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Final Call for Papers: Extracellular Space

by Reinoud Maex

JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE NEUROSCIENCE http://www.worldscinet.com/jin Call for Papers! Special Issue on Extracellular Space In experimental neuroscience, most electric signals are picked up from the electrolytic (or colloidal) solution that constitutes extracellular (interneuronal) space, yet the origin of these potentials is incompletely understood. Even more, theoreticians have recently argued about the physical principles underlying these phenomena. The present special issue invites experimental and theoretical work that can shed light on electric phenomena in extracellular space, with an emphasis on extracellular potentials and endogenous electric field interactions. The contributions solicited are original research papers and comprehensive reviews on methodological aspects. Submission deadline: 30 September 2016 Contact: Dr. Reinoud Maex reinoud.maex(a)ens.fr Questions that may be addressed are (but are not limited to): 1. The nature of extracellular potentials - What is nature of the electric currents, and what is the velocity (distribution) of the ions involved? Since membrane currents underlie the extracellular currents, what are the relative contributions of synaptic versus voltage-gated channels, excitatory versus inhibitory synapses, capacitive currents? How important are Lorenz forces between currents (due to the generated magnetic fields) and is there a contribution of polarization currents? - Is extracellular space purely resistive, or is a capacitive component involved, and what factors (such as ionic concentration, Debye shielding, etc.) contribute to its resistivity? 2. Modeling of extracellular potentials and electric field interactions - What level of detail is needed to model extracellular electrical phenomena, and which formalism can be employed? How valid is the cable equation, or need slow concentration changes of the major ionic components involved be modeled explicitly? How can LFP calculations be incorporated in simulation software? - Can volume transmission be simulated adequately as volume conductors? Are ephaptic coupling effects adequately simulated in one dimension? 3. Neuronal inference from measured extracellular potentials - What is the importance of the electrode characteristics for the proper interpretation of the measured signals? - What are the underlying assumptions, and limitations, of current-source-density analysis? How valid is the dipole approximation? Why are recent experiments being interpreted in terms of monopoles, and can single-compartmental model neurons generate local field potentials at all? - What can be learned from the power density distribution of signal frequencies? 4. Neurostimulation - What is the effect on neurons of an externally applied current or potential, and what mechanism (or rationale) underlies deep brain stimulation? 5. Physiological roles of extracellular potentials and endogenous electrical fields - Do extracellular potentials contribute to neuron-neuron and neuron-glia communication? Can there be a role for extracellular potentials in the homeostasis, clearance, and volume regulation of extracellular space, and in the control of blood flow and of the blood-brain-barrier. - What is the integrative role of endogenous electrical fields in brain function?

June 16, 2016

Papers on networks of neurons with nonlinear dendrites and Binary Synapses trained by structural plasticity

by Arindam Basu

Dear all Let me draw your attention to some work done by our group over the past few years in developing networks of neurons with lumped dendritic nonlinearity and binary synapses. The connections on each dendritic branch is sparse and the neurons learn to classify patterns when trained using different structural plasticity rules. Thus learning happens by modiying network connection matrix and not by weight change. These networks have advantage for hardware implementations--reduced memory and resistance to mismatch due to binary synapses. We have demonstrated supervised and unsupervised spike time based learning rules and have used these networks as readout of liquid state machines, to improve the reservoir in a liquid state machine, to classify spike latency patterns like tempotron or to classify MNIST images. I summarize the papers below and also include arxiv links for your reading pleasure. 1. S. Hussain, S. C. Liu and A. Basu, "Biologically plausible, Hardware-friendly Structural Learning for Spike-based pattern classification using a simple model of Active Dendrites," Neural Computation , vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 845-897, April 2015 link: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1411.5881.pdf ** Margin based learning, spike time based supervised learning, results on UCI dataset 2. S. Roy, A. Banerjee and A. Basu, "Liquid State Machine with Dendritically Enhanced Readout for Low-power, Neuromorphic VLSI Implementations," IEEE Trans. on Biomedical Circuits & Systems , vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 681-695, 2014. link:http://arxiv.org/pdf/1411.5458.pdf ** Readout of LSM, 30X less binary synapses compared to parallel perceptron 3. S. Roy, P. P. San, S. Hussain, Lee Wang Wei and A. Basu, "Learning Spike Time Codes through Morphological Learning with Binary Synapses," IEEE Trans. on Neural Networks & Learning Systems , vol. 27, no. 7, July 2016. link: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1506.05212.pdf ** Classifying spike time latency patterns, comparison with tempotron 4. S. Hussain and A. Basu, "Multi-class Classification by Adaptive Network of Dendritic Neurons with Binary Synapses using Structural Plasticity," Frontiers in Neuroscience , Mar, 2016. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2016.00113 link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4814530/ ** Ensemble learning, adaptive allocation of dendrites, performance on MNIST, hardware savings analysis 5. S. Roy and A. Basu, "An Online Unsupervised Structural Plasticity Algorithm for Spiking Neural Networks," IEEE Trans. on Neural Networks and Learning Systems , accepted, 2016. link: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1512.01314.pdf ** unsupervised spike time based learning, sequence learning 6.S. Roy and A. Basu, "An online structural plasticity rule for generating better reservoirs," Neural Computation , accepted, 2016. link: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1604.05459.pdf ** Improving separation property of reservoirs in LSM Thanks Arindam Basu Assistant Professor School of EEE Nanyang Technological University http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/arindam.basu/ Regards, Arindam ________________________________ CONFIDENTIALITY: This email is intended solely for the person(s) named and may be confidential and/or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it, notify us and do not copy, use, or disclose its contents. Towards a sustainable earth: Print only when necessary. Thank you.

