- Comp-neuro - lists.cnsorg.org

OpenWorm Kickstarter Campaign
by Shreejoy Tripathy 12 May '14

12 May '14

Dear Colleagues, I'm writing to let you know about the OpenWorm Kickstarter Campaign (link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openworm/openworm-a-digital-organism-i…) As you may know, the goal of the OpenWorm project is to digitally simulate a C. Elegans organism. By design, the project is organized in a geographically distributed fashion and all of the work is being done in the open (on GitHub and Youtube) using entirely open source code and public data. Though I’m not a worm researcher, I’m supporting OpenWorm’s Kickstarter because I strongly believe in their overall mission. As a computational neuroscientist, I see the project as a necessary first step in the simulation of more complex organisms, including mice and ultimately humans. Moreover, I see my Kickstarter contribution as a future investment in the open source tools and methodologies that OpenWorm develops that I hope to eventually use in my own research. More philosophically, I think that lately the field of neuroscience has suffered from some amount of “overhype”, especially given the initially promised outcomes of recent large-scale brain initiatives (e.g., recording from all neurons in a mammalian brain, simulating an entire human brain). While these projects have been hugely successful in catalyzing widespread public support of basic neuroscience research, many neuroscientists see these promises as perhaps a bridge too far given the current research state. Though OpenWorm's goals are itself highly ambitious, the relative simplicity of the worm (named neurons, stereotyped connectomes and musculature, the ability to image neuronal activity in vivo) lends itself well to this attempt. By conducting the project in the open and basing success on quantifiable goals (i.e., how similar are the simulated worm's movements and neural activity to experimental measurements), the project will serve as a roadmap for future endeavours in multi-scale data integration and organismal simulation. Lastly, the geographically distributed and highly interdisciplinary nature of the project makes it challenging to receive funding through traditional NIH-style mechanisms. For this reason, I'm asking you to join me in supporting the project's Kickstarter campaign. More information: OpenWorm Website: http://www.openworm.org Kickstarter campaign link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openworm/openworm-a-digital-organism-i… Project overview by OpenWorm member and neuroscientist Jim Hokanson: http://jimandscience.blogspot.ca/2014/05/modeling-worm-thoughts-on-openworm… OpenWorm QandA on Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/246dlw/science_ama_series_im_steph… Sincerely, Shreejoy Tripathy Post-doc and Developer of neuroelectro.org University of British Columbia Centre for High-Throughput Biology

1 0

CAN satellite workshop
by Gunnar Blohm 12 May '14

12 May '14

*Invitation to the CAN 2014 satellite workshop on "Neural circuits of health and disease: from computation to experiment" * ** We would like to invite you to join us at the CAN 2014 satellite workshop on "Neural circuits of health and disease: from computation to experiment" to be held on *Monday, May 26 between 5pm and 10pm *at the Montreal Hilton Bonaventure. This workshop is organized by the Canadian Association for Neuroinformatics and Computational Neuroscience (CNCN) and jointly sponsored by CIHR and NeuroDevNet. The *goals *of this workshop are to (1) showcase the significance of CNCN-experimental collaborations, (2) enable new breakthroughs on major health questions through break-out sessions matching CNCN expertise with experimentalists, and (3) prepare a joint vision on how CNCN will optimally benefit health research in Canada. We hope to build new collaborations, exchange ideas and demonstrate the usefulness of CNCN. In addition, we aim at providing specific suggestions to funding agencies on how CNCN could further boost Canadian health research. We are also very honored to have *Dr. Eve Marder* (Brandeis University; former SfN president) as a keynote lecturer. Please see below for a detailed program. If you are interested in participating, please email Dr. Gunnar Blohm (gunnar.blohm(a)queensu.ca <mailto:gunnar.blohm@queensu.ca>) with a short statement of interest and benefit of participation to you. Although this workshop is mainly intended for PIs, we also encourage senior graduate students and postdocs to apply. Participation is by invitation only. The CNCN steering committee will select 60 participants (10 students/postdocs) out of all applications. Thanks to CIHR and NeuroDevNet, workshop participation is free and includes dinner. We hope to see you at the workshop! Sincerely Gunnar Blohm & Paul Pavlidis (co-organizers, co-directors of CNCN) _Preliminary Program_: 5pm -- 5:15pm -- Welcome by Paul Pavlidis & Gunnar Blohm Showcases of CNCN-experimental collaborations 5-15pm -- 5:45pm: Neurodevelopmental disorders (TBD) 5:45pm -- 6:15pm: Stroke (TBD) 6:15pm -- 6:45pm: Changes in the dynamics of network oscillations in hippocampus as markers of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer disease mice models (Frances Skinner, U Toronto; Sylvain Williams, McGill) 6:45pm -- 7:15pm: Genomics and neuropsychiatric disorders (Gustavo Turecki, McGill; Paul Pavlidis, UBC) 7:15pm -- 8:30pm: 6 chaired round table discussions & dinner 8:30pm -- 9:30pm: keynote lecture (Dr. Eve Marder) 9:30pm -- open end: open discussion on vision of CNCN -- ------------------------------------------------------- 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(a)QueensU.ca Web: http://www.compneurosci.com/

