From Jakob.Macke at tuebingen.mpg.de Wed Jul 1 09:45:56 2009 From: Jakob.Macke at tuebingen.mpg.de (Jakob Macke) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 15:45:56 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Call for papers: Statistical analysis of multi-electrode recordings Message-ID: <9DEE1E70-7546-47B9-83D1-1B02362973BC@tuebingen.mpg.de> Dear all, we are inviting submissons for a special topic in Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, entitled 'Statistical analysis of multi- cell recordings: Linking population coding models to experimental data'. Short abstracts/outlines describing the focus of the study should be submitted by October 1st, the deadline for submitting full papers will be November 15. More details can be found in the attached call for papers, as well as at http://frontiersin.org/computationalneuroscience/specialtopics/36/ . This special topic is connected to a one day workshop at the Computational Neuroscience Meeting 2009 in Berlin: http://www.cnsorg.org/2009/workshops.shtml http://www.kyb.tuebingen.mpg.de/bethge/workshops/cns2009/ . Best regards, Matthias Bethge, Jakob Macke and Philipp Berens Statistical analysis of multi-cell recordings: Linking population coding models to experimental data HOSTED BY Matthias Bethge, mbethge at tuebingen.mpg.de, Jakob Macke, jakob at tuebingen.mpg.de and Philipp Berens, philipp.berens at tuebingen.mpg.de ABOUT THE SPECIAL TOPIC Modern recording techniques such as multi-electrode arrays and 2- photon imaging are capable of simultaneously monitoring the activity of large neuronal ensembles at single cell resolution. This makes it possible to study the dynamics of neural populations of considerable size, and to gain insights into their computations and functional organization. The key challenge with multi-electrode recordings is their high-dimensional nature. Understanding this kind of data requires powerful statistical techniques for capturing the structure of the neural population responses and their relation with external stimuli or behavioral observations. Contributions to this special topic should advance statistical modeling of neural populations. Questions of particular interest include: 1. What classes of statistical methods are most useful for modeling population activity? 2. What are the main limitations of current approaches, and what can be done to overcome them? 3. How can statistical methods be used to empirically test existing models of (probabilistic) population coding? 4. What role can statistical methods play in formulating novel hypotheses about the principles of information processing in neural populations? This Special Topic is connected to a one day workshop at the Computational Neuroscience Meeting 2009 in Berlin (http:// www.cnsorg.org/2009/workshops.shtml and http:// www.kyb.tuebingen.mpg.de/bethge/workshops/cns2009/). DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION November 15, 2009 INFORMATIONS FOR AUTHORS Submission Procedure: Researchers are invited to submit on or before October 1st 2009 a max. 1 page abstract/outline of work related to the focus of the special section to Philipp Berens for consideration for potential inclusion as an elaborated full article in the special topic. Please include a provisional title, a full author list, and format the subject of your email as follows: "[Statistical Modeling] outline - Your Name". Authors will be notified whether their article would be suitable for the special topic by October 15th 2009. Full Article Information: Full articles will be invited based on the abstracts/outlines we receive by October 1st 2009 The deadline for submission of invited full articles is November 15th 2009. All articles will go through a full peer review process. Article formatting will be as for standard Frontiers "Original Research Articles". Guidelines and instructions for their preparation can be found at www.frontiersin.org/ authorinstructions#manuscriptGuidelines. Frontiers is an open access journal, following a pay-for-publication model. You will find more details on http://frontiersin.org/ publicationfees/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20090701/d1c823f2/attachment-0001.html From yann.renard at irisa.fr Wed Jul 1 11:05:22 2009 From: yann.renard at irisa.fr (Yann Renard) Date: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:05:22 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: OpenViBE software for BCI and realtime neuroscience : official release Message-ID: <4A4B7B32.1080301@irisa.fr> We are proud to announce the release of *OpenViBE* , an opensource platform that enables to design, test and use Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI). Broadly speaking, OpenViBE can be used in many real-time Neuroscience applications. The OpenViBE platform stands out for its high modularity. It addresses the needs of different types of users (programmers and non-programmers) and proposes a user-friendly graphical language which allows non-programmers to design a BCI without writing a single line of code. OpenViBE is portable, independent of hardware or software targets, can run under Windows and Linux and is entirely based on free and open-source software. OpenViBE is compatible with MATLAB programming. OpenViBE comes with preconfigured scenarios and runs already existing applications such as : * BCI based on motor imagery * P300 speller * Neurofeedback * Real-time visualization of brain activity in 2D or 3D OpenViBE is available under the terms of the LGPL-v2+. The whole software is developed in C++. It consists of a set of software modules that can be integrated easily and efficiently to design BCI applications such as for Virtual Reality interaction. Key features of the platform are: * *Modularity and reusability* Our platform is a set of software modules dedicated to the acquisition, pre-processing, processing and visualization of cerebral data, as well as to the interaction with VR displays. OpenViBE is a general purpose software, which implies users should be able to easily add new software modules in order to fit their particular needs. * *Different tools for various users* OpenViBE is designed for different types of user: clinicians, signal processing researchers, computer/human interaction developers etc. Their various needs are addressed and different tools are proposed for each of them, depending on their programming skills and their knowledge in brain processes. * *Portable software* The platform operates independently from the different software and hardware targets. It includes an abstraction allowing to run with various acquisition machines, such as EEG or MEG. It can run on Windows and Linux and also includes different data visualisation techniques. * *Connection with virtual reality* Our software can be integrated with high-end VR applications. OpenViBE can serve as an external peripheral to connect a BCI system to any kind of VR application. It also takes advantage of VR displays , allowing to visualize cerebral activity more efficiently or to provide incentive training environments (e.g., for neurofeedback). If you want more details, check these links : *Website* *Quick introduction video* : *Software download* : *One-hour training session video* : *Screenshots and videos* : We will demonstrate OpenViBE in Berlin, Germany, july 8th-10th at the BBCI workshop . For latest news, check our website at . Looking forward to your feedback, we hope you'll enjoy working with OpenViBE as we do. Feel free to join us and to spread the word... Many people did this