[Comp-neuro] Convergence in Computational Neuroscience: Joint BrainScaleS CodeJam/NeuroML workshop

** Please accept our apologies for cross postings **

Dear all,

Announcing the Convergence in Computational Neuroscience 2012 workshop which will be held in Edinburgh from 12-16th March. The NeuroML Development Workshop and the BrainScaleS (previously FACETS) CodeJam have been two important workshops for developers of software tools for computational neuroscience for the past number of years, and this year they are being held over the same week.

The first 2 days will focus on the specifications & tool support for NeuroML, which has traditionally been focused on multicompartmental, conductance based neuronal models, but with version 2.0 is being extended to allow greater flexibility in creating new synapse, ion channel and abstract/point neuron models. Machine readable model definitions allow low level access to model parameters and equations, facilitating interoperability across simulators. Presentations and discussions will include updates on developments towards NeuroML 2, relationships to other modelling and neuroinformatics initiatives including COMBINE and the INCF, and talks on the latest developments in the Blue Brain Project, the Neural Tissue Simulator and the OpenWorm project.

More details for these days are here: http://www.neuroml.org/workshop2012

The remaining 3 days will have a similar format to previous CodeJams: presentations in the mornings with discussions & code sprints in the afternoon. The goal will be to catalyze open-source, collaborative software development in computational and systems neuroscience and neuroinformatics, by bringing together researchers, students and engineers to share ideas, present their work, and write code together. CodeJam #5 will focus on multi-compartmental modelling APIs, data analysis libraries, code generation and best practices in open source software development, with a slant towards the Python programming language. Speakers from a range of active areas in neuroscience-tool development have been invited; we will be hearing about the latest developments in NeuroDebian, Genesis 3.0, MOOSE, Topographica, OpenElectrophy, PyNN and many others. If you are starting a Ph.D. in computational neuroscience and want to get involved with the tool-building community, or are just interested in the state of the field, the CodeJam is a great opportunity to meet the developers behind the projects in an informal setting and discuss about ideas and future projects.

More details can be found here: http://neuralensemble.org/meetings/CodeJam5

Wednesday afternoon includes a mini workshop with the theme "Convergence, Interoperability and Reuse in Neuroscience Modelling Software", which seeks to develop a perspective on where the field is at and where we are going to.

This should be a very informative and useful week for anyone interested in learning about/sharing/integrating software tools for computational neuroscience.

There will be a limited number of bursaries available for travel to the meeting for UK based attendees through the UK Node of the INCF (http://www.neuroinformatics.org.uk/special-interest-groups-sigs/18-sig4). Contact p.gleeson@ucl.ac.uk for more details.

Regards,

Padraig Gleeson

On behalf of the NeuroML & CodeJam workshop organisers

  ----------------------------------------------------- Padraig Gleeson Room 321, Anatomy Building Department of Neuroscience, Physiology&  Pharmacology University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT United Kingdom  +44 207 679 3214 p.gleeson@ucl.ac.uk ----------------------------------------------------- 

[Comp-neuro] COMPUTING BY PHYSICAL INTERACTION IN NEURONS

J Integr Neurosci (2011) 10, 413-422

COMPUTING BY PHYSICAL INTERACTION IN NEURONS

Dorian Aur
Department of Comparative Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA 94305, USA

Mandar Jog
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London Ontario, N6A 5A5, Canada

Roman R. Poznanski
Department of Physical and Mathematical Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Perak, 31900, Malaysia

Received 27 August 2011
Accepted 8 November 2011

Abstract: The electrodynamics of action potentials represents the fundamental level where information is integrated and processed in neurons. The Hodgkin–Huxley model cannot explain the non-stereotyped spatial charge density dynamics that occur during action potential propagation. Revealed in experiments as spike directivity, the non-uniform charge density dynamics within neurons carry meaningful information and suggest that fragments of information regarding our memories are endogenously stored in structural patterns at a molecular level and are revealed only during spiking activity. The main conceptual idea is that under the influence of electric fields, efficient computation by interaction occurs between charge densities embedded within molecular structures and the transient developed flow of electrical charges. This process of computation underlying electrical interactions and molecular mechanisms at the subcellular level is dissimilar from spiking neuron models that a!
re completely devoid of physical interactions. Computation by interaction describes a more powerful continuous model of computation than the one that consists of discrete steps as represented in Turing machines.