1 0

Postdoctoral Position: Psychiatry and Theoretical Neuroscience
by Andre Longtin 09 May '14

09 May '14

A two-year postdoctoral position is immediately available at the interface of psychiatry and theoretical neuroscience at the University of Ottawa's Center for Neural Dynamics. This is a joint position between the Mind, Brain Imaging and Neuroethics group of Prof. Georg Northoff at the Institute of Mental Health Research and the Neurophysics and Nonlinear Dynamics group of Prof. André Longtin in the Physics Department. The candidate should be open to learning and, most optimally, already experienced in the analysis of the temporal and spatial activity structure in large scale neural data sets, using various measures inspired from linear (e.g. cross-spectral and phase coherence), nonlinear and stochastic dynamics. Ideally the candidate would also be experienced in modelling and simulation. The focus is on the perception of time, in particular on how it is altered by excitation-inhibition imbalances. Candidates should have a PhD degree in physics, engineering, mathematics, computer science, neuroscience, computational neuroscience or cognitive neuroscience, an excellent related research experience in neuroscience, as well as strong computational, written and oral communication skills. Applications consisting of a CV and a brief statement of research interest should be sent to alongtin(a)uottawa.ca . Applications will be considered until the position is filled.

1 0

NEURON course discounts continue!
by Ted Carnevale 09 May '14

09 May '14

The early registration discounts for this year's NEURON summer courses were originally supposed to end today, but we have been able to arrange to continue the discounts for as long as seats remain open, or until the Friday May 30 registration deadline. NEURON Fundamentals June 21-24 This addresses all aspects of using NEURON to model individual neurons, and also introduces parallel simulation and the fundamentals of modeling networks. Includes a healthy serving of Python. Parallel Simulation with NEURON June 25-26 This is for users who are already familiar with NEURON and need to create models that will run on parallel hardware. Special attention will be paid to critical topics such as powerful strategies and idioms for implementing and managing models, measuring and improving performance, and debugging. $1050 for the Fundamentals course $650 for the Parallel Simulation course $1600 for both These fees cover handout materials plus food and housing on the campus of UC San Diego. For more information and the on-line registration form, see http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/courses --Ted

1 0

Postdoc position in molecular modeling of signaling pathways
by Erik De Schutter 09 May '14

09 May '14

A postdoctoral position is available in the Computational Neuroscience Unit of Dr. Erik De Schutter at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan (http://www.irp.oist.jp/cns/) to model molecular aspects of cerebellar Purkinje cell function. We study the signaling pathways involved in cerebellar long-term depression at the parallel fiber to Purkinje cell synapse. You will be able to use a detailed stochastic model using the STEPS simulator (http://steps.sourceforge.net/) that replicates calcium uncaging experiments in detail (Antunes and De Schutter 2012). This well mixed model with about 400 different reactions has generated new insights in the sources of stochasticity in synaptic plasticity induction. Now we want to expand this work in two directions: to include diffusion, distributing reactions between the spine and dendrite, and to include induction of parallel fiber long-term potentiation. Candidates should have experience with modeling molecular reactions. Knowledge of signaling pathways involved in synaptic plasticity preferred. QUALIFICATIONS: Good English language skills are essential. There will be ample opportunity to interact with modelers and software developers in the lab who are working on several Purkinje cell and cerebellar related projects and with other scientists at the English language multi-disciplinary environment of OIST. Write me if interested. Include CV and names of two references.