already ! Best regards, The OpenViBE consortium *Contact* : Project Leader : Anatole L?cuyer, INRIA (anatole.lecuyer at irisa.fr) Lead Software Engineer : Yann Renard, INRIA (yann.renard at irisa.fr) From jonathan at sit.kmutt.ac.th Wed Jul 1 14:21:02 2009 From: jonathan at sit.kmutt.ac.th (Jonathan Chan) Date: Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:21:02 +0700 Subject: Connectionists: ICONIP'09 - Final CFP Message-ID: <4A4BA90E.3060901@sit.kmutt.ac.th> (Apologies if you receive multiple copies of this announcement) --------------------------------------------------------------- FINAL CALL FOR PAPERS 16th International Conference on Neural Information Processing (ICONIP'09) Challenges and Trends of Neural Information Processing Bangkok, Thailand, December 1-5, 2009 http://www.iconip09.org/ *** Due to the recent crash of the online submission system and numerous requests for further extension, the regular paper submission deadline is extended to be the same as the special issue paper submission deadline of July 28, 2009. *** Regular paper submission deadline: July 28, 2009 (extended) Special session paper submission deadline: July 28, 2009 Notification of acceptance: August 15, 2009 Camera-ready manuscripts and early-bird registration: September 6, 2009 TECHNICAL HIGHLIGHTS - Keynote speech by Shun-ichi Amari - Plenary talks by Jun Wang, Nik Kasabov, Kunihiko Fukushima, Ron Sun, DeLiang Wang, Chidchanok Lursinsap - Invited talks by Soo-Young Lee, Wlodzislaw Duch, Shiro Usui, Masumi Ishikawa, Yuzo Hirai, Bao-Liang Lu, Zhi-Hua Zhou, Minho Lee, Andrew Chi-Sing Leung, Tom Gedeon, Paul S. Pang - Six tutorials which are inclusive with an ICONIP'09 registration. - More details can be found at the conference website. TECHNICAL CO-SPONSORS International Neural Network Society (INNS) Japanese Neural Network Society (JNNS) European Neural Network Society (ENNS) IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (IEEE-CIS) ICONIP'09 solicits contributions from the following non-exclusive list of topics in neural information processing and related areas: - Cognitive science - Computational neuroscience - Mathematical Modeling and Analysis - Learning Algorithms - Support Vector Machines - Self-Organizing Map - Independent Component Analysis - Pattern Classification - Face Analysis and Processing - Image Processing - Signal Processing - Computer Vision - Hybrid Systems - Forecasting and Prediction - Evolutionary Computation - Hardware - Fuzzy Systems - Information Security - Data and Text Processing - Financial Applications - Manufacturing Systems - Control and Robotics - Other Emerging Computational Methods - Bioinformatics and Biomedical Applications PAPER SUBMISSION Prospective authors are invited to submit original, high quality manuscripts of up to eight A4-pages electronically. The submission must conform to the Springer LNCS format. All accepted papers will be able to be published in proceedings of ICONIP'09 as a Springer LNCS volume. Extended version of selected papers will be invited for publication in special issues of international journals after the conference. The ICONIP'09 online submission system is at Springer's Online Conference Service (OCS). More information can be found at the paper submission site of ICONIP'09. (http://www.iconip09.org/submit.php) SPECIAL ISSUES The following special issues have been confirmed thus far: - Int. Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience (American Scientific Publisher) - Neural Computing and Applications (Springer) - Neurocomputing (Elsevier) - Evolving Systems (Springer) - The Australian Journal of Intelligent Information Systems (ANU) More special issues in high quality journals will be announced at the conference website later on. SPECIAL SESSIONS All accepted papers will be able to be published in the ICONIP'09 conference proceedings and/or special issues. There are currently nine approved special sessions: * Intelligent Data Mining - http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~kwong/ICONIP/ * Data Mining for Cybersecurity (DMC at ICONIP 2009) - http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/servlet/event.showcfp?eventid=5570©ownerid=4822 * Towards brain-inspired systems - Keiichi Horio (horio [at] brain.kyutech.ac.jp) * SOM and related subjects and its applications - Nobuo Matsuda (matsuda [at] oshima-k.ac.jp); Heizo Tokutaka (tokuhema [at] hal.ne.jp) * Neural Networks for Data Mining (NNDM at ICONIP 2009) - http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/servlet/event.showcfp?eventid=5741©ownerid=5009 * Hybrid and Adaptive Systems for Computer Vision and Robot Control - Napoleon Reyes (N.H.Reyes [at] massey.ac.nz); Pitoyo Hartono (hartono [at] fun.ac.jp) * Artificial spiking neural systems: nonlinear dynamics and engineering applications - Toshimichi Saito (tsaito [at] k.hosei.ac.jp) * Computational Advances in Bioinformatics (CAB 2009) - Asawin Meechai (asawin.mee [at] kmutt.ac.th); Santitham Prom-on (santitham [at] cpe.kmutt.ac.th) * Intelligent Liar Competition - John Sum (pfsum [at] nchu.edu.tw) POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP There is one approved post ICONIP'09 conference workshop at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to be held on December 7, 2009: Workshop on Advances in Intelligent Computing (http://waic09.utar.edu.my/) Please direct your inquiries to the Workshops Chairs, Lai Weng Kin (lai [at] mimos [dot] my) or C. P. Lim (cplim [at] eng [dot] usm [dot] my). COLLOCATED CONFERENCE The 3rd International Conference on Advances in Information Technology (IAIT2009) will be collocated with The 16th International Conference on Neural Information Processing (ICONIP'09) in Bangkok, Thailand. From aapo.hyvarinen at helsinki.fi Thu Jul 2 10:57:34 2009 From: aapo.hyvarinen at helsinki.fi (Aapo Hyvarinen) Date: Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:57:34 +0300 Subject: Connectionists: New book "Natural Image Statistics" now available Message-ID: <4A4CCADE.1020004@helsinki.fi> Dear Colleagues, Our new book: Natural Image Statistics -- A probabilistic approach to early computational vision has now been published by Springer. See http://www.naturalimagestatistics.net for ordering information, as well as a *free* preprint version. The book is a hybrid of a textbook and a monograph. It explains the basics of this modelling approach, as well as recent advances. The book is targeted to students and researchers in any related discipline, such as neural and cognitive sciences, computer science, statistics, and electrical engineering. Our main motivation for exploring natural image statistics is computational modelling of biological visual systems. A theoretical framework which is gaining more and more support considers the properties of the visual system to be reflections of the statistical structure of natural images, because of evolutionary adaptation processes. Another motivation for natural image statistics research is in computer science and engineering, where it helps in development of better image processing and computer vision methods. Aapo Hyvarinen, Jarmo Hurri & Patrik Hoyer -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aapo Hyvarinen Dept of Computer Science & Dept of Mathematics and Statistics University of Helsinki www.cs.helsinki.fi/aapo.hyvarinen/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From tohru-nitta at aist.go.jp Mon Jul 6 00:06:47 2009 From: tohru-nitta at aist.go.jp (Tohru Nitta) Date: Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:06:47 +0900 Subject: