<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">Dear colleagues,<br><br>please find below an invitation to a joint workshop by LOEWE-NeFF and<br>the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS).<br><br>Best Regards,<div>Michael Wibral<br>Matthias Kaschube<br><br><br>-----------------------<br><br>LOEWE-NeFF and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS)<br>jointly invite you to a<br><br>“Workshop on Neural Information Dynamics,<br>Causality and Computation near Criticality”<br>December 12-13th, 2014<br><br>The workshop is preceded by a<br>“Software course on Neural Information Dynamics<br>with TRENTOOL, the Java Information Dynamics Toolkit and MuTE”<br>December 10-11th, 2014<br><br>Venue: Workshop and student course will be held at the Frankfurt<br>Institute for Advanced Studies (FIAS, <a href="http://www.fias.uni-frankfurt.de">www.fias.uni-frankfurt.de</a>),<br>Ruth-Moufang-Straße 1, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany<br><br><br>The workshop addresses the analysis of neural computation in large<br>neural systems and covers three tightly related topics in the field of<br>modern analysis of neural data:<br><br>Causality<br>The analysis of causal interactions yields important insights into the<br>biophysical substrate of neural dynamics that enable emergent<br>computation. It is one of the goals of the workshop to discuss the link<br>between causal analysis and the analyses of information processing<br>proper, in order to clarify the dividing line and the mutual benefit of<br>these two types of analyses.<br><br>Neural information dynamics<br>Information theoretic quantities separate and measure key elements of<br>distributed computation in neural systems, such as the storage,<br>transfer, and modification of information. These concepts can help to<br>better understand the computational algorithms implemented by the<br>dynamics of a neural system, providing the link between these algorithms<br>and their biophysical implementation.<br><br>Large scale organisation and criticality<br>Neural systems orchestrate the activity of a large number of<br>interacting neurons to achieve their computational capabilities. Recent<br>advances in recording technology make it possible to reveal the activity<br>patterns of hundreds of neurons distributed across the brain. This<br>offers the unique opportunity to identify the large-scale organising<br>principles of neural activity, such as operation near a critical point,<br>that support computation in the system.<br><br>Confirmed speakers:<br>Adam Barrett<br>Demian Battaglia<br>Sakyasingha Dasgupta<br>Luca Faes<br>Esther Florin<br>Moritz Grosse-Wentrup<br>Andreea Lazar<br>Anna Levina<br>Daniele Marinazzo<br>Oliver Obst<br>Gordon Pipa<br>Alberto Porta<br>Viola Priesemann<br>Karin Schiecke<br>Raul Vicente<br><br>The supporting software course addresses young scientists who intend to<br>apply information theoretic measures for neuroscience hands on, and that<br>would like to contribute code to one of the open source toolboxes on the<br>topic. Some minimal experience with MATLAB or GNU-Octave is necessary<br>for participation. Some prior knowledge in information theory is a plus.<br>Applications for the student course should include a brief statement of<br>motivation.<br><br>Student course faculty:<br>Alessandro Montalto (MuTE)<br>Michael Wibral (TRENTOOL, Java Information Dynamics Toolkit)<br>Patricia Wollstadt (TRENTOOL)<br><br>----------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Please apply/register by email before October 24th to<br><a href="mailto:wibral@em.uni-frankfurt.de">wibral@em.uni-frankfurt.de</a><br>as places for course and workshop are limited.<br><br>Registration fees<br>Student course: 50,00 EUR<br>Workshop: 75,00 EUR<br>Course+Workshop: 100,00 EUR<br><br>Upon successful registration please wire the registration fees to:<br><br>Account holder: Universitätsklinikum<br>Account: 37 99 99, BLZ: 50050201<br>IBAN: DE 32 500 502 01 0000 37 9999<br>SWIFT-Code: HELADEF 1822<br>Reference: 21000521</div></body></html>