would be given a higher priority. *Minimum Requirements:* - MS or PhD in computer science, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, applied mathematics, or a similar discipline. - Expertise and innovation in methods, theory, and application of machine learning and data mining with a broad understanding of methodological approaches and proficiency in practice. - Expert abilities to work with new data sets regardless of prior exposure to current topic. - Strong interest in research and learning new technologies. - Proficient at writing technical papers/reports/presentations. - Experience with Python. - Familiarity with large data sets, cloud-based development and deployment, open source practices and frameworks is a plus. - Applicants must be U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals or U.S. permanent residents. *Responsibilities* - Collaborate with a team of machine learning, control engineering, and signal processing researchers. - Provide technical expertise to address supervised and unsupervised learning problems in an applied research environment. - Develop and deploy modern machine learning and statistical methods (CART and Random Forests, deep learning, clustering and classification algorithms, Bayesian models, neural networks, support vector machines, and probabilistic graphical models) for finding patterns and models from physiological data. *Preferred Qualifications:* - Prior expertise and exposure using non-invasive human physiological measures such as EEG, ECG, galvanic-skin conductance, or other categorically similar methodologies. - Prior experience in feature extraction from physiological signals. - Experience working with quantitative methods of neural data analysis. - Experience with speech, audio, or video technologies. Send your cover letter and CV to info(a)aretexeng.com. -- -- Behnood Gholami, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer AreteX Engineering 137 Varick St., 2nd Floor New York, NY 10013 Phone: (347) 774-1617

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The KARA ONE Database: Phonological Categories in imagined and articulated speech
by frank Aug. 3, 2015

Aug. 3, 2015

We are making 24 GB of a new dataset, called Kara One, freely available. This database combines 3 modalities (EEG, face tracking, and audio) during imagined and articulated speech using phonologically-relevant phonemic and single-word prompts. It is the result of a collaboration between the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (in the University Health Network) and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. In the associated paper (abstract below), we show how to accurately classify imagined phonological categories solely from EEG data. Specifically, we obtain up to 90% accuracy in classifying imagined consonants from imagined vowels and up to 95% accuracy in classifying stimulus from active imagination states using advanced deep-belief networks. Data from 14 participants are available here: http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~complingweb/data/karaOne/karaOne.html [1]. If you have any questions, please contact Frank Rudzicz at frank(a)cs.toronto.edu. Best regards, Frank PAPER Shunan Zhao and Frank Rudzicz (2015) Classifying phonological categories in imagined and articulated speech. _In Proceedings of ICASSP 2015_, Brisbane Australia ABSTRACT This paper presents a new dataset combining 3 modalities (EEG, facial, and audio) during imagined and vocalized phonemic and single-word prompts. We pre-process the EEG data, compute features for all 3 modalities, and perform binary classiﬁcation of phonological categories using a combination of these modalities. For example, a deep-belief network obtains accuracies over 90% on identifying consonants, which is signiﬁcantly more accurate than two baseline support vector machines. We also classify between the different states (resting, stimuli, active thinking) of the recording, achieving accuracies of 95%. These data may be used to learn multimodal relationships, and to develop silent-speech and brain-computer interfaces. Links: ------ [1] http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~complingweb/data/karaOne/karaOne.html

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PhD Studentships – Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems (CRNS), Plymouth University, UK
by Roman Borisyuk Aug. 3, 2015

