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Information Theory Tutorial
by James V Stone Feb. 20, 2018

Feb. 20, 2018

For those interested in a gentle introduction to information theory, please see: Information Theory: A Tutorial Introduction by James V Stone Abstract Shannon's mathematical theory of communication defines fundamental limits on how much information can be transmitted between the different components of any man-made or biological system. This paper is an informal but rigorous introduction to the main ideas implicit in Shannon's theory. An annotated reading list is provided for further reading. A pdf file of the article can be downloaded from the Cornell University Library archive: https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.05968 Comments and corrections welcome. regards, James V Stone -- Dr James V Stone Honorary Reader, Sheffield University, UK. http://jim-stone.staff.shef.ac.uk/BookBayes2012/books_by_jv_stone/index.html

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Carolina Neurostimulation Conference - May 21-23, 2018, Chapel Hill NC
by Sankar Alagapan Feb. 20, 2018

Feb. 20, 2018

Dear Colleagues, It is with great pleasure that we invite you to participate in the 1st Carolina Neurostimulation Conference (CNC) to be held *May 21-23, 2018 in Chapel Hill, NC, USA*. This is a premier conference for those working to advance our understanding of dynamics of the brain, body, and behavior, investigating the response to stimulation, and translating discoveries into clinical applications. Hosted by the Carolina Center for Neurostimulation <http://www.carolinaneurostimulation.org/>, CNC serves as a platform for networking for all researchers and specialists and exchanging ideas about the latest discoveries and innovations in brain stimulation and clinical treatments. We have a great lineup of speakers including keynotes from *Dr. Sarah Lisanby (NIH) *and* Dr. Kaspar Schindler (Inselspital)*. Central topics for discussion and presentations include TMS, tACS, tDCS, and methods such as modeling, imaging, analysis, and devices. * ------------------------------ * *Registration:* Please register at the link provided here <http://www.neurostimcarolina.org/registration.html> . The deadline for Registration is *May 1st 2018* Regular (Faculty, Postdocs, Industry Professionals) $165 Students (Graduate, Undergraduate) $95 UNC Members *(Registration required)* Free For a full program, and information regarding registration, travel, and accommodations please visit our conference website <http://www.neurostimcarolina.org/>. Like us on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/NeurostimCarolina/> for updates. * ------------------------------ * *Abstract Submission for Posters:* In addition to attending the plenary sessions, registrants are invited to participate in the conference’s poster session. Original contributions addressing theory, research, practice, and training/education issues, in any areas of neuromodulation and brain network dynamics are welcome. The deadline for abstract submission is *March 15th 2018.* Authors will be notified of acceptance in the first week of April. *Please follow the guidelines for the submission of your abstract.* · Max 500 words and 1 page including title, author(s), affiliation(s), and main body. · Structure: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions (References and Funding) · File format: single PDF file converted from the provided template <http://www.neurostimcarolina.org/abstract.html> · Email us to submit your abstract (neurostimulation(a)unc.edu) * ------------------------------ * *Travel Awards for Trainees:* We have funds allocated for trainee travel awards. All trainees (undergraduate students, graduate students, post docs, research associates) who will be presenting posters at the conference are eligible for travel awards. To apply for a travel award please complete the form in this link <http://www.neurostimcarolina.org/abstract.html> and email us at neurostimulation(a)unc.edu along with your CV. Please note that you must attend the conference and present your poster to receive the travel award. The deadline for Travel Awards is *March 15th 2018* * ------------------------------ * *Transcranial Electrical Stimulation Workshop:* Trainees and conference attendees are encouraged to attend the preliminary neurostimulation workshop on May 21st, 2018. This one-day innovative hands-on transcranial electrical stimulation (TES) workshop will be taught by Dr. Flavio Frohlich. The workshop will focus on transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with an exciting overview of theory, research, and methods. Click here <http://www.neurostimcarolina.org/workshop.html> for registration information. When completing registration, please be sure to provide feedback regarding your current knowledge of TES as well as some questions or techniques you are interested in. We want this course to be as interactive as possible. Lunch and beverages will be provided. * ------------------------------ * *About the Carolina Center for Neurostimulation:* The Carolina Center for Neurostimulation <http://www.carolinaneurostimulation.org/> is part of the Department of Psychiatry at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is directed by Dr. Flavio Frohlich. Established in 2017, the Center seeks to revolutionize psychiatry and neurology by studying the dynamics of brain, body, and behavior, investigating the response to stimulation, and translating discoveries into clinical treatments.