Connectionists: New book "Complex-Valued Neural Networks" now available Message-ID: <20090706125958.8C02.222E6AA6@aist.go.jp> Dear Colleagues, New book: Complex-Valued Neural Networks: Utilizing High-Dimensional Parameters? ISBN: 978-1-60566-214-5; 504 pp; February 2009? Published under Information Science Reference, an imprint of IGI Global? http://www.igi-global.com/reference/details.asp?id=33017? Edited by: Tohru Nitta, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science? and Technology, Japan? DESCRIPTION? Recent research indicates that complex-valued neural networks whose parameters? (weights and threshold values) are all complex numbers are in fact useful,? containing characteristics bringing about many significant applications.? Complex-Valued Neural Networks: Utilizing High-Dimensional Parameters covers? the current state-of-the-art theories and applications of neural networks? with high-dimensional parameters such as complex-valued neural networks,? quantum neural networks, quaternary neural networks, and Clifford neural? networks, which have been developing in recent years. Graduate students? and researchers will easily acquire the fundamental knowledge needed to? be at the forefront of research, while practitioners will readily absorb? the materials required for the applications.? Sincerely yours, T.Nitta National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan From m.montemurro at manchester.ac.uk Mon Jul 6 06:15:59 2009 From: m.montemurro at manchester.ac.uk (Marcelo Montemurro) Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 11:15:59 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Manchester Workshop on Neural Coding and Computation Message-ID: Dear All, this is the first announcement of the upcoming workshop on Neural Coding and Computation that will take place at the University of Manchester (UM). The event will bring together a number of leading international speakers to present cutting edge research on neural coding. The date, time, and venue for the workshop are as follows: 8 September 2009, from 10:00 to 17:00 The University of Manchester Faculty of Life Sciences Smith Building, Lecture Theatre The confirmed Invited speakers are the following: Matteo Carandini (UCL) Steve Coombes (University of Nottingham) Jason Kerr (Max Planck, Tuebingen) Marcelo Magnasco (Rockefeller University) Magnus Richardson (University of Warwick) Mark Van Rossum (University of Edinburgh) Some travel support will be available (priority will be given to PhD students and postdocs). The event is funded by the Mathematical Neuroscience Network, the Neuroscience Research Institute (UM), and the Faculty of Life Sciences (UM). Registration and attendance are free of charge. Please, register by filling in the form at the workshop web page ( http://www.neuroscience.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/events/CompNeuroscieneWorkshop ) Regards, The organisers -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20090706/48668694/attachment.html From maass at igi.tugraz.at Thu Jul 9 11:59:26 2009 From: maass at igi.tugraz.at (Wolfgang Maass) Date: Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:59:26 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Positions for two Phd-students for research on neural computation and learning in Graz Message-ID: <4A5613DE.2010908@igi.tugraz.at> In the research group of Wolfgang Maass and Robert Legenstein at the Graz University of Technology in Austria (http://www.igi.tugraz.at/maass/) there are positions for two PhD students for research on computation and learning in networks of spiking neurons, models for complex autonomously learning neural systems (including neuronal implementations of reinforcement learning), and models for self-organization and self-calibration of biologically realistic models for cortical microcircuits and areas. A keen interest in understanding brain function as well as knowledge in machine learning, computational theory, and programming skills are expected. These two PhD Students will be funded for 3 years by the Marie Curie Initial Training Network Facets-ITN of the EU. They will receive a strongly interdisciplinary training including extended stays in several partner laboratories from the FACETS-project of the EU http://facets.kip.uni-heidelberg.de/. These are pure research positions, without teaching duties. Applicants for these positions in Graz should send their CV, statement of interest, and pdf's of relevant papers (e.g. master thesis) as soon as possible to Angelika Zehetner angelika at igi.tugraz.at (The rules of the Marie Curie Network demand that applicants for the positions in Austria must be of non-Austrian nationality and have spent less than 12 months during the last 3 years in Austria.) -- Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Maass Institut fuer Grundlagen der Informationsverarbeitung Technische Universitaet Graz Inffeldgasse 16b , A-8010 Graz, Austria Tel.: ++43/316/873-5811 Fax ++43/316/873-5805 http://www.igi.tugraz.at/maass/Welcome.html From ylevy at cs.umass.edu Sat Jul 11 00:32:40 2009 From: ylevy at cs.umass.edu (Yariv Z Levy) Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:32:40 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Autonomous Neurodynamics 2009 - Call For Presentations Message-ID: <6FD56FE8-4CA6-473D-BA5D-0271E4E51D61@cs.umass.edu> Apologies for multiple postings. Please forward to whom this may be of interest to. --- PRINCIPLES OF AUTONOMOUS NEURODYNAMICS 2009 Meeting Dates: July 27-29, 2009 Location: La Jolla, California Website: www.utoronto.ca/sand/ ------------------------------------------- CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS The 6th annual meeting of the Society for Autonomous Neurodynamics (SAND) will take place on July 27th, 28th and 29th, 2009 at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in La Jolla, California. We are now soliciting participants from a range of fields interested in free dynamics in networks and the relation of autonomous neurodynamics to neurological conditions. If you would like to present work relating to these issues please send a 250-word abstract by July 17, 2009 to: conference.sand at utoronto.ca Or register online at: http://www.utoronto.ca/sand/PAND2009/register.html Presentations should be 15 minutes in length. We encourage entries from a diversity of backgrounds and welcome both exploratory and advanced research. Sessions are meant to be multi-disciplinary, dynamic, fun and will include open discussions. ------------------------------------------- CONFERENCE SCOPE Autonomous Neurodynamics describes interactive systems that can change activity both in response to and independently of the environment. Presentations will focus on the theoretical underpinnings and implications of autonomous dynamics in relation to neural activity, cognition, social systems and general network dynamics. Sessions may encompass a broad array of approaches including presentations from mathematics, physics, philosophy, psychology, computational and theoretical neurosciences. ------------------------------------------- LA JOLLA, SAN DIEGO AND ACTIVITIES The conference will take place in La Jolla, California. La Jolla is a major international hub for neuroscience research (sometimes called "neuron valley") and the home to UCSD and the Salk institute. The UCSD Cognitive Science Department was the first of its kind in the world. The picturesque town is located on the legendary palm-lined shores of Southern California and only minutes away from the city of San Diego