Keywords: Physical theory; electric field; intraneuronal computation; spike stereotypy; subcellular signaling; neural code; Turing-machines

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Send your next manuscript to JIN - "The only journal that combines
mathematical neuroscience and experimental brain research for the
advancement of a well-grounded theoretical neuroscience."
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The above paper is downloadable from http://romanpoznanski.blogspot.com

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[Comp-neuro] Multidisciplinary approaches to quantify astrocyte-neuron signaling

Dear colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the workshop 'Multidisciplinary approaches to quantify astrocyte-neuron signaling' set to take place in Barcelona, Spain, July 13-14, 2012. The event is a satellite conference under the auspices of the 8th FENS Forum of European Neuroscience (http://fens2012.neurosciences.asso.fr/).

This conference will bring together experts, both experimentalists and theorists in the field of astrocyte–neuron interactions. The meeting comes at a time when glial biology is taking its place as a compelling frontier of research with rapidly growing interest in several departments. We hope to provide an informal environment that will spur future collaborations within this diverse community of researchers. A complete list of invited speakers and other information is available at the conference website http://anw2012.ucsd.edu.

Our program is designed to encourage interdisciplinary interactions and includes extensive discussion sessions, a poster session to encourage participation from students and postdocs and a dinner banquet for all participants.

The registration fee for this event is 100 € for students and postdocs and 150 € for principal investigators. Registration begins February 10th 2012. Since our purpose is to create an intimate environment conducive to potential collaborations, we plan on limiting participation to a small group. We also have funding for a few travel grants for students and postdocs, subject to the guidelines set by our funding agency. More information is available here http://anw2012.ucsd.edu/Travel_Grants_Info.html.

We would like to also remind you that the deadline for submission of the abstracts and early registration deadline for the 8th FENS Forum for Neuroscience is February 5,  2012 (http://fens2012.neurosciences.asso.fr/pages/index2.php?sub=14&left=103). Students and postdocs can also benefit from travel grants made available by the FENS forum (http://fens2012.neurosciences.asso.fr/pages/index2.php?sub=14&left=103).  

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need more information.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Best regards,

Herbert Levine (hlevine@ucsd.edu)

Renaud Jolivet (r.jolivet@ucl.ac.uk)

Suhita Nadkarni (suhita@salk.edu)

Terence Sejnowski (terry@salk.edu)

(apologies for cross posting)

[Comp-neuro] Positions in Cognitive Neuroengineering of SiNAPSE Institute

Dear all,

Inquiries and applications are invited from highly productive, creative and ambitious young scientists for positions of Post Doctoral Fellows and Research Scientists in the recently launched SINAPSE Institute (http://sinapse.hostthebestfree.com) a research Institute devoted to research on cognitive and brain sciences, neurotechnologies, and translational research   at the National University of Singapore under the direction of Prof. Nitish Thakor (www.jhu.edu/nthakor).  

 

The  Cognitive Neuroengineering  Lab of the SINAPSE  Institute, under the direction of Dr. Anastasios Bezerianos, is interested  in recruiting at least three talented, skilled  and highly motivated Post Docs to work under a common program  in the area of Cognitive Neuroscience with Applications.

The main objectives of the laboratory research are but not limited to:

1.    Multisensorial and integrated experimental and computational study of high level brain functioning (understanding, decision making, processing errors, and enhancing cognitive performance etc) with simultaneous brain signal and imaging techniques.

2.    Building  autonomous system of Brain Machine Interfacing or as well as various neuromodulation techniques (electrical, magnetic, optical). for augmentation and/or  rehabilitation of  brain functioning.

3.    Development of  complete solutions, from laboratory to human and clinical use and eventual commercialization of innovative Neurotechnologies. 

The new researchers will focus on big problems of current cognitive neuroengeering like (1) increase of spatiotemporal resolution of dynamic brain networks (2) overcome of low information rate between machine and brain, (3) improvement  of durability and long term out of  lab operation of brain assistive devices, (4) penetration of  cognitive engineering in neuromarket  and other emerging  fields 

Candidates  with a PhD degree in neurosciences or neuroengineering and  skills in mathematical modelling of brain functioning,  biomedical signal and image processing, and advanced brain mapping techniques  are welcome to apply. Critical point for the selection will be their proposed future research work in SiNAPSE.