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[Call for postdoc application] Automated discovery of physico-chemical structures with intrinsically motivated deep learning algorithms
by Pierre-Yves Oudeyer Feb. 20, 2018

Feb. 20, 2018

Call for postdoc application: Automated discovery of physico-chemical structures with intrinsically motivated deep learning algorithms Project Team Inria: Flowers, Inria Bordeaux, https://flowers.inria.fr Contact: Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, pierre-yves.oudeyer(a)inria.fr Deadline for applying: 19th april 2018 How to apply: send email to PY Oudeyer and post application to https://jobs.inria.fr/public/classic/fr/offres/2018-00413 Duration: 16 months Scientific context: Intrinsically motivated goal exploration algorithms enable machines to discover repertoires of action policies that produce a diversity of effects in complex environments. In robotics, these exploration algorithms have been shown to allow real world robots to acquire skills such as tool use in high-dimensional continuous state and action spaces (e.g. Baranes and Oudeyer, 2013; Forestier et al., 2017). An example is the Poppy/Explauto experiment with a humanoid robot learning to use tools in a few hours, which obtained the 2nd position in the demonstration competition at NIPS 2016 (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOLAwD4ZTW0 , Forestier et al., 2016). In other domains such as chemistry and physics, they open the possibility to automate the discovery of novel chemical or physical structures produced by complex dynamical systems (e.g. Grizou, Points et al., 2017) However, they have so far assumed that self-generated goals are sampled in a specifically engineered feature space, limiting their autonomy. Recent work has shown how unsupervised deep learning approaches could be used to learn goal space representations (e.g. Péré et al., 2018), but they have focused on goals represented as static target configurations of the environment in robotics sensorimotor spaces. In this project, we will study how these new families of machine learning algorithms can be extended and used for automated discovery of behaviours of dynamical systems in physics/chemistry, through exploration of their parameter space, and when these behaviours are perceived through raw sensors (e.g. pixels of images). Web site of Flowers Lab: https://flowers.inria.fr Post-doctoral researcher work description The work will begin by a familiarization with algorithms for intrinsically motivated exploration with unsupervised learning of goal spaces developed in the team. Then, a few interesting numerical/simulation models of physical/chemical phenomena, associated to rich behavioral patterns (such as Turing-like reaction-diffusion models or oil droplet models), will be selected as a basis for developing and experimenting updates of existing exploration and learning algorithms. These algorithmic updates will focus in particular on the use of recurrent neural networks to learn goal spaces that can encode dynamical phenomena. Several algorithmic implementations will be compared, e.g. using several techniques for encoding times series as goal spaces, and compared using various information theoretic measures of the diversity of discovered behaviours in the target dynamical systems. It will be also possible to test these algorithmic updates in more traditional (simulated) sensorimotor learning problems, using standard benchmarks of the literature (e.g. Open Gym environments or Minecraft/Malmo). Experiments will possibly extend the DeepExplauto open-source library developed in the team, as well as standard Deep Learning libraries for the algorithms. Required knowledge and background: Candidates should have a strong expertise in at least one of these areas: - Experience with Deep Learning algorithms (theory and practical implementations) - Stochastic optimization, black-box optimization - Intrinsically motivated exploration algorithms Knowledge and competence in physics/chemical modelling would be welcome. Other requirements: - strong skills in mathematics, statistical inference, machine learning - Advanced programming skills in script languages like python - Motivation to work in an interdisciplinary project References : Baranes, A., & Oudeyer, P. Y. (2013). Active learning of inverse models with intrinsically motivated goal exploration in robots. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 61(1), 49-73. Forestier, S., Mollard, Y., Caselli, D., & Oudeyer, P. Y. (2016). Autonomous exploration, active learning and human guidance with open-source Poppy humanoid robot platform and Explauto library. In The Thirtieth Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS 2016). Grizou, J., Point, L. and the Cronin lab (2017) Tutorial on “Developmental robotics in a chemistry lab », https://croningp.github.io/tutorial_icdl_epirob_2017/. Péré, A., Forestier, S., Oudeyer, P-Y. (2018) Unsupervised learning of goal spaces for intrinsically motivated goal exploration, in proceedings of ICLR 2018. Points, L. J., Taylor, J. W., Grizou, J., Donkers, K., & Cronin, L. (2018). Artificial intelligence exploration of unstable protocells leads to predictable properties and discovery of collective behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201711089. LeCun, Y., Bengio, Y., & Hinton, G. (2015). Deep learning. Nature, 521(7553), 436-444. Keywords: deep learning; intrinsically motivated exploration; unsupervised learning; automated discovery; complex systems; dynamical systems Pierre-Yves Oudeyer Research director, Flowers lab Inria and Ensta ParisTech, France http://www.pyoudeyer.com

