Connectionists: talks and tutorials at the NEURON Simulator Meeting

[Ted Carnevale]

The agenda for the 2006 NEURON Simulator Meeting continues to
grow.  Here are three more reasons to join us at UT Austin,
May 5-7--

Discussion: "NEURON: quo vadis?"
Moderator: Michael Hines
The agenda is to discuss future directions for NEURON, in
order to help it continue to evolve to meet the changing
needs of its users.  Topics that will be considered include
strategies for improving the development process, possible
enhancements of computational efficiency and power, and
tactics for increasing functionality and ease of use.

Tutorial: "Converting morphometric data to models with the
Import3D tool"
Speaker: Ted Carnevale
One recent addition to NEURON is the Import3D tool, which was
created to simplify the task of converting detailed morphometric
data to NEURON models.  Import3D can read Eutectic, SWC, and
Neurolucida classic and Version 3 files, and can export the
data directly into the CellBuilder or generate a "top level"
instance of a model.  It automatically identifies and repairs
many common problems, and helps users identify other errors
that require the exercise of judgment and manual editing of
a copy of the original morphometric data.

Workshop: "Hacking NEURON."
Moderators: Ted Carnevale and Bill Lytton
The aim of this event is to exchange "power programming" tips
for getting the most out of NEURON.  Discussion and specific
practical examples will range over topics such as:
● essential idioms in hoc
● organizing programs for efficiency and clarity
● combining hoc code and the GUI to exploit the strengths of both
● discovering and exploiting the single largest collection of
   useful hoc code
● hacking session files
● hacking NEURON's run-time system
● custom initializations
● automating execution of simulations and analysis of results
The moderators will present many of their own tips and tricks,
and audience participation is strongly encouraged.

Register now--the registration deadline is Friday, April 21.
For more information see
http://www.utexas.edu/neuroscience/NEURON2006/nsm2006.html

--Ted