June 16, 2016

comp-neuro current status

by Wijnants Mike

Dear comp-neuro user, As you may have noticed the comp-neuro mailing list has been offline for a few weeks. Unfortunately we lost access to the previous domain name because of miscommunication with the domain provider. To serve the computational neuroscience community we have decided to restart the service with a temporary domain as comp-neuro(a)neuroinformatics.be We plan to migrate to another domain name in the future and will announce this when ready. Groetjes, Erik

June 16, 2016

PhD position on Multistable perception : modelisation and analyse gaze and electroencephalographic correlates

by Alan Chauvin

Application are invited for a PhD studentship in Modelling multistable perception by stochastic resonance processes. Closing dates for applications : 15th June 2016. In summary, the main objectives of this PhD are to unify available models of stochastic resonance and to experimentally evaluate the contribution of gaze noise to decision making processes in multistable perception. To this aim, the successful candidate will contribute to theoretical, methodological, and experimental studies. Three research axes are identified: (1) developing stochastic resonance models and comparing these models to the recent Bayesian models described in [Moreno-Bote, Knill & Pouget, 2011]; (2) development of a tool set for the analysis of the neuronal correlates based on EEG feature extraction and machine learning for perceptual change prediction; (3) the design of experimental paradigms for multistable perception, with gaze and/or EEG recordings. This subject is on a confluence of multiple research axes, all essential for a successful PhD : • Stochastic resonance modelling: GIPSA-lab/CICS • Retinal modelling: GIPSA-lab/ViBS, LPNC • Study of micro-saccades: LPNC, GIPSA-lab/CICS • Gaze experiment design: GIPSA-lab/ViBS, LPNC • Joint Gaze and EEG experiment design : GIPSA-lab/ViBS • EEG signal analysis : GIPSA-lab/ViBS. Apllicants should have a strong background in stochastic signal processing and have strong interest in pstychophysics, oculometry and EERG recording. French is not mandatory. The Gipsa-lab is situated in the University Grenoble-Alpes (UGA : http://www.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr) The UGA is located in Grenoble, an international city and a wonderful place to live, work, and study. Nestled in the Alps, Grenoble enjoys an incomparable natural setting, with opportunities for sports lovers and nature enthusiasts alike. More information on : https://www.adum.fr/as/ed/page.pl?site=edeeats&page=CDlisteSujetFleche *PhD director : * Steeve Zozor (CR, CNRS, HDR EEATS, GIPSA-lab, research group CICS) *steeve.zozor(a)gipsa-lab.grenoble-inp.fr <steeve.zozor(a)gipsa-lab.grenoble-inp.fr>**, tel 33 (0)4 76 82 71 04* *PhD supervisors : * Ronald Phlypo (MCF Grenoble-INP, GIPSA-lab, research group ViBS) *ronald.phlypo(a)gipsa-lab.grenoble-inp.fr <ronald.phlypo(a)gipsa-lab.grenoble-inp.fr>**, tel 33 (0)4 76 82 64 86* Alan Chauvin (MCF UGA, lab LPNC, research group Perception et Sensori-Motricité) alan.chauvin@ <alan.chauvin(a)upmf-grenoble.fr>univ <alan.chauvin(a)upmf-grenoble.fr>-grenoble- <alan.chauvin(a)upmf-grenoble.fr> alpes <alan.chauvin(a)upmf-grenoble.fr>.fr <alan.chauvin(a)upmf-grenoble.fr>*, tel 33 (0)4 76 82 69 26* -- Laboratoire de Psychologie et NeuroCognition LPNC CNRS UMR 5105 Universite Pierre-Mendes France (UPMF) Batiment Science de l'Homme et Math (BSHM) 38041 Grenoble Cedex 09 Alan.Chauvin(a)upmf-grenoble.fr 33 (0) 476 825 926