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Hand, Brain, and Technology
by Sliman Bensmaia Feb. 20, 2018

Feb. 20, 2018

Call for abstracts Hand, Brain, and Technology August 26-31, 2018 Monte Verita, Switzerland Submission deadline: April 15, 2018 The hand is our primary means to interact with objects and endows us with effortless versatility in these interactions. In the second Hand, Brain, and Technology conference, we focus on the sensory aspect of hand function and its neural basis. We also feature efforts to restore somatosensation in a variety of clinical contexts, including amputation, spinal cord injury, and stroke. Attendance is limited to 100 participants. If you are interested in presenting a short talk or poster, please visit http://www.relab.ethz.ch/hbt2018/abstract-submission.html for instructions. For more information, including the list of speakers, please visit http://www.relab.ethz.ch/hbt2018. … -- Sliman Bensmaia Associate Professor Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy University of Chicago 773.834.5203

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Fruit Fly Brain Hackathon 2018
by Yiyin Zhou Feb. 19, 2018

Feb. 19, 2018

Fruit Fly Brain Hackathon 2018 FFBH 2018 <http://fruitflybrain.org/hackathons>March 14, 2018Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 We are pleased to announce the 3rd Fruit Fly Brain Hackathon (FFBH 2018). This hackathon will be focused on open neurophysiology data (electrophysiology, imaging, etc.) of, but not limited to, the fruit fly brain. The hackathon will be focused on the following topics: 1. Promoting *Neurodata Without Board* (NWB) as a standard format for storing and sharing neurophysiology data in general, and extend it to standardize the storage and distribution of fruit fly brain electrophysiology and calcium imaging data, 2. *Queryable* neurophysiology data: organizing neurophysiology data and metadata in a database to make them easily queryable, and developing comprehensive querying tools accordingly, 3. Incorporating queried neurophysiology data into computational study. The goals are to: 1. create a common language for sharing open neurophysiology data, 2. speed up pattern search in the data that can often be tedious and inefficient to do manually, 3. drive the creation of computational models and the validation of them using open data. The hackathon is aimed at three main groups of participants: neurobiologists, modelers and software engineers. We welcome researchers working on the fruit fly brain as well as those working on other model organisms to participate and broaden the discussion in the hackathon. The Fruit Fly Brain Hackathon 2018 is organized in conjunction with the Columbia Workshop on Brain Circuit, Memory and Computation on March 15-16, 2018. Participants of the hackathon are welcome to attend the workshop. Registration is free but all participants have to register <https://ffbh2018.eventbrite.com/> (*https://ffbh2018.eventbrite.com/ <https://ffbh2018.eventbrite.com/>*). Organizers: Adam Tomkins, Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of Sheffield Nikul Ukani, Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University Chung-Heng Yeh, Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University Yiyin Zhou, Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University More information can be found on the hackathon website: http://fruitflybrain.org/hackathons ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------ Best Regards, Yiyin Zhou, on behalf of the organizers -- Yiyin Zhou Postdoctoral Research Scientist Bionet Group: www.bionet.ee.columbia.edu Department of Electrical Engineering Columbia University