1 0

Open Position: Scientific Computing Specialist at Columbia University Zuckerman Institute
by Rajendra Bose 08 May '14

08 May '14

Announcing an open position for “Scientific Computing Specialist” in the Research Computing group at the new Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia. Please pass along the link below to anybody who may be interested. http://www.columbia.edu/~rb2568/zmbbi_scs.pdf Thank you-- Raj Rajendra Bose, Ph.D. 2014 Secretary, Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation http://casc.org Director, Research Computing Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute Columbia University Tel: 212-851-2918 http://zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu

1 0

KOGWIS 2014 Last Call for Papers
by Anna Belardinelli 08 May '14

08 May '14

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/…

2 2

Reminder: Abstract submission closes May 16 for IWSYP'14 (I International Workshop on Synaptic Plasticity) in Brazil
by Thiago Matos Pinto 08 May '14

08 May '14

*I International Workshop on Synaptic Plasticity - IWSYP'14* * September 8-9, 2014* *Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil* iwsyp14.thiagomatospinto.com University of São Paulo The I International Workshop on Synaptic Plasticity - IWSYP'14 will bring together *experimentalists and theoreticians* who have contributed significantly to understanding the biological mechanisms underlying *synaptic plasticity*. The aim of this workshop is to facilitate discussions and interactions in the effort towards increasing our understanding on synaptic plasticity in the brain. The IWSYP'14 will take place in the campus of *Ribeirão Preto* at the University of São Paulo in *Brazil* on September 8 and 9, 2014. You are welcome to join this workshop that focuses on the discussion of fresh ideas, the presentation of work in progress, and the establishment of a scientific network between young researchers. The workshop will be held in English. Participation is *free of charge*! This workshop is a satellite event of the XXXVIII Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for Neuroscience and Behavior (SBNeC), which will be held on September 10-13 in Búzios, Rio de Janeiro. The SBNeC meeting will also feature big names in Neuroscience, and will be a preparatory event for the 9th World Congress of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), which will take place in Rio de Janeiro in 2015. Organizers: *Thiago Matos Pinto *(Univesity of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) *Antonio Roque *(University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) Speakers: *Chris De Zeeuw* (Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands & Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) *Freek Hoebeek* (Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands) *Reinoud Maex* (École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France) *Ricardo Leão *(University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) *Thiago Matos Pinto *(University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil) Abstracts: *Submission of abstracts for poster and oral presentations are due by May 16, 2014*. We welcome both experimental and theoretical contributions addressing novel findings on topics related to synaptic plasticity. Please see iwsyp14.thiagomatospinto.com/abstracts for details. Important dates: *Abstract submission deadline: May 16, 2014* Notification of acceptance: June 13, 2014 Notification of oral/poster selection: June 30, 2014 Workshop dates: September 8-9, 2014 Please visit the IWSYP'14 website for program and further details: iwsyp14. thiagomatospinto.com You will also find us on Facebook at facebook.com/iwsyp14 We look forward to seeing you in Ribeirão Preto. With best wishes, Thiago Matos Pinto, IWSYP'14 Organizer

1 0

[meetings] Intl Conf. on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN 2014) - Call for Participation
by Stefan Wermter 07 May '14

