Connectionists: 11th ICCNS: Final Call for Abstracts

[Brian Bowlby]

ELEVENTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON COGNITIVE AND NEURAL SYSTEMS

May 16 – 19, 2007

Boston University
677 Beacon Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02215 USA
http://www.cns.bu.edu/meetings/

Sponsored by the Boston University
Center for Adaptive Systems
and
Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems (http://www.cns.bu.edu/)
with financial support from
the National Science Foundation (http://cns.bu.edu/CELEST/)

This interdisciplinary conference is attended each year by  
approximately 300 people from 30 countries around the world. As in  
previous years, the conference will focus on solutions to the questions:

HOW DOES THE BRAIN CONTROL BEHAVIOR?

HOW CAN TECHNOLOGY EMULATE BIOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE?

The conference is aimed at researchers and students of computational  
neuroscience, cognitive science, neural networks, neuromorphic  
engineering, and artificial intelligence. It includes invited  
lectures and contributed lectures and posters by experts on the  
biology and technology of how the brain and other intelligent systems  
adapt to a changing world. The conference is particularly interested  
in exploring how the brain and biologically-inspired algorithms and  
systems in engineering and technology can learn.  Single-track oral  
and poster sessions enable all presented work to be highly visible.  
Three-hour poster sessions with no conflicting events will be held on  
two of the conference days. Posters will be up all day, and can also  
be viewed during breaks in the talk schedule.

CONFIRMED INVITED CONFERENCE SPEAKERS
Jorge L. Armony (McGill University)
Exploring the role of the amygdala in emotional processing
Gary Aston-Jones (Medical University of South Carolina)
The cortex in context: Locus coeruleus, optimal performance, and  
maximal utility
Nelson Cowan (University of Missouri-Columbia)
Differences between long-term, short-term, and working memory
Shimon Edelman (Cornell University)
Learning language: Rationalists do it by the rules, empiricists do it  
to the rules
James Enns (University of British Columbia )
Unconscious but under control: The role of intention in automated  
vision and action
Michael Graziano (Princeton University)
The organization of behavioral repertoire in motor cortex
Jennifer Groh (Duke University)
Looking at sounds: Neural computations for associating visual and  
auditory events
Stephen Grossberg (Boston University) (Plenary Lecture)
An emerging unified theory of cerebral cortex: From vision to cognition
Alice Healy (University of Colorado)
Training, retention, and transfer of knowledge and skills
Marcia K. Johnson (Yale University)
Using fMRI to explore components of reflective processing
Philip Kellman (UCLA)
Abstract relations in perception and perceptual learning
Bart Krekelberg (Rutgers University)
The neural basis of speed perception
Joseph E. LeDoux (New York University) (Plenary Lecture)
Fearful brains in an anxious world
Hal Pashler (University of California San Diego)
Enhancing learning and slowing forgetting: Some elementary (but  
neglected) questions
Luiz Pessoa (Indiana University)
Dynamic emotion perception: Neuroimaging studies of visual attention,  
awareness, and perceptual decisions
Pieter Roelfsema (University of Amsterdam)
Cortical algorithms for perceptual grouping
Deb Roy (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Meaning machines
Reza Shadmehr (Johns Hopkins University)
Motor adaptation and the timescales of memory
Frank Tong (Vanderbilt University)
 From brain reading to mind reading: fMRI studies of human visual  
perception

Workshop on Biologically-Inspired Cognitive Architectures
Daniel Bullock (Boston University)
Modeling neural circuits for reward-guided learning, evaluation,  
planning, and decision
Dario Floreano (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)
Enactive robot vision
Deepak Khosla (HRL)
Biologically-Inspired Cognitive Architecture for integrated LEarning,  
Action and Perception (BICA-LEAP)
John Laird (University of Michigan)
TOSCA: Design and development challenges in brain-based cognitive  
architecture
William Ross (MIT Lincoln Laboratory)
Biologically inspired what-where video surveillance systems
Patrick Winston (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
biologically inspired
Steps toward ^ artificial intelligence