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10th International Neuroscience Conference - Neuronus 2018 (Krakow, Poland)
by Maciej Kosiło Feb. 19, 2018

Feb. 19, 2018

10th Biennial International Neuroscience Conference - Neuronus 2018 IBRO Neuroscience Forum 20- 24th April 2018 Auditorium Maximum of Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland The Organizing Committee of NEURONUS 2018 IBRO Neuroscience Forum cordially invites you to participate in the 10th edition of this international neuroscience conference. Neuronus IBRO Neuroscience Forum is one of the largest neuroscience conferences in Europe, creating a space for international networking between scientists of various academic levels. Previous editions drew in a total of over 2500 participants from over 80 different institutions and universities affiliated with 24 countries worldwide. *This year’s program consists of:* - *6 keynote speakers:* prof. Amir Amedi (Hebrew University, Izrael) prof. Ole Jensen (University of Birmingham, Great Britain) prof. Markus Ullsperger (University of Magdeburg, Germany) prof. Yves De Koninck (Laval University, Canada) prof. Thomas Kuner (University of Heidelberg, Germany) prof. Emma Robinson (University Of Bristol, Great Britain) - *Over 25 invited speakers and 15 oral sessions/symposia, spanning 4 categories:* Cognitive Neuroscience Biological Neuroscience Clinical Neuroscience/Neurology Medical Case Reports All information, including a list of invited speakers, is available on our website: *www.neuronusforum.pl <http://www.neuronusforum.pl/> * Abstract submission deadline: 21st February 2018 Passive registration deadline : 10th April 2018 We look forward to seeing you! Organizing Committee Neuronus 2018 IBRO Neuroscience Forum You can also follow us on social media! Facebook: www.facebook.com/NeuronusForum Twitter: www.twitter.com/neuronusforum <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> Wolny od wirusów. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

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Workshop "Stochastic Models in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology" Venice, 5-7 April 2018 - Second Announcement
by Samir Suweis Feb. 19, 2018

Feb. 19, 2018

Dear All, we invite you to the workshop “Stochastic Models in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology” that will be held in Venice, 5-7 April 2018, at the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. Aim of the workshop is to bring together scientists with different background - people from biology, physics and mathematics - interested in stochastic models in ecology and evolutionary biology, to discuss issues and exchange methods and ideas. A partial list of topics includes: stochastic population dynamics, branching processes, robustness and adaptability of ecosystems, resilience and criticality of ecological systems, models and prediction of biodiversity, molecular evolution, and microbial community dynamics. Invited Speakers (in alphabetical order): J.-F. Arnoldi, E. Baake, J. Dalmau, J. Friedman, A. Lambert, M. Loreau, P. Metha, A. Sanchez, B. Trubenova, I. Mizrahi* (*tbc) The cost for workshop attendance will be 90 Euro, which includes coffee breaks and workshop material. We will also have contributed talks and posters sessions. The call of abstracts will close on March 2, 2018. For abstracts submission use the following EasyChair link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=smeeb2018 <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=smeeb2018> Information on accommodation and workshop programme are available the workshop website <http://www.pd.infn.it/~maritan/veniceworkshop/veniceworkshop.html> Please help us to promote this meeting by forwarding this email to anyone you know might be interested, and especially bring this announcement to the attention of your students or post-docs, who are those most likely not to be on our mailing lists. Apologies if you receive this message multiply. There are 2 free waiver for Ph.D. students and young post-docs offered by Entropy Journal. To apply for the fee waiver, send your abstract through the Easy Chair link in the Abstract submission section, and send an email with your CV to “liph.unipd(a)gmail.com". On the behalf of the workshop organizers, Amos Maritan & Samir Suweis LIPh lab University of Padova http://www.pd.infn.it/~maritan/index.html <http://www.pd.infn.it/~maritan/index.html> Samir Suweis, Ph.D. https://impactstory.org/u/SamirSuweis <https://impactstory.org/u/SamirSuweis> @SamirSuweis Research Scientist (RTDa) LIPh Lab, Physics Department, University of Padova Tel: +39 049 827 72 51 www.pd.infn.it/~maritan/people/Samir/samir.html