with its many attractions. As in previous years, the conference presentations will be followed by an outdoor adventure in which ideas are exchanged and collaborations planned in a more informal, free and dynamic environment. This year the post-presentation events will include surfing, diving and a desert excursion. Limited spots. First-come, first-served policy. Additional excursion information is available at: http://www.utoronto.ca/sand/PAND2009/Additional_Info.html ------------------------------------------- ACCOMMODATIONS For additional information on accommodations and updates see: http://www.utoronto.ca/sand/PAND2009/Additional_Info.html ------------------------------------------- ACCESSIBILITY AND CHILD CARE All presentations will take place in wheelchair accessible venues. Limited grants to assist with child care arrangements may be available. Please indicate requirement during online registration. ------------------------------------------- CONFERENCE TOPICS SAND conference presentations typically encompass a wide range of themes that have included: * Physiology, Sensorimotor Systems and Behavior * Neuroanatomy * Neurogenetics and Pathobiology * Pharmacology * Hormones and Reproduction * Nutrition and Biochemistry * Personal Narratives * Gender and Social Sciences * Neurology and Clinical Perspectives * Neuropsychoanalysis * Cognitive Science * Dynamical Systems and Embodied Modeling * Nonlinear Analysis * Computation and Information Processing * Network Theory * The Role of Noise / Stochasticity / Randomness In addition to these topics we welcome novel approaches and interdisciplinary research that can synthesize findings from various fields. Presentations may also consider the implications of research findings on ethical theory, autonomy and health. We particularly encourage presentations that examine changes in neurodynamics in neurological conditions such as epilepsy, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's that can have a profound impact on an individual's autonomy and quality of life. Investigations may also include more common conditions in which changes in neural dynamics impact volitional activity such as sleep. ------------------------------------------- SPONSORS: * The Institute for Neural Computation (INC), UCSD * Department of Cognitive Science, UCSD * University of Toronto Epilepsy Research Program * Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland (www.sein.nl) * Collaborative Program in Neuroscience, University of Toronto (PIN) * Institute of Experimental Physics, Warsaw University For additional information see: http://www.utoronto.ca/sand/PAND2009/ --- Best Regards, Yariv Z. Levy @ http://www.cs.umass.edu/~ylevy/ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: SAND_2009_Poster_01b.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 302060 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20090711/6cf82b5d/SAND_2009_Poster_01b-0001.pdf -------------- next part -------------- From maneesh+connectionists at gatsby.ucl.ac.uk Wed Jul 15 06:44:58 2009 From: maneesh+connectionists at gatsby.ucl.ac.uk (Maneesh Sahani) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:44:58 +0100 Subject: Connectionists: Theoretical Neuroscience Postdoctoral Fellowships at the Gatsby Unit Message-ID: UCL Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit Research Associate (Postdoctoral Training Fellowship - Theoretical Neuroscience) Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, UCL, UK http://www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/ The Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit invites applications for a postdoctoral training fellowship in theoretical neuroscience and related areas. The Unit is a world-class centre for theoretical neuroscience and machine learning. Neuroscience research focuses on the interpretation of neural data, population coding, perceptual processing, neural dynamics, neuromodulation, and learning. The Unit also has significant interests across a range of areas in machine learning. For further details of our research please see: http://www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/research.html The Unit provides a unique environment in which a critical mass of theoreticians interact closely with each other and with other world-class research groups in related departments and research institutes at UCL, including: the departments of Cognitive, Perceptual & Brain Sciences, Computer Science, Imaging Neuroscience, Motor Neuroscience, Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology, Physics and Statistics; the UCL Ear Institute; the Institutes of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neurology, and Ophthalmology; and the cross-faculty Centre for Computational Statistics and Machine Learning. The Unit's visitor and seminar programmes enable staff and students to engage with leading researchers from across the world. Candidates must have a strong analytical background and demonstrable interest and expertise in theoretical neuroscience. Typically, appointments are made within the range GBP 34,296 - GBP 38,251 (including London Allowance). Training fellowships are funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and are part of a continuing program of training postdoctoral researchers in the discipline. The position is available for an initial period of between one and two years, and may be renewed to a maximum of three years. Funding is specifically for the purpose of training a succession of researchers. To ensure the intellectual renewal of the unit, training fellows are not funded beyond a maximum three year period. Applicants should send in pdf, word, or plain text a CV, a statement of research interests, and the names and full contact details (including e-mail addresses) of three referees to: asstadmin at gatsby.ucl.ac.uk. Applicants are directed to further particulars about the position available from: http://www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk/vacancies/. The closing date for applications is July 30th, 2009. Interviews will be held on the 11th September, 2009. From jonathan at sit.kmutt.ac.th Wed Jul 15 03:31:28 2009 From: jonathan at sit.kmutt.ac.th (Jonathan Chan) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:31:28 +0700 Subject: Connectionists: Call for Papers - Special Sessions in ICONIP'09 Message-ID: <4A5D85D0.4030107@sit.kmutt.ac.th> (Apologies if you receive multiple copies of this announcement) --------------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR PAPERS - SPECIAL SESSIONS (ICONIP'09) ========================================== 16th International Conference on Neural Information Processing (ICONIP'09) Challenges and Trends of Neural Information Processing Bangkok, Thailand, December 1-5, 2009 http://www.iconip09.org/ Special session paper submission deadline: July 28, 2009 Notification of acceptance: August 15, 2009 Camera-ready manuscripts and early-bird registration: September 6, 2009 All accepted papers will be able to be published in the ICONIP'09 conference proceedings and/or special issues. There are ten approved special sessions: * Intelligent Data Mining - http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~kwong/ICONIP/ * Data Mining for Cybersecurity (DMC at ICONIP 2009) - http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/servlet/event.showcfp?eventid=5570©ownerid=4822 * Towards brain-inspired systems - Keiichi Horio (horio [at] brain.kyutech.ac.jp) * SOM and related subjects and its applications - Nobuo Matsuda (matsuda [at] oshima-k.ac.jp); Heizo