The researchers will have access to impressive financial and physical resources, including noninvasive human and small animal experimental facilities, laboratory instrumentation, computing and imaging resources, and additional project-specific discretionary funding. SINAPSE will provide excellent work conditions (an environment about 20 collaborative PIs and more than 100 researchers in steady state).  The salaries will be internationally competitive and commensurate with experience, and health insurance coverage as well as travel to international conferences will be included.  Interested researchers and fellows should contact as soon as possible Dr. Anastasios Bezerianos (anastasios.bezerianos@gmail.com) and/or Dr. Nitish Thakor (nitish@jhu.edu), sending a CV with two external references and a letter of accomplishments, motivation and career goals.

Best regards

Tassos Bezerianos 

[Comp-neuro] PhD or Post-Doc Position for modeling object recognition and masking

A PhD (E 13 TV-L, 65%) or postdoctoral (E 13 TV-L) position is available at the Technical University of Chemnitz (Germany) in the Department of Computer Science. The position is funded initially for two years, which is renewable pending availability of future funds. Starting date is Mai 2012 or later.

The research position is part of the research network "Neuro-cognitive mechanisms of conscious and unconscious visual perception" (http://www.uni-ulm.de/unbewusst/index.htm). In this project we aim to build neural models of learning object recognition in the human brain and elucidate the role of reentrant processing for visual masking and stimulus encoding. Among other scientists in the network, we will cooperate with Niko Busch in the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, who will perform experimental studies of visual masking.


The candidate should have interest in developing neurocomputational systems and learning rules, particularly with respect to data in the neurosciences and psychology. Good programming experience and solid english language skills are essential.

The university is an equal opportunity employer. Women are encouraged to apply. Disabled applicants will receive priority in case they have equal qualifications.

Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the state of Saxony and close to scenic mountains. Major cities nearby are Leipzig and Dresden with a rich tradition of music and culture.

Applications should be sent by email (preferably in PDF format) to (fred.hamker@informatik.tu-chemnitz.de) as soon as possible. Applications shall be sent by March 1st, but later applications will be considered until the position is filled.



--------------------
Prof. Dr. Fred H Hamker
Artificial Intelligence & Neuro Cognitive Systems
Department of Computer Science
Chemnitz University of Technology
Strasse der Nationen 62 
D - 09107 Chemnitz
Germany

Tel: +49 (0)371 531-37875
Fax: +49 (0)371 531-25739
email: fred.hamker@informatik.tu-chemnitz.de
www: http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/informatik/KI/

[Comp-neuro] "Dynamics of Memory: What is the Evidence?", Barcelona July 12-13, 2012. Satellite to FENS Forum

"Dynamics of memory: What is the evidence?"
Satellite event of FENS Forum
Barcelona, Spain, July 12-13, 2012
http://www.crm.cat/Activitats/Activitats/2011-2012/cmemory/web-cmemory/default.htm

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS to FENS Forum, DEADLINE: February 5, 2012 !!

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS to the satellite workshop, deadline: June 30, 2012

This workshop is organized as a satellite event of the FENS Forum in
Barcelona (http://fens2012.neurosciences.asso.fr/), the largest
international neuroscience meeting in Europe. The 2-day workshop will
take place immediately before the FENS forum in Barcelona (Spain) and it
will bring together leading experimental and theoretical neuroscientists
to discuss about experimental validations of mechanistic theories for
memory.

The overall scientific goal of the workshop is to discuss experimental
approaches that evaluate and assess different proposed theoretical
frameworks comprising mechanistic explanations for how memories are
stored, retrieved and maintained in the brain. Several reasons make this
the right time to bring together theoreticians and experimentalists to
discuss the dynamics of memory. First, the existence of a diversity of
experimental techniques which are capable of providing evidence
sufficiently precise so as to discard proposed theoretical alternatives.
Also, the progressive infiltration of theoretical ideas into
experimental journals and forums has made it possible for
experimentalists to become familiar and interested in quantitative
approaches which, until recently, were only discussed among
theoreticians. Because of this, we feel like this conference will be of
great interest to systems neuroscientists, both those using experimental
as well as theoretical approaches.