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Book Announcement: Elements of Neurogeometry.
by Jean Petitot Feb. 19, 2018

Feb. 19, 2018

Apologies for multiple postings. Dear Colleagues, The following book is now available: "Elements of Neurogeometry. Functional architectures of vision" (Springer). This book describes several mathematical models of the primary visual cortex, referring them to a vast ensemble of experimental data and putting forward an original geometrical model for its functional architectures Using concepts as wavelet analysis; contact, symplectic, and sub-Riemannian geometry, it provides a systematic interpretation of a number of important neurophysiological observations in a welldefined mathematical framework. More information (in particular the Table of contents) can be found on the following web pages: <http://www.springer.com/fr/book/9783319655895>http://www.springer.com/fr/book/9783319655895 <http://jeanpetitot.com/Petitot_Springer/9783319655895-t1(contents).pdf>http://jeanpetitot.com/Petitot_Springer/9783319655895-t1(contents).pdf With my best regards, Jean Petitot

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Postdoctoral position in human intracranial electrophysiology
by Shuo Wang Feb. 16, 2018

Feb. 16, 2018

[Apologies for multiple posting] We invite applicants with strong motivation in investigating the neural mechanisms of visual attention to apply for a postdoctoral position at the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI), West Virginia University. The applicant will work on intracranial single-unit recordings from human subjects, investigating questions related to visual saliency and social attention in autism. This will include experimental work with neurosurgical patients (electrophysiology and behavior), data processing and analysis, spike-train analysis, and experimental design. The applicant will have access to state-of-the art equipment, facilities and analytical methods and this research will be in a highly collaborative environment. The applicant will not only collaborate with investigators at the RNI, but also be part of an established team of investigators at both Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Dr. Ueli Rutishauser) and the California Institute of Technology (Dr. Ralph Adolphs), with ample opportunity to learn new techniques and methods. Candidates should have strong programming (Matlab or similar) skills. Expertise in machine learning is desired. Individuals with previous human intracranial EEG experience and/or macaque single neuron recordings that wish to expand into human single-unit recordings are encouraged to apply. For further information, please contact Dr. Shuo Wang at shuo.wang(a)mail.wvu.edu. Further information about the lab can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/shuowangsocialneuroscience/

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Post-Doctoral Fellow, EEG/MEG Processing & Rehab, University of Maryland, Baltimore
by Abarro, Janice Feb. 16, 2018

Feb. 16, 2018

The University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science, is pleased to announce the availability of post-doctoral research fellowships through the U.S. Administration for Community Living, National Institute of Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, University of Maryland Advanced Neuromotor Rehabilitation Research Training Program, in collaboration with Bioengineering Department, University of Maryland, College Park. The preferred applicant will have a recent doctoral degree, experience in working with EEG/EMG signal processing and rehabilitation robotics, with applications to neurorehabilitation of patients with neurological disorders. To apply, applicants should send a cover letter to include a statement of career goals, CV, and contact information for three references to: Janice Abarro, Research Coordinator jabarro(a)som.umaryland.edu Starting date: Immediate or negotiable. From: Abarro, Janice Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2018 2:37 PM To: 'comp-neuro(a)neuroinformatics.be' <comp-neuro(a)neuroinformatics.be> Subject: Post to list request Importance: High Hello, Please find the attached job posting to be listed. Please note the postings are attached as a word.doc and .pdf for you to choose the document that meets your needs for posting. We kindly thank you for offering this posting permission. Kind regards, Janice Janice Abarro Research Coordinator Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science jabarro(a)som.umaryland.edu<mailto:jabarro@som.umaryland.edu> [http://medschool.umaryland.edu/media/SOM/Offices-of-the-Dean/Public-Affairs…]

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