Aug. 3, 2015

PhD Studentships – Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems (CRNS), Plymouth University, UK Following on the exceptional performance of Plymouth University in the UK Research Excellence Framework 2014, the university is now advertising the availability of 50 PhD studentships for study commencing in 2015/16. Of these studentships, at least two will be allocated to research projects and supervisors of the Centre for Robotics and Neural Systems (CRNS), within the Faculty of Science and Engineering. The first studentship can cover any topic within the CRNS research areas: * Cognitive and Humanoid Robotics * Computational Neuroscience * Artificial Intelligence The second studentship will focus on Autonomous Systems, possibly with relevance to unmanned marine systems, and will be in collaboration with the School of Marine Science and Engineering: For more details on the CRNS research projects, interests and supervisors, see: https://www1.plymouth.ac.uk/research/crns/Pages/default.aspx For general information on the studentships and application procedure, see: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/student-life/your-studies/the-graduate-school/fu… We recommend that in the application form and cover letter you specify a research topic and preferred supervisor. You are also encouraged to contact the individual supervisors before applying, for informal discussion. The application deadline is 15 September 2015 Roman Borisyuk, DSc, PhD Professor of Computational Neuroscience School of Computing and Mathematics University of Plymouth A224, Portland Sq Plymouth, PL4 8AA UK Phone: +44 (0) 1752 584949 E-mail: RBorisyuk(a)plymouth.ac.uk<mailto:RBorisyuk@plymouth.ac.uk> ________________________________ [http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/images/email_footer.gif]<http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/worldclass> This email and any files with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the recipient to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient then copying, distribution or other use of the information contained is strictly prohibited and you should not rely on it. If you have received this email in error please let the sender know immediately and delete it from your system(s). Internet emails are not necessarily secure. While we take every care, Plymouth University accepts no responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan emails and their attachments. Plymouth University does not accept responsibility for any changes made after it was sent. Nothing in this email or its attachments constitutes an order for goods or services unless accompanied by an official order form.

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Call for participation NEUROMOD'2015, Neurotechnix'2015, 16-17 November, Lisbon
by Jaime Ibánez Pereda Aug. 2, 2015

Aug. 2, 2015

(Please accept our apologies if you receive multiple copies of this call) ******************************************************************************************* Dear colleagues, We are pleased to invite you to participate in the upcoming “Symposium on Neuromodulation-based Approaches for Neural Rehabilitation - NEUROMOD 2015”, to be held on November 16-17, at the Neurotechnix 2015 conference, in Lisbon. NEUROMOD website: http://www.neurotechnix.org/neuromod.aspx IMPORTANT DATES: Paper Submission: September 10, 2015 Authors Notification: September 25, 2015 Camera Ready and Registration: October 6, 2015 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DESCRIPTION Neuromodulation is a rapidly-growing field, encompassing the application of targeted electrical/chemical/biological stimuli to the nervous system in order to improve function and quality of life. At present, an increasing number of implantable and non-invasive techniques are being proposed and made available to the clinicians, to stimulate CNS plasticity and foster recovery from motor, neurological and psychiatric disorders. Advancing in the field of neuromodulation represents challenges to build accurate neurophysiological models, understanding mechanisms of neuromodulation at cellular and systems levels, defining optimal engineering methodologies, and developing clinical application to treat patients. This session provides an opportunity for researchers/engineers/clinicians to present and discuss novel neurorehabilitation paradigms based on neuromodulation targeted at the spinal and/or supraspinal level. Top quality papers at NEUROMOD will be eligible for inclusion in the post-congress IOP journal of best papers or even for the best-paper award to be presented at the main congress, NEUROTECHNIX. This special session/symposium is part of the International Congress on Neurotechnology, Electronics and Informatics (NEUROTECHNIX - http://www.neurotechnix.org/) which is sponsored by the Institute for Systems and Technologies of Information and Control and Communication (INSTICC) and held in Cooperation with the Associacao Portuguesa de EEG e Neurofisiologia ClÌnica (APEEGNC), Neurotech Network, International Neural Network Society (INNS), Nansen Neuroscience Network, World Federation for NeuroRehabilitation (WFNR), Sociedade Portuguesa de Neurologia (SPN), International Neuromodulation Society (INS), International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN) and International Brain Research Organization (IBRO). All accepted Extended Abstracts will be published in the Book of Abstracts of the congress and on CD-ROM support, without ISBN. All accepted Complete Papers (full and short) will be published in the Congress Proceedings, under an ISBN reference, on paper and on CD-ROM support. All papers presented at the congress venue will also be available at the SCITEPRESS Digital Library. SCITEPRESS is a member of CrossRef and every paper is given a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). The Congress Proceedings will be submitted to appropriate indexes for indexation. A short list of presented papers will be selected so that revised and extended versions of these papers may be published by IOP Publishing on Journal of Neural Engineering. With this workshop we would like to bring together different researchers already active in the development of new neuromodulation techniques and protocols, with the goal of identifying the optimal developments and assessment strategies to be targeted in future studies and applications. Please check further details at the Special Session website available at: http://www.neurotechnix.org/neuromod.aspx Should you have any question or suggestions please don't hesitate to contact us. CO-CHAIRS: Stefano Piazza, Neural Rehabilitation Group, CSIC, Spain Jaime Ibanez, Neural Rehabilitation Group, CSIC, Spain Julian Taylor, HNP Toledo, Spain and Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research, United Kingdom