"Dynamics of memory: What is the evidence?" will be organized by the
Center for Mathematical Research (CRM) in a beautiful 17th century
building in the old city of Barcelona, minutes away from the Rambla
boulevard. Thirty-minute bus connection to Barcelona-El Prat airport is
within a 5 minute walk of the workshop venue. This central location
offers a broad range of accommodation, food and entertainment options
within walking distance. Registration for this event will open shortly
in
http://www.crm.cat/Activitats/Activitats/2011-2012/cmemory/web-cmemory/default.htm

Poster presentations will complement oral presentations by the following
confirmed invited speakers:

Moshe Abeles, Hebrew University, Israel
Matthew Chafee, University of Minnesota, USA
Albert Compte, IDIBAPS, Spain
Daniel Durstewitz, BCCN Heidelberg-Mannheim, Germany
Rainer Friedrich, FMIBR, Switzerland
Mark Goldman, UC Davis, USA
Gilles Laurent, MPI Frankfurt, Germany
Wolfgang Maass, Graz Univ. of Technology, Austria
Matthias Munk, MPI Tuebingen, Germany
Alessandro Treves, SISSA, Italy
Misha Tsodyks, Weizmann, Israel

Please direct any enquires about the "Dynamics of Memory: What is the
evidence?" workshop to nportet@crm.cat

We look forward to welcoming you to Barcelona!

Alfonso Renart
Albert Compte

Scientific Coordinators

-----
Alfonso Renart, PhD

Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown
Av. Brasília s/n (Doca de Pedrouços)
1400-038 Lisboa, Portugal
http://neuro.fchampalimaud.org/

-----
Albert Compte, PhD

Theoretical Cortical Neurobiology Group
IDIBAPS
C/ Rosselló 149-153
08036 Barcelona
Spain
http://complab.fcrb.es

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[Comp-neuro] Call for Abstracts: IJCNN 2012 (2012 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks)

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
Neuroscience & Neurocognition

2012 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN 2012)
Brisbane, Australia
June 10-15, 2012

Following the successful experience of IJCNN11, abstract submissions are invited for a special Neuroscience and Neurocognition
Track at IJCNN 2012. Abstracts must focus on areas broadly related to neurobiology, cognitive science and systems biology,
including - but not limited to - the following:

•    Theory & models of biological neural networks.
•    Computational neuroscience.
•    Computational models of perception, cognition and behavior.
•    Models of learning and memory in the brain.
•    Brain-machine interfaces and neural prostheses.
•    Brain-inspired cognitive models.
•    Neuroinformatics.
•    Neuroevolution and development.
•    Models of neurological diseases and treatments.
•    Systems and computational biology

Recognizing that some of the most exciting current research in neural networks is being done by researchers in neuroscience,
psychology, cognitive science, and systems biology, the abstracts program seeks participation from the broader community of
scientists in these areas by offering an accessible forum for the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas. It will also provide researchers -
especially doctoral students and postdocs - with an opportunity to showcase ongoing research in advance of its publication in
journals.

Abstracts can be submitted through the IJCNN 2012 online submission system at:
http://ieee-cis.org/conferences/ijcnn2012/upload.php?abstract=1

They must be no longer than 500 words plus as many as 4 bibliographic citations. No figures or tables can be included.
 
Unlike full papers, abstracts will receive only limited review to ensure their appropriateness for IJCNN and consistency with the
focus areas of the abstracts program. Authors of accepted abstracts will be guaranteed a poster presentation at the conference
after regular registration. Abstracts will not be included in the conference proceedings, but will be published in the IJCNN 2012
program (including the printed conference book) and on-line at the IJCNN 2012 web site along with abstracts of all presentations.

Important Dates
Abstract Submission : February 1, 2012 - March 15, 2012
Decision Notification : March 20, 2012
Final Submission : April 2, 2012


IJCNN 2012 is part of the 2012 World Congress on Computational Intelligence.
For more information on the conference, please visit the conference website: http://www.ieee-wcci2012.org/

For IJCNN inquiries please contact Conference Chair: Cesare Alippi at cesare.alippi@polimi.it
For Neuroscience-track inquiries please contact The Neuroscience liaison: Ali Minai at minaiaa@gmail.com

--
Ali A. Minai, Ph.D.
Professor
Complex Adaptive Systems Lab
School of Electronic & Computing Systems
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH 45221-0030

Phone: (513) 556-4783
Fax: (513) 556-7326
Email: Ali.Minai@uc.edu
          minaiaa@gmail.com

WWW: http://www.ece.uc.edu/~aminai/