May 20, 2016

Researcher positions at ATR Brain Labs (Kyoto, Japan)

by Haruo HOSOYA

Dear all, I am pleased to announce that ATR Brain Labs in Kyoto, Japan has open positions for researchers or engineers in theoretical visual neuroscience. I would appreciate if you forward the following message to anyone who might be interested. Best regards, Haruo Hosoya, Senior Researcher Department of Dynamic Brain Imaging ATR Brain Labs, Cognitive Mechanisms Laboratories ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Researcher and Engineer positions at ATR Brain Labs, Kyoto, Japan Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR), Kyoto, Japan, has open positions for researchers and research engineers in computational visual neuroscience. We seek for applicants who are particularly interested in theoretical studies on hierarchical vision models based on statistical learning. The studies should be motivated toward understanding of computation and representation in visual cortex, where a stronger emphasis should be put on biological connections and theoretical insights rather than short-term applicability. Specific topics may include but are not limited to: - category-specific representations in higher visual areas - visual recognition and imagery - relationship between neural activities and visual consciousness (perception) * Requirements for Researchers Applicants must have a Ph.D. or be near completion. Successful candidates will have expertise in one of the mathematical areas listed below, as well as strong interest in neuroscience and good programming experience. – computational neuroscience, machine learning, computer vision * Requirements for Research Engineers Applicants must have good programming experience and strong motivations to take part in the research above mainly from program development. * Number of openings A few * Employment conditions Position : Full-time Researcher / Full-time Research Engineer Tenure : Single year based contract, renewable based on evaluation Treatment: Based on individual performance Work Location: Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan * Application materials Please submit the following five materials to the contact address below, either in printed or electronic form: 1 CV 2 List of publications 3 Reprints of 1-3 major publications (applicants for Researchers) or summary of past projects 4 Essay (up to two pages in A4 or letter size) describing: – Summary of your previous research and/or development – Interests for research – Additional research skills not directly foreseeable from 1 or 2 5 Recommendation letters from more than two researchers If submitted in printed form, original documents will not be returned. * Judging system After documentary examination, we ask for presentation and interview if needed. * Starting date Soon (negotiable) * Deadline for application Opens until positions are filled. * Contact Department of Dynamic Brain Imaging ATR Cognitive Mechanisms Laboratories (Application for Researcher Position) 2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto 619-0288, Japan Email: dbi-tvn at atr.jp at=@ Web: http://www.cns.atr.jp/dbi/en/open-positons/ * Use of personal data All personal data received will be properly managed and only be used for the purpose of recruitment.

May 20, 2016

Postdoctoral fellowship in primate neurophysiology, University of Arizona (Gothard Lab)

by Ueli Rutishauser

*Postdoctoral fellowship in primate neurophysiology.* *University of Arizona, College and Medicine, Department of Physiology, Tucson. * Applications are invited to join a Medical Research Fund for Neuroscience and NIH funded research program investigating the neural mechanisms of emotion and social interactions in non-human primates. The applicant will carry out neural recordings from the amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex of macaque monkeys using multielectrode arrays and will explore the patterns of neural activity within the brain and between brains of two monkeys engaged in social interactions. This will include, behavioral work with monkeys (training and preparation them for electrophysiological recordings), neurophysiological recordings, and data analysis. The applicant will have access to state-of-the art equipment, facilities, and will work in a team with established expertise in behavioral neurophysiology, with ample opportunity to learn new experimental approaches, techniques and methods. Candidates should have a recent PhD in systems or computational neuroscience with a track-record of first-author publications. Strong analytical and programming (Matlab or similar), skill and expertise in data analysis and statistics are essential. Individuals with strong analytical and technical skills who wish to expand into neurophysiological recordings are encouraged to apply, provided they are prepared to run quasi-independently neurophysiological experiments. Excellent written and oral English communication skills are required. The position is available from July 1st 2016, with a competitive salary commensurate with prior experience (NIH scale). The position is available with an initial appointment for one year and renewal based upon satisfactory performance. Applicants must pass background screening and health checks to be able to work with monkeys. The University of Arizona is an equal opportunity employers and women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Interested applicants should send a CV, statement of research accomplishments and interests, copies of 2-3 representative publications and contact information for 2-3 reference letters to Katalin Gothard at kgothard(a)email.arizona.edu Informal inquiries are welcome. Further information about the lab can be found at www.gothardlab.com (Please note I am posting this on behalf of a collaborator, please do not contact me for this job).