Tokutaka (tokuhema [at] hal.ne.jp); Masahiro Takatsuka * Neural Networks for Data Mining (NNDM at ICONIP 2009) - http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/servlet/event.showcfp?eventid=5741©ownerid=5009 * Hybrid and Adaptive Systems for Computer Vision and Robot Control - http://tur-www1.massey.ac.nz/~nhreyes/ICONIP09/Session.htm * Artificial spiking neural systems: nonlinear dynamics and engineering applications - Toshimichi Saito (tsaito [at] k.hosei.ac.jp); Hiroyuki Torikai * Computational Advances in Bioinformatics (CAB 2009) - http://www.wikicfp.com/cfp/servlet/event.showcfp?eventid=6045 * Intelligent Liar Competition - John Sum (pfsum [at] nchu.edu.tw) * Evolutionary Neural Networks: Theory and Practice - http://dasan.sejong.ac.kr/~kimkj/iconip09/index.html Submission: All special session submissions are to follow the Springer LNCS format with a limit of eight A4 format pages. More information on paper submission can be found at the ICONIP'09 paper submission website at http://www.iconip09.org/submit.php. The online submission site is at http://senldogo0039.springer-sbm.com/ICONIP09/servlet/Conference. Please select the appropriate category of special session during the paper submission process. From baveja at umich.edu Wed Jul 15 09:59:03 2009 From: baveja at umich.edu (Satinder Baveja) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:59:03 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Postdoctoral fellow position (reinforcement learning) Message-ID: <273ED31E-4A2F-447F-A97D-D5B30CFEBFEB@umich.edu> As part of a just funded NSF project, we are looking for a postdoctoral fellow to do research on extending reinforcement learning ideas into an architecture for building long-lived agents. A number of research issues including learning good representations and models, using internal rewards, control of internal as well as external actions, abstraction of actions into skills, and the use of episodic and semantic memories within reinforcement learning are in the scope of the project. A mix of empirical and theoretical work is called for in the project which funds Satinder Singh, John Laird, Richard Lewis and Thad Polk, all at the University of Michigan. The ideal candidate would have done a thesis on a reinforcement learning topic. If you are interested in applying for such a position, please send your details to baveja at umich.edu (please don't spam the whole mailing list). The start date can be as early as September 2009. best, Satinder Singh University of Michigan, Ann Arbor -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20090715/4e0ad057/attachment.html From destexhe at wanadoo.fr Wed Jul 15 14:45:24 2009 From: destexhe at wanadoo.fr (Alain DESTEXHE) Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:45:24 +0200 (CEST) Subject: Connectionists: 22 Ph.D. positions From Neuroscience to Neuro-Inspired Computing Message-ID: <24425996.65640.1247683524189.JavaMail.www@wwinf1e20> Hi, this message is of general interest to anyone, in particular to students looking for PhD opportunities (with funding!) best, Alain ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Dear colleagues, We would like to announce the availability of 22 Ph.D. positions in the "Marie Curie Initial Training Network FACETS-ITN: From Neuroscience to Neuro-Inspired Computing". The network consists of 15 partners in 6 countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Sweden and Switzerland). The positions to work on a Ph.D. are funded for up to three years and are intended for mobile "Early Stage Researchers", i.e. for people who graduated less than 4 years ago and who are foreigners to the country of the host group. Applicants with an excellent degree (Master of Science, Diploma, earned since September 2005) in Biology, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering or Mathematics and the strong wish to actively contribute to an interdisciplinary research activity are invited to apply at http://www.facets-project.org/ITN The application deadline is 20 August 2009. Contact: Dr. Bjoern Kindler Administrative Project Officer Kirchhoff Institute for Physics Room 01.108 Im Neuenheimer Feld 227 D-69120 Heidelberg Tel.: +49 6221 54 9127 Email: bjoern.kindler at kip.uni-heidelberg.de From steve at cns.bu.edu Tue Jul 21 11:38:45 2009 From: steve at cns.bu.edu (Stephen Grossberg) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:38:45 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: four neural modeling articles about visual and spatial navigation Message-ID: <119F1FFD-84F7-4345-AD26-4AC9B3EE632F@cns.bu.edu> The following articles about visual and spatial navigation are now available at http://cns.bu.edu/~steve : Elder, D., Grossberg, S., and Mingolla, M A neural model of visually guided steering, obstacle avoidance, and route selection. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, in press. ABSTRACT A neural model is developed to explain how humans can approach a goal object on foot while steering around obstacles to avoid collisions in a cluttered environment. The model uses optic flow from a 3D virtual reality environment to determine the position of objects based on motion discontinuities, and computes heading direction, or the direction of self-motion, from global optic flow. The cortical representation of heading interacts with the representations of a goal and obstacles such that the goal acts as an attractor of heading, while obstacles act as repellers. In addition the model maintains fixation on the goal object by generating smooth pursuit eye movements. Eye rotations can distort the optic flow field, complicating heading perception, and the model uses extraretinal signals to correct for this distortion and accurately represent heading. The model explains how motion processing mechanisms in cortical areas MT, MST, and posterior parietal cortex can be used to guide steering. The model quantitatively simulates human psychophysical data about visually-guided steering, obstacle avoidance, and route selection. Key Words: Heading perception, steering, optic flow, obstacle, goal, pursuit eye movement, gain fields, peak shift, V2, MT, MST, PPC, LIP Browning, A., Grossberg, S., and Mingolla, M. A neural model of how the brain computes heading from optic flow in realistic scenes. Cognitive Psychology, in press. ABSTRACT Visually-based navigation is a key competence during spatial cognition. Animals avoid obstacles and approach goals in novel cluttered environments using optic flow to compute heading with respect to the environment. Most navigation models try either explain data, or to demonstrate navigational competence in real-world environments without regard to behavioral and neural substrates. The current article develops a model that does both. The ViSTARS neural model describes interactions among neurons in the primate magnocellular pathway, including V1, MT+, and MSTd. Model outputs are quantitatively similar to human heading data in response to complex natural scenes. The model estimates heading to within 1.5? in random dot or photo-realistically rendered scenes, and within 3? in video streams from driving in real-world environments. Simulated rotations of less than 1 degree per second do not affect heading estimates, but faster simulated rotation rates do, as in humans. The model is part of a larger navigational system that identifies and tracks objects while navigating in cluttered environments. Key Words: navigation, optic flow, heading, motion, visual cortex, V1, MT, MST, neural model Browning, A., Grossberg, S., and