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

Session Topics:
* vision                                                * object  
recognition
* image understanding                        * neural circuit models
* audition                                             * neural  
system models
* speech and language                       * mathematics of neural  
systems
* unsupervised learning                      * robotics
* supervised learning                          * hybrid systems  
(fuzzy, evolutionary, digital)
* reinforcement and emotion              * neuromorphic VLSI
* sensory-motor control                      * industrial applications
* cognition, planning, and attention     * other
* spatial mapping and navigation

Contributed abstracts must be received, in English, by January 31,  
2007. Email notification of acceptance will be provided by February  
28, 2007.  A meeting registration fee must accompany each Abstract.  
The fee will be returned if the Abstract is not accepted for  
presentation. Fees of accepted Abstracts will be returned on request  
only until April 13, 2007.

Each Abstract must fit on one side of an 8.5" x 11" page with 1"  
margins on all sides in a single-spaced, single-column format with a  
font of 10 points or larger. The title, authors, affiliations, and  
surface and email addresses should begin each Abstract. A cover  
letter should include the abstract title; corresponding author and  
presenting author name, address, telephone, fax, and email address;  
requested preference for oral or poster presentation; and a first and  
second choice from the topics above, including whether it is  
biological (B) or technological (T) work [Example: first choice:  
vision (T); second choice: neural system models (B)].

Talks will be 15 minutes long. Posters will be displayed for a full  
day. Overhead, slide, and LCD computer projector facilities will be  
available for talks. Accepted Abstracts will be printed in the  
conference proceedings volume. No extended paper will be required.

Four copies of the Abstract should be mailed to Cynthia Bradford,  
Boston University, CNS Department, 677 Beacon Street, Boston MA 02215  
USA. Abstracts may also be submitted electronically as M/S Word files  
to cindy at bu.edu using the phrase “11th ICCNS abstract submission”  
in the subject line. Fax submissions will not be accepted.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Early registration is recommended using the  
registration form below. Student registrations must be accompanied by  
a letter of verification from a department chairperson or faculty/ 
research advisor.

STUDENT TRAVEL FELLOWSHIPS: Fellowships for PhD candidates and  
postdoctoral fellows who do not live in the Boston area are available  
to help cover travel costs. The application deadline is January 31,  
2007. Email notification will occur by February 28, 2007. Fellowship  
applications must be submitted as paper hardcopy to the abstract  
submission address shown above. Each application should include the  
applicant's CV; faculty or PhD research advisor's name, address, and  
email address; relevant courses and other educational data; and a  
list of research articles. A letter from the listed faculty or PhD  
advisor on institutional stationery must accompany the application  
and summarize how the candidate may benefit from the meeting.  
Fellowship applicants who also submit an Abstract need to include the  
registration fee payment with their Abstract submission. Fellowship  
checks will be distributed after the meeting.


REGISTRATION FORM
Eleventh International Conference on Cognitive and Neural Systems
May 16-19, 2007
Boston University
Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems
677 Beacon Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02215 USA
Fax: +1 617 353 7755

Mr/Ms/Dr/Prof:_____________________________________________________

Affiliation:_________________________________________________________

Address:__________________________________________________________

City, State, Postal Code:______________________________________________

Phone and Fax:_____________________________________________________

Email:____________________________________________________________


The registration fee includes the conference proceedings, a reception  
on Friday night, and 3 coffee breaks each day.

CHECK ONE:
(  ) $95 Conference (Regular)
(  ) $65 Conference (Student)

METHOD OF PAYMENT (please fax or mail):

[   ] Enclosed is a check made payable to "Boston University"
Checks must be made payable in US dollars and issued by a US  
correspondent bank. Each registrant is responsible for any and all  
bank charges.

[   ] I wish to pay by credit card
       (MasterCard, Visa, or Discover Card only)

Name as it appears on the  
card:___________________________________________

Type of card: _____________________________ Expiration  
date:________________

Account number: _______________________________________________________

Signature:____________________________________________________________