Connectionists: Call for papers: Workshop on "Multisensory Integration and Parallel Memory Systems for Spatial Cognition"

[angelo arleo]

(We apologise for multiple copies of this message)

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            1st  C A L L   F O R   P A P E R S

Workshop on "Multisensory Integration and Concurrent Parallel 

           Memory Systems for Spatial Cognition"

           http://www.idiap.ch/~rchava/sab06wk/      


                 October 1, 2006, Rome, Italy

as part of the 9th International Conference on the Simulation

               of Adaptive Behavior (SAB2006)

                  http://www.sab06.org

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WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION and OBJECTIVES
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Spatial cognition involves the ability of an animal to acquire spatial
knowledge (e.g., spatio-temporal relations among environmental cues or
events), organise it properly, and employ it to adapt its motor
behaviour to the specific context. Alike other high-level brain
functions, spatial memory calls upon parallel information processing
mediated by multiple neural substrates that interact, either
cooperatively or competitively, to promote appropriate spatial
learning. Similar to animals, autonomous navigating artefacts need to
interact with their environment and learn both low-level sensory-motor
couplings and more abstract context representations supporting their
spatial behaviour.

I. At the sensory level, different perceptual modalities provide the
navigator with a manifold description of the spatial context. The
integration of these multimodal signals into a coherent
representation is at the core of spatial cognition. The first part of
the workshop will address issues such as:

* What are the learning mechanisms (both at the synaptic
plasticity level and at a more abstract level) mediating the
integration of multimodal signals?

* What are the spatial information properties determining the cue
selection process during the exploration of a novel environment?

* What are the principles underlying the minimisation of
destructive interference between spatial memories acquired
during lifelong learning?

II. At the action selection level, determining and maintaining a
goal-directed trajectory involves multiple mnemonic processes, each
of which promotes a specific solution (i.e., a navigation strategy)
to the overall task. The capability of dynamically weighing the
contribution of distinct memory systems is relevant to the issue of
adapting the spatial behaviour to the complexity of the task. The
second part of the workshop will explore this topic, which is
currently the focus of a large research effort in both experimental
and computational neuroscience. Among others, the following issues
will be addressed:

* What are the multiple co-existing memory systems promoting
spatial navigation?

* What are the anatomo-functional interrelations between the
neural substrates (e.g., hippocampus, prefrontal and parietal
cortices, basal ganglia, and cerebellum) mediating these
multiple spatial memory systems?

* What are the principles regulating the cooperative/competitive
relations between these parallel memory systems and determining
the on-line shift between distinct navigation strategies?


This workshop aims at fostering a multidisciplinary forum between
experimentalists, theoreticians, and engineers in order to improve our
understanding of animal and bio-inspired spatial learning
capabilities.

Please, refer to the web-site:
http://www.idiap.ch/~rchava/sab06wk/
for more information about the workshop programme.

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CONTRIBUTIONS
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1. CALL for POSTER ABSTRACTS: DEADLINE JULY 1, 2006


Posters will be exposed during the full length of the workshop, though
authors will be asked to present their work only during specific time
slots (see the programme). 

We invite authors to submit a short abstract (less than 400 words
including references) in order to be selected for a poster
presentation. Due to the limited number of posters that can be
actually exposed, accepted contributions shall have high scientific
quality and relevance to the workshop. Selected abstracts will be
posted on the workshop website, and a hard-copy abstract collection
will be distributed during the workshop.

Abstracts must be sent (as pdf files) to spatial.learning at gmail.com
before July 1, 2006.


2. CALL for FULL PAPERS: DEADLINE NOVEMBER 1, 2006

A Special Issue of the *Journal of Integrative Neuroscience*
(http://www.worldscinet.com/jin/jin.shtml) will be edited as a
follow-up of the workshop.  

All submitted papers will be peer-reviewed by both the programme
committee of the workshop and the journal's editorial board. Three
types of contributions can be submitted:

* articles,
* brief communications, and
* review-like papers.

Authors are requested to explicitly address issues such as the
biological plausibility of the proposed models, as well as how the
proposed theoretical approaches may improve the knowledge of the
neurobiological bases of spatial cognition.

Drafts must be submitted to spatial.learning at gmail.com before
November 1, 2006, and must be prepared according to the journal's
"Guidelines for contributions"
(http://www.worldscinet.com/jin/mkt/guidelines.shtml).


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SUMMARY of IMPORTANT DATES
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We encourage authors to submit both abstracts and full papers
even though there is no restriction in this respect.

Deadline for abstract submission	July 1, 2006
Deadline for full paper submission	November 1, 2006
Workshop date				October 1, 2006
Expected journal publication date	June, 2007

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PROGRAM COMMITTEE
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Nathaniel Daw.
Gatsby Unit, London, UK.

Philippe Gaussier.
Université de Cergy-Pontoise, France.

Jeff Krichmar.
The Neuroscience Institute, San Diego, USA.

Benoit Girard.
LPPA - Collège de France, France.

Tony Prescott.
Adaptive Behaviour Research Group, Sheffield, UK.

Agnès Guillot.
Animatlab, University Paris VI, France.

Verena Hafner.
TU Berlin, Germany

Bruno Poucet.
CNRS, Marseille, France.

Mehdi Khamassi.
Animatlab, University Paris VI, France.

Denis Sheynikhovich.
EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Angelo Arleo.
Sony Computer Science Laboratory, France.

Ricardo Chavarriaga.
IDIAP Research Institute, Switzerland.

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WORKSHOP ORGANIZERS
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Angelo Arleo
http://www.csl.sony.fr/~angelo/
Sony Computer Science Laboratory, Paris, France

Ricardo Chavarriaga
http://www.idiap.ch/~rchava/
IDIAP Research institute, Martigny, Switzerland

For further information: spatial.learning at gmail.com