Mingolla, M. Cortical dynamics of navigation and steering in natural scenes: Motion- based object segmentation, heading, and obstacle avoidance. Neural Networks, in press. ABSTRACT Visually guided navigation through a cluttered natural scene is a challenging problem that animals and humans accomplish with ease. The ViSTARS neural model proposes how primates use motion information to segment objects and determine heading for purposes of goal approach and obstacle avoidance in response to video inputs from real and virtual environments. The model produces trajectories similar to those of human navigators. It does so by predicting how computationally complementary processes in cortical areas MT-/MSTv and MT+/MSTd compute object motion for tracking and self-motion for navigation, respectively. The model retina responds to transients in the input stream. Model V1 generates a local speed and direction estimate. This local motion estimate is ambiguous due to the neural aperture problem. Model MT+ interacts with MSTd via an attentive feedback loop to compute accurate heading estimates in MSTd that quantitatively simulate properties of human heading estimation data. Model MT- interacts with MSTv via an attentive feedback loop to compute accurate estimates of speed, direction and position of moving objects. This object information is combined with heading information to produce steering decisions wherein goals behave like attractors and obstacles behave like repellers. These steering decisions lead to navigational trajectories that closely match human performance. Key Words: Optic flow, navigation, MT, MST, motion segmentation, object tracking Grossberg, S. Beta oscillations and hippocampal place cell learning during exploration of novel environments. Hippocampus, in press. ABSTRACT The functional role of synchronous oscillations in various brain processes has attracted a lot of experimental interest. Berke et al. (2008) reported beta oscillations during the learning of hippocampal place cell receptive fields in novel environments. Such place cell selectivity can develop within seconds to minutes, and can remain stable for months. Paradoxically, beta power was very low during the first lap of exploration, grew to full strength as a mouse traversed a lap for the second and third times, and became low again after the first two minutes of exploration. Beta oscillation power also correlated with the rate at which place cells became spatially selective, and not with theta oscillations. These beta oscillation properties are explained by a neural model of how place cell receptive fields may be learned and stably remembered as spatially selective categories due to feedback interactions between entorhinal cortex and hippocampus. This explanation allows the learning of place cell receptive fields to be understood as a variation of category learning processes that take place in many brain systems, and challenges hippocampal models in which beta oscillations and place cell stability cannot be explained. Key Words: grid cells, category learning, spatial navigation, adaptive resonance theory, entorhinal cortex -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20090721/143873f3/attachment-0001.html From terry at salk.edu Fri Jul 17 16:59:43 2009 From: terry at salk.edu (Terry Sejnowski) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:59:43 -0700 Subject: Connectionists: NEURAL COMPUTATION - August, 2009 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Neural Computation - Contents - Volume 21, Number 8 - August 1, 2009 NOTES Direct Estimation of Inhomogenous Markov Interval Models of Spike Tains Daniel Wojcik, Gabriela Mochol, Wit Jakuczun, Marek Wypych, and Wioletta Waleszczyk Importance of the Cutoff Value in the Quadratic Adaptive Integrate-and-Fire Model Jonathan Touboul LETTERS Fast and Robust Learning by Reinforcement Signals: Explorations in the Insect Brain Ramon Huerta and Thomas Nowotny Quantifying Statistical Interdependence by Message Passing on Graphs- PART I: One-Dimensional Point Processes J. Dauwels, F. Vialatte. T. Weber, and A. Cichocki Quantifying Statistical Interdependence by Message Passing on Graphs-PART II: Multi-Dimensional Point Processes J. Dauwels, F. Vialatte, T. Weber, T. Musha, and A. Cichocki Stimulus-Dependent Correlations in Threshold-Crossing Spiking Neurons Yoram Burak, Sam Lewallen, and Haim Sompolinsky Information-Geometric Measures as Robust Estimators of Connection Strengths and External Inputs Masami Tatsuno, Jean-Marc Fellous, and Shun-ichi Amari Time-Varying Perturbations Can Distinguish Among Integrate- to-Threshold Models for Perceptual Decision Making in Reaction Time Tasks Xiang Zhou, KongFatt Wong-Lin, and Philip Holmes Randomized Shortest-Path Problems: Two related models Marco Saerens, Youssef Achbany, Francois Fouss, and Luh Yen ----- ON-LINE - http://neco.mitpress.org/ SUBSCRIPTIONS - 2009 - VOLUME 21 - 12 ISSUES USA/Canada Others Electronic only Student/Retired $60 $123 $54 Individual $110 $173 $99 Institution $849 $912 $756 MIT Press Journals, 238 Main Street, Suite 500, Cambridge, MA 02142-9902. Tel: (617) 253-2889 FAX: (617) 577-1545 journals-orders at mit.edu http://mitpressjournals.org/neuralcomp ----- From ale at sissa.it Thu Jul 23 04:25:18 2009 From: ale at sissa.it (Alessandro Treves) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:25:18 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at SISSA, Trieste, Italy Message-ID: <20090723102518.f4br7mvapj4o40c4@webmail.sissa.it> 4+ PhD positions are still open at the second admission exam in September. SISSA is the elite postgraduate research institution in Italy, devoted to Math, Physics and Neuroscience. It operates in English: roughly half the students (and faculty) in the Cognitive Neuroscience sector are not Italian. Presently located in downtown Trieste, the sector will be reunited with the rest of SISSA in early 2010, moving to a new 25,000 sqm building in a park overlooking the Gulf. We seek a diverse international group of new students. Research approaches in the CNS sector span the range from cognitive and developmental psychology and imaging in humans (including OT and a new fMRI machine) to behavioural neuroscience and multiple single-unit recording in rats, mathematical and computational modeling. Allied approaches are pursued in the Neurobiology sector. All students receive a school fellowship and engage full-time in research based in Trieste, with some coursework in the first few months. Application info http://www.sissa.it/main/?p=COURSES_PHD Alessandro Treves ale at sissa.it --- SISSA - Cognitive Neuroscience, now downtown in via Stock 2/2, V fl BUT NOTE, POSTAL ADDRESS: SISSA, via Beirut 2, 34014 Trieste, Italy tel:39-040-3787623 fax:39-040-3787615 http://people.sissa.it/~ale ---------------------------------------------------------------- SISSA Webmail https://webmail.sissa.it/ Powered by Horde http://www.horde.org/ From ale at sissa.it Thu Jul 23 04:29:18 2009 From: ale at sissa.it (Alessandro Treves) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:29:18 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: postdocs in Cognitive Neuroscience at SISSA, Trieste, Italy Message-ID: <20090723102918.sf6td49wgg8ccog8@webmail.sissa.it> 2 distinct postdoctoral positions, one in "Cognitive Neuroscience" and one more specific in "Development of language and speech" are open at SISSA, with deadline for application Sept 15 (in addition to 4 other positions in Prof. Diamond's lab, which have deadline July 31). Full info on the