May 19, 2016

PhD positions

by Laurent Perrinet

Dear colleagues, We have an opportunity for funding a PhD position at the cross section between Aerial Robots, Vision, Neural Networks and Bio-Inspired Computer Vision: http://doc2amu.univ-amu.fr/en/controlling-an-aerial-robot-by-human-semaphor… The project has been pre-selected and we are looking for the ideal candidate to be finally selected (10 out of 20 projects are awarded). Applications are done online, but do not hesitate to contact us for any question related to the project or to the eligibility conditions (summarized below). Best regards, Laurent Perrinet and Franck Ruffier Student eligibility The following eligibility criteria must be fulfilled in order for your application to be evaluated by the Selection Committee. Applications not meeting the criteria will not be evaluated and will be rejected. For an application to be eligible: Specific Doctoral School requirements in terms of marks, experience, or any other matter that is a prerequisite to enrolment to the doctorate programme must be met. When applicable, specific doctoral school requirements are indicated in each Call for Candidates. You must be at the time of recruitment, in possession/or finalizing the master degree or equivalent degree which would formally entitle to embark on a doctorate. You must be available to engage in the programme at the starting date (December 1st, 2016) At the time of recruitment, not to have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in France for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the reference date (December 1st, 2016). Compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays in France are not taken into account. It must be submitted on the Web Portal before the deadline: June 24th 2016, at midnight. It must consist of a complete Application Package. Incomplete or missing documents are not acceptable. -- Laurent Perrinet - INT (UMR 7289)/CNRS http://invibe.net/LaurentPerrinet <http://invibe.net/LaurentPerrinet>

May 19, 2016

［CFP］ICDM2016 Workshop Data Mining in Human Activity Analysis (DMHAA)

by 刘伟锋

[Apologies for cross-postings] ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊ Call for papers ICDM2016 Workshop Data Mining in Human Activity Analysis (DMHAA) December 12, 2016 http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/~xinmei/ICDM2016_Workshop/ICDM2016_Workshop.html ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊ Human activity analysis is an important area of computer vision and pattern recognition research with the rapid development of computing and sensing technologies such as the emergence of social network and wearable devices. It is becoming more and more critical to develop human-centered multimedia analytics including human behavior recognition, personal data mining, experiences of wearable-device applications, intelligent surveillance, semantic relationship analysis between heterogeneous multimedia. The development of the Internet of Things opens up great potential. Many data mining or machine learning techniques have recently been successfully developed and applied to human activity analysis. For example, smart devices (e.g. Microsoft’s SenseCam, Google Glass, smart phone, smart watches, portable EEG acquisition devices, etc.) facilitate the capture and collection of human activity multimedia; sparse representation is widely employed for human activity recognition; multi-view learning algorithms significantly boost the performance of human re-identify; manifold learning algorithms dramatically enhance the recognition rates in human behavior analysis where there is only a few labeled samples; and deep learning has produced promising results in many human-centered applications. Motivated by the inclination to collect a set of recent advances and results in these related topics, provide a platform for researchers to exchange their innovative ideas and attractive improvements on human activity analysis, and introduce interesting utilizations of data mining and machine learning algorithms for particular human-centered applications, this workshop will target emergent data mining methods for human activity analysis. To summarize, this workshop welcomes a broad range of submissions developing and using data mining techniques for human activity analysis. We are especially interested in 1) theoretical advances as well as algorithm developments in data mining for human activity analysis, 2) reports of practical applications and system innovations in human activity analysis, and 3) novel data sets as test bed for new developments, preferably with implemented standard benchmarks. The following list suggests topics of interest (but not limited to): • Multi-view Learning algorithms for Human Activity Analysis • Sparse and/or Manifold Learning for Human Activity Representation • Human Action Recognition in Images/Videos • Human Behavior Analysis • Human-centered Social Media Analytics • Smart Computing for Personal Data Mining • Deep Learning for Human-centered Media • Parallel Computing for Human-centered Media • Experiences of wearable-device applications • Human-centered Data Visualization • Analytics developed from Computational Psychoanalysis and related underpinnings. Accepted papers will be included in the IEEE ICDM 2016 Workshops Proceedings volume published by IEEE Computer Society Press, and will also be included in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library. The workshop proceedings will be in a CD separated from the CD of the main conference. The CD is produced by IEEE Conference Publishing Services (CPS). Important Dates August 12, 2016: Due date for full workshop papers September 13, 2016: Notification of workshop papers acceptance to authors September 20, 2016: Camera-ready deadline for accepted papers December 12, 2016: Workshop date Instruction for paper submission The page limit of workshop papers is 8 pages in the standard IEEE 2-column format ( http://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/templates.html) including the bibliography and any possible appendices. All papers must be formatted according to the IEEE Computer Society proceedings manuscript style, following IEEE ICDM 2016 submission guidelines available at http://icdm2016.eurecat.org/. Papers should be submitted in PDF format, electronically, using the CyberChair submission system ( https://wi-lab.com/cyberchair/2016/icdm16/scripts/submit.php?subarea=S08&un… ). Registration and expenses Every workshop paper must have at least one paid registration in order to be published, no matter whether the author is a workshop organizer or an invited speaker. Workshop organizers: Dr. Xinmei Tian Department of Electronic Engineering and Information Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China, 230027. Email: xinmei(a)ustc.edu.cn Website: http://staff.ustc.edu.cn/~xinmei/ Phone: +86 551-63600281 Dr. Weifeng Liu, China University of Petroleum (East China), #66, Changjiang Road West, Huangdao District, Qingdao 266480, China, Email: liuwf(a)upc.edu.cn Prof. Fionn Murtagh Department of Computing and Mathematics, University of Derby, Derby DE22 1GB, UK, and Department of Computing, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, SE14 6NW, UK.. Email: fmurtagh(a)acm.org Website: http://www.fmurtagh.info

