Workshop on Fluctuations in Biology

[Hans Liljenstrom]

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	First announcement of an interdisciplinary workshop
		organized in collaboration with 
the Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research (FRN)

    THE ROLE AND CONTROL OF RANDOM EVENTS IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
		
			   Sigtuna, Sweden 
			  4-9 September 1995

MOTIVATION
Life is normally associated with a high degree of order and
organization. However, disorder  in various contexts referred to as
fluctuations, noise or chaos  is also a crucial component of many
biological processes. For example, in evolution random errors in the
reproduction of the genetic material provides a variation that is
fundamental for the selection of adaptive organisms. At a molecular
level, thermal fluctuations govern the movements and functions of the
macromolecules in the cell. Yet, it is also clear that too large a
variation may have disastrous effects. Uncontrolled processes need
stabilizing mechanisms. More knowledge of the stability requirements
of biological processes is needed in order to better understand these
problems, which also have important medical applications. Many
diseases, for instance certain degenerations of brain cells, are
caused by failure of the stabilizing mechanisms in the cell. Stability
is also important and difficult to achieve in biotechnological
applications.

In particular, there is randomness in structure and function of the
neural networks of the brain. Spontaneous firing of neurons seems to
be important for maintaining an adequate level of activity, but does
this "neuronal noise" have any other significance? What are the
effects of errors and fluctuations in the information processing of
the brain? Can these microscopic fluctuations be amplified to
provide macroscopic effects? Often, one cannot easily determine
whether an apparently random process is due to noise, governed by
uncontrolled degrees of freedom, or if it is a result of
"deterministic chaos". Would the difference be of any importance for
biology? Especially, could chaos, which is characterized by
sensitivity and divergence, be useful for any kind of information
processing that normally depends upon stability and convergence? Could
chaos in the neural dynamics of the brain perhaps be responsible for
(creative) thinking?

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this meeting is to address the questions and problems
given above, for a deeper understanding of the effects of disorder in
biological systems.  Fluctuations and chaos have been extensively
studied in physics, but to a much lesser degree in biology. Important
concepts from physics, such as "noise-induced state transitions" and
"controlled chaos" could also be of relevance for biological
systems. Yet, little has been done about such applications and a more
critical analysis of the positive and negative effects of disorder for
living systems is needed. It is essential to make concrete and
testable hypotheses, and to avoid the kind of superficial and more
fashionable treatment that often dominates the field. By bringing
together scientists with knowledge and insights from different
disciplines we hope to shed more light on these problems, which we
think are profound for understanding the phenomenon of life.

SCOPE
A number of invited speakers will provide presentations on the
fundamental problems, but we invite further contributions, in the form
of short lectures, computer demonstrations and posters by additional
participants. We expect everyone to take an active part in the
program, in particular in the general discussions. In order to
maintain close contact between all participants, and to provide an
efficient workshop atmosphere, the number of participants will be
limited to approximately fifty people. A proceedings volume is
planned.

LOCATION
The location of the workshop will be at a unique guest home in
Sigtuna, a royal town in early Middle Ages. Situated at the shore of
the beautiful lake Malaren, Sigtuna is only 15 km away from the
Stockholm Intl. Airport and 45 km from downtown Stockholm. It is also 
close to the city of Uppsala, which is famous for its Viking graves and 
for the oldest university and largest cathedral in Scandinavia. The area
around Sigtuna is full of cultural and historical sites and the great 
number of runic stones is unique in the world. There will be
excursions and opportunities for sightseeing. The total cost,
including accomodation, all meals and registration fee is 4500 SEK. 
Depending on funding availability, we may be able to give some
economical support.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Clas Blomberg, Dept. of Physics, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Hans Liljenstrom, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Peter Arhem, Nobel Inst. for Neurophysiology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm
			

CONFIRMED INVITED SPEAKERS
Luigi Agnati, Dept. of Neuroscience, Karolinska Inst., Stockholm, Sweden
Agnes Babloyantz, Dept of Chem. Physics, Free University of Brussels, Belgium
Adi Bulsara, NRad, San Diego, USA
Rodney Cotterill, Div. of Biophysics, Technical Univ. of Denmark
Walter Freeman , Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology, UC Berkeley, USA
Hermann Haken, Inst. f. Theor. Physik und Synergetik, Univ. Stuttgart, Germany
Christof Koch, Computation and Neural Systems Program, Caltech, Pasadena, USA
Larry Liebovitch, Center for Complex Systems, FAU, Boca Raton, USA
Michael Mackey, Dept. of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Frank Moss, Dept. of Physics, University of Missouri, St Louis, USA
Sakire Pogun, Center for Brain Research, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey
Ichiro Tsuda, Dept. of Mathematics, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan


FURTHER INFORMATION
Hans Liljenstrom	
SANS - Studies of Artifical Neural Systems
Dept. of Numerical Analysis and Computing Science	
Royal Institute of Technology
S-100 44 Stockholm, SWEDEN

Email: 	hali at sans.kth.se
Phone: 	+46-(0)8-790 6909
Fax:	+46-(0)8-790 0930

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If you are interested in participating in this workshop, please fill in
and return the preliminary registration form below:
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Address:

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