web: http://www.sissa.it/main/?p=A3_B4&what=tpd SISSA is the elite postgraduate research institution in Italy, devoted to Math, Physics and Neuroscience. It operates in English: roughly half the students, postdocs and faculty in the CNS sector are not Italian. Presently located in downtown Trieste, the sector will be reunited with the rest of SISSA in early 2010, moving to a new 25,000 sqm building in a park overlooking the Gulf. Research approaches in the CNS sector span the range from cognitive and developmental psychology and imaging in humans (including OT and a new fMRI machine) to behavioural neuroscience and multiple single-unit recording in rats, mathematical and computational modeling. Allied approaches are pursued in the Neurobiology sector. See http://www.sissa.it/cns/ for further information. Candidates with no prior experience at SISSA are strongly encouraged to apply for either postdoctoral position. The first one, in particular, is not tied to a specific research approach, and candidates with their own research plan are most welcome. Alessandro Treves ale at sissa.it -- SISSA - Cognitive Neuroscience, now downtown in via Stock 2/2, V fl BUT NOTE, POSTAL ADDRESS: SISSA, via Beirut 2, 34014 Trieste, Italy tel:39-040-3787623 fax:39-040-3787615 http://people.sissa.it/~ale ---------------------------------------------------------------- SISSA Webmail https://webmail.sissa.it/ Powered by Horde http://www.horde.org/ From bhanna at neuromatters.com Thu Jul 23 12:02:21 2009 From: bhanna at neuromatters.com (Barbara Hanna) Date: Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:02:21 -0400 Subject: Connectionists: Job posting Message-ID: <2A015DD6-E601-4ED3-953C-DDCA35F606DB@neuromatters.com> Hi, I had previously sent two job descriptions for circulation but as I had sent them as attachment I am not sure you were able to include them in your postings. I am therefore resending them directly pasted in this email. Thanks & best regards, Barbara JOB POSTING #1: Neuromatters LLC (NMC) is seeking a talented individual to join its multidisciplinary team and pioneer technologies in the area of Cortically Coupled Computer Vision (C3V) applications. Founded by recognized neuroengineering experts from Columbia University and the City College of New York, NMC is at the forefront of neurotechnologies, EEG signal processing and decoding, and is developing advanced systems to significantly increase information processing throughput. The responsibilities of the successful applicant will include: - Applied algorithm development and testing - Integrated system design, development, prototyping and documentation The successful applicant will have: - a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field; background in Computer Vision desirable - a very strong background in one or more of the following areas: signal processing, machine learning, neuroscience - excellent software design and development skills; excellent knowledge of C/C++ and Matlab a must; proficiency with python desirable -experience with MS Windows software development environments and tools - permanent residency or US citizenship The successful applicant will be expected to work out of NMC?s offices located in New York, NY. The position is full-time and will include competitive salary and benefits package. Please send resume and cover letter to hr at neuromatters.com. JOB POSTING #2: Neuromatters LLC (NMC) is seeking a talented individual to join its multidisciplinary team and pioneer technologies in the area of Cortically Coupled Computer Vision (C3V) applications. Founded by recognized neuroengineering experts from Columbia University and the City College of New York, NMC is at the forefront of neurotechnologies, EEG signal processing and decoding, and is developing advanced systems to significantly increase information processing throughput. The responsibilities of the successful applicant will include: -Applied algorithm development and testing - Integrated system design, development, prototyping and documentation - Participation in regular field tests - Interactions with NMC?s customers to develop appropriate system requirements and deliver excellence The successful applicant will have: - a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or related field; a neuroscience background is desirable - minimum 2 years experience with practical software and/or system development - a very strong background in one or more of the following areas: signal processing, machine learning, neuroscience - excellent software design and development skills; excellent knowledge of C/C++ and Matlab a must; proficiency with python desirable - experience with MS Windows software development environments and tools -US citizenship and ability to obtain clearance The successful applicant will be expected to work out of NMC?s offices located in New York, NY. The position is full-time and will include competitive salary and benefits package. Please send resume and cover letter to hr at neuromatters.com. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20090723/8258adbe/attachment.html From pmandal at postoffice.utas.edu.au Mon Jul 27 04:37:37 2009 From: pmandal at postoffice.utas.edu.au (Paras Mandal) Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:37:37 +1000 Subject: Connectionists: Call for papers: AISAT 2009 - The 3rd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Science and Technology Message-ID: <0KNF00LJBMNXCGF0@mmp-sby2.its.utas.edu.au> THE 3rd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AISAT 2009 http://www.eng.utas.edu.au/conferences/AISAT/aisat2009.html THE UNIVERSITY OF TASMANIA, HOBART, AUSTRALIA 22 ? 25 November 2009 (Hosted by the School of Engineering in partnership with the Institution of Engineers, Australia.) Over the last four decades the field of artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly developed and diversified in both its conceptual advancement and applications. These advances have initiated several research areas in neuroscience, cognitive science, physics, philosophy and engineering. This multi-disciplinary problem has developed versatile tools for intelligent decision making over the years of advancement, while raising more philosophical questions than available answers. The nature of investigation varies significantly depending on the discipline and scope. Therefore, the investigations have varied anything from the neuro-correlates of consciousness to individual application of AI. This conference on artificial intelligence in science and technology is an international multi-disciplinary conference that will bring several areas of expertise to tackle common problems. Venue: The Conference will be held at the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia, between 22?25 November 2009. The University of Tasmania is one of Australia?s oldest universities. Founded in Hobart in 1890 it was the fourth university to be established in Australia. In the ensuing one hundred years it has gained a reputation for solid academic achievement. The university is within walking distance of the city of Hobart, Tasmania?s capital city. Hobart has modern facilities, extensive shopping, restaurants, and cultural and entertainment opportunities. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Australia. Hobart has a moderate climate, coupled with the second lowest rainfall for an Australian capital city. Conference Themes: Basic Research in AI ? knowledge and reasoning ? representation and search ? knowledge-based systems ? machine learning ? neural networks ? fuzzy logic ? genetic algorithms ? neuro-fuzzy systems ? soft computing and hybrid systems ? data mining ? automated reasoning and codes Neuro-Cognitive Science ? modeling the brain ? memory and learning ? neural information processing ? visual perception ? sensory systems ? studies of consciousness ? quantum theory of consciousness ? cellular and sub-neural process ? biophysics and living processes ? cognitive engineering Application Domains ? manufacturing ? electrical and power engineering ? civil and mechanical engineering ? biomedical engineering ? telecommunication ? control engineering ? environmental engineering ? business and management ? medicine ? geography The scope of the conference is recent and original research in the area of artificial intelligence applications in science and technology. The list of topics shown give guidelines for possible contributions. Papers on other related topics will also be accepted if they fall within the objectives of the conference. Paper Submission: Authors are invited to submit full papers in English. All submissions will be peer-reviewed based on originality and technical quality. Each paper is limited to 6 pages. The submission must include the author(s) name, organisation and full address for correspondence, including telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address. The file format for your paper or abstract should be PDF. All authors must submit their papers before the closing date of 1 September 2009. Please forward submissions to the AISAT?2009 Secretariat via the online conference web link ? see below. Invited Sessions and Tutorials: Prospective organisers of Invited Sessions and Tutorials are invited to submit their proposals by 1 August 2009. A prospective Invited Session organizer should send a proposal, including a session title, a short synopsis, a bio of the organizer with a publication list for the last 5 years, to the AISAT?2009 Secretariat via the online web link below. Exhibition Facilities: Mini-exhibition facilities will be available for those firms or organisations wishing to display products, services, hardware, software, literature relating to the theme of the conference. The space may also be used for free standing units. Please contact the Conference Secretariat for details. Important dates: Proposals for Invited Sessions and Tutorials 1 August 2009 Proposals for tutorials and exhibitions 1 August 2009 Receipt of full papers 1 September 2009 Notification of acceptance of full papers 1 October 2009 Registration: Those interested in attending the conference are requested to complete the preliminary registration form and e-mail, mail or fax it to the Secretariat as soon as possible. Authors must register and present their papers at the conference. Failure to pay the registration fee will exclude the paper from the conference proceedings. The full registration fee will be AU$800 per participant. However an early bird discount fee of AU$650 is available. A special rate of AU$500 per participant is available for full time students with an early bird discount rate of AU$400. Registration includes a copy of the proceedings, lunches, morning and afternoon tea and a welcome reception. A conference dinner will be held at a cost of AU$75 per person, in addition to the registration fee. Organising Committee: General and Technical Program Chair: Professor Michael Negnevitsky (The University of Tasmania) Members of the Local Organising Committee: * Prof Larry Forbes (Mathematics and Physics) * Dr Tim Gale (Biomedical Engineering) * A/Prof Quang Ha (Control and Robotics) * Mr Geoff Harper (IEAust Tasmanian Division) * A/Prof Byeong-ho Kang (Artificial Intelligence) * Dr Andrei Kelarev (Mathematics) * Prof Christopher Lueg (Computer Science) * Prof Jeff Malpas (Philosophy) * Dr Paras Mandal (Prediction Models) * Dr Cameron Potter (Optimization and Forecasting) * Prof Leon Reznik (Fuzzy Control) * Prof Jeff Summers (Psychology) * Dr Greg Timms (IEEE) Conference Secretariat: For enquiries regarding registration and technical papers contact: Phil Holmes AISAT?2009 Secretariat Convention Wise Victoria Dock, Hobart Tasmania 7000 Australia Tel: +61 3 6234 1424 Fax: +61 3 6281 9601 E-mail: Phil.Holmes at conventionwise.com.au Home page: http://www.eng.utas.edu.au/conferences/AISAT/aisat2009.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20090727/854b238d/attachment-0001.html From vcu at cs.stir.ac.uk Mon Jul 27 09:36:01 2009 From: vcu at cs.stir.ac.uk (Cutsuridis, Vassilis) Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:36:01 +0300 Subject: Connectionists: Neural modeling article on encoding and retrieval of a hippocampal CA1 microcircuit Message-ID: <8EBC5249EAFF446282BAE6900437EF2D@Zeus> The following article about memory storage and retrieval of a hippocampal microcircuit is available at http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~vcu: Cutsuridis, V., Cobb, S., Graham B.P. Encoding and retrieval in the hippocampal CA1 microcircuit model. Hippocampus, in press. ABSTRACT It has been proposed that the hippocampal theta rhythm (4-7 Hz) can contribute to memory formation by separating encoding (storage) and retrieval of memories into different functional half-cycles (Hasselmo et al. (2002) Neural Comput 14:793-817). We investigate, via computer simulations, the biophysical mechanisms by which storage and recall of spatio-temporal input patterns are achieved by the CA1 microcircuitry. A model of the CA1 microcircuit is presented that uses biophysical representations of the major cell types, including pyramidal (P) cells and four types of inhibitory interneurons: basket (B) cells, axoaxonic (AA) cells, bistratified (BS) cells, and oriens lacunosum-moleculare (OLM) cells. Inputs to the network come from the entorhinal cortex (EC), the CA3 Schaffer collaterals, and medial septum. The EC input provides the sensory information, whereas all other inputs provide context and timing information. Septal input provides timing information for phasing storage and recall. Storage is accomplished via a local STDP mediated hetero-association of the EC input pattern and the incoming CA3 input pattern on the CA1 pyramidal cell target synapses. The model simulates the timing of firing of different hippocampal cell types relative to the theta rhythm in anesthetized animals and proposes experimentally confirmed functional roles for the different classes of inhibitory interneurons in the storage and recall cycles (Klausberger et al. (2003)Nature 421:844-848; Klausberger et al. (2004) Nat Neurosci 7:41-47). Measures of recall performance of new and previously stored input patterns in the presence or absence of various inhibitory interneurons are used to quantitatively test the performance of our model. Finally, the mean recall quality of the CA1 microcircuit is tested as the number of stored patterns is increased. Key Words: CA1 microcircuit model; storage and recall; pyramidal cell; basket cell; bistratified cell; OLM cell; axo-axonic cell; STDP -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20090727/b013fe5c/attachment.html From i.tetko at gsf.de Wed Jul 29 04:42:51 2009 From: i.tetko at gsf.de (Igor Tetko) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:42:51 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: Environmental Toxicity Prediction Challenge Message-ID: <9A10D3DA-FDEF-464E-8C47-CBDFB1D8EFCD@gsf.de> This challenge is organized by ICANN'09: International Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, European Neural Network Society (ENNS) and CADASTER FP7 EU