07 May '14

Call for Participation. Early Registration is now open. ICANN 2014: 24th Annual Conference on Artificial Neural Networks 15 - 19 September 2014, University of Hamburg, Germany http://icann2014.org/ =================================================================== The International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks (ICANN) is the annual flagship conference of the European Neural Network Society (ENNS). In 2014 the University of Hamburg will organize the 24th ICANN Conference from 15th to 19th September 2014 in Hamburg, Germany. CHAIRS and ORGANISATION: General Chair: Stefan Wermter (Hamburg, Germany) Program co-Chairs Alessandro E.P. Villa (Lausanne, Switzerland, ENNS President) Wlodzislaw Duch (Torun, Poland & Singapore, ENNS Past-President) Petia Koprinkova-Hristova (Sofia, Bulgaria) Günther Palm (Ulm, Germany) Cornelius Weber (Hamburg, Germany) Timo Honkela (Helsinki, Finland) Local Organizing Committee Chairs: Sven Magg, Johannes Bauer, Jorge Chacon, Stefan Heinrich, Doreen Jirak, Katja Koesters, Erik Strahl KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Christopher M. Bishop (Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK) Yann LeCun (New York University, NY, USA) Kevin Gurney (University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK) Barbara Hammer (Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany) Jun Tani (KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea) Paul Verschure (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain) VENUE: Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany, home to over 1.8 million people. Situated at the river Elbe, the port of Hamburg is the second-largest port in Europe. The University of Hamburg is the largest institution for research and education in the north of Germany. The venue of the conference is the ESA building of the University of Hamburg, situated at Edmund-Siemers-Allee near the city centre and easily reachable from Dammtor Railway Station. Hamburg Airport can be reached easily via public transport. For the accomodation we arranged guaranteed rates for a couple of hotels in Hamburg for ICANN 2014. CONFERENCE TOPICS: ICANN 2014 will feature the main tracks Brain Inspired Computing and Machine Learning research, with strong cross-disciplinary interactions and applications. All research fields dealing with Neural Networks will be present at the conference. A non-exhaustive list of topics includes: Brain Inspired Computing: Cognitive models, Computational Neuroscience, Self-organization, Reinforcement Learning, Neural Control and Planning, Hybrid Neural-Symbolic Architectures, Neural Dynamics, Recurrent Networks, Deep Learning. Machine Learning: Neural Network Theory, Neural Network Models, Graphical Models, Bayesian Networks, Kernel Methods, Generative Models, Information Theoretic Learning, Reinforcement Learning, Relational Learning, Dynamical Models. Neural Applications for: Intelligent Robotics, Neurorobotics, Language Processing, Image Processing, Sensor Fusion, Pattern Recognition, Data Mining, Neural Agents, Brain-Computer Interaction, Neural Hardware, Evolutionary Neural Networks. CONFERENCE WEBSITE: http://www.icann2014.org *********************************************** Professor Dr. Stefan Wermter Chair of Knowledge Technology Department of Computer Science University of Hamburg Vogt Koelln Str. 30 22527 Hamburg, Germany http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~wermter/ http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/WTM/ ***********************************************

1 0

Special Issue of the Journal of Mathematical Neuroscience on Stochastic Network Models in Neuroscience
by Olivier Faugeras 07 May '14

07 May '14

Dear all, The Journal of Mathematical Neuroscience is pleased to announce a special issue on *Stochastic Network Models in Neuroscience*. This is in conjunction with the workshop Stochastic Network Models of Neocortex (a Festschrift for Jack Cowan) to be held in Banff International Research Station, July 13-18 2014: https://www.birs.ca/events/2014/5-day-workshops/14w5138 Research and review articles are sollicited and should be submitted to the Journal before September 30. More information on the call can be found on the JMN webpage: http://www.mathematical-neuroscience.com/ or directly at: http://www.mathematical-neuroscience.com/sites/10207/pdf/Cowan_JMN_v3.pdf Olivier Faugeras --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Olivier Faugeras : Professor : Equipe INRIA NeuroMathComp Team : co-editor in chief, Journal of Mathematical Neuroscience : http://www-sop.inria.fr/members/Olivier.Faugeras/index.en.html : Email: olivier.faugeras(a)inria.fr : Tel: +334 92 38 78 31 : Sec: +334 92 38 78 30 : ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 0