May 18, 2016

PhD/MSc Student Position in Systems Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, Canada

by Tatsuno, Masami

[Apologies for cross-postings] --- PhD/MSc Student Position in Systems Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge, Canada --- One PhD/MSc student position is available immediately in the labs of Prof. Masami Tatsuno and Prof. Majid Mohajerani at the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience (CCBN), University of Lethbridge, Canada (http://www.uleth.ca/artsci/neuroscience/about) We investigate memory processes of the awake/sleeping brain experimentally and computationally with the goal of understanding how spontaneous neural activity during sleep facilitates performance improvement. We use the state-of-the-art multi-electrode recordings from freely behaving rodents and imaging techniques such as two-photon Calcium imaging and wide-field voltage imaging. The successful candidate will investigate how external manipulation of sleep contributes to consolidation of memory. Several different methods including transcranial direct current stimulation, targeted memory reactivation and optogenetics will be employed. The successful candidate will also have an opportunity to participate in developing a novel analysis method for neural signals and modeling memory function. A high degree of interaction with the labs in the Brain Dynamics group ( http://lethbridgebraindynamics.com ) as well as in CCBN ( http://www.uleth.ca/artsci/neuroscience ) will be also expected. Motivated candidates should email a short letter of research interest including their skills and experience, CV and the names of three references to Masami Tatsuno (tatsuno(a)uleth.ca<mailto:tatsuno@uleth.ca>). Please do not have reference letters sent unless requested. Applicants should put "SysNeuro PhD/MSc recruitment" in the subject of their email. Various funding will be available depending on the candidate's qualification. Lethbridge is located two hours from Calgary, 90 minutes from the Canadian Rockies and is a safe, family friendly environment. ********************************************* Masami Tatsuno, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Neuroscience The University of Lethbridge Email: tatsuno(a)uleth.ca<mailto:tatsuno@uleth.ca> http://lethbridgebraindynamics.com/masami_tatsuno Majid Mohajerani, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Neuroscience The University of Lethbridge Email: mohajerani(a)uleth.ca<mailto:mohajerani@uleth.ca> http://lethbridgebraindynamics.com/majid-mohajerani/ *********************************************

May 17, 2016

[jobs] Lecture in Computer Science, Aberystwyth UK

by Patricia Shaw

Lecturer in Computer Science, Aberystwyth University, Wales, UK £34,576 - £37,768 per annum Closing Date: 19 June 2016 Interview Date: 6 July 2016 Ref No: IMPACS.16.06 Further details and to apply: https://jobs.aber.ac.uk/en/vacancy/lecturer-in-computer-science-264661.html The Department of Computer Science wishes to appoint a lecturer to undertake teaching and research. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to both postgraduate and undergraduate teaching, and to demonstrate a strong research record in an area that is of direct relevance to at least one of the four research groups within the Department: *Intelligent Robotics; Vision, Graphics and Visualisation; Advanced Reasoning; and Bioinformatics*, with a preference for *Bioinformatics or Space Robotics*. The interviewed candidates will be expected to present a lecture or lecture excerpt as part of the selection process. Prospective applicants may discuss the post informally with the Head of Department, Dr Bernie Tiddeman (e-mail: bpt(a)aber.ac.uk) or the Director of the Institute of Maths, Physics and Computer Science, Professor Qiang Shen (qqs(a)aber.ac.uk)

May 17, 2016