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[publication and call for dialog] IEEE CIS Newsletter on Autonomous Mental Development, Spring 2015
by Pierre-Yves Oudeyer July 31, 2015

July 31, 2015

Dear colleagues, I am happy to announce the release of the latest issue of the IEEE CIS Newsletter on Autonomous Mental Development (open access). This is the biannual newsletter of the computational developmental sciences and developmental robotics community, studying mechanisms of lifelong learning and development in machines and humans. It is available at: https://flowers.inria.fr/AMDNL-V12-N1.pdf Featuring dialog: === “Will social robots need to be consciously aware?” === Dialog Initiated by Janet Wiles, with responses from Axel Cleeremans, Yasuko Kitano, Cornelius Weber and Stefan Wermter, Justin Hart and Brian Scassellati, Juyang Weng, Guy Hoffman and Moran Cerf. Several dimensions of the question stand out. First, as we are very far from understanding what “consciousness” is, it appears that building robots capable of various forms of self- and other- awareness, and importantly how they can develop progressively these capabilities, can be very useful in the quest to unveil the underlying mechanisms. Second, as consciousness is a multiscale complex systems, multiple approaches and perspectives need to be taken in this process of robot building. Third, when one looks at applications, it is the function, and not the nature, of consciousness which becomes the relevant angle of analysis, and several ethical questions arise. Call for new dialog: === "Representational redescription: the next challenge?" === New dialog initiated by Stéphane Doncieux It has long been known in AI that having a good representation is key for machines to solve complex problems. However, so far good representations have been pre-programmed by engineers. What technical approaches could we imagine to allow machines to select, and even more important to find, new spaces of representations? Are techniques like deep learning general enough for realising such a challenge for lifelong learning robots? Do we need other approaches such as Darwinian mechanisms operating in the brain, like in neural Darwinism? Those of you interested in reacting to this dialogue initiation are welcome to submit a response by October 30th, 2015. length of each response must be between 600 and 800 words including references (contact pierre-yves.oudeyer(a)inria.fr) You will also find news about the latest activities of the AMD Technical Committee and the ICDL-Epirob 2015 conference, and a call for candidates to become the new editor of the newsletter. As I have been editor of the newsletter for around 8 years, and I have now the AMD TC Chair duty, it is now time for other ideas and energies to take the lead of the newsletter. I take this opportunity to thank Fabien Benureau for his help as editorial assistant. Let me remind you that previous issues of the newsletter are all open-access and available at: http://www.cse.msu.edu/amdtc/amdnl/ I wish you a stimulating reading! Best regards, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, Editor of the IEEE CIS Newsletter on Autonomous Mental Development Chair of the IEEE CIS AMD Technical Committee on AMD Research director, Inria Head of Flower project-team Inria and Ensta ParisTech, France http://www.pyoudeyer.com https://flowers.inria.fr http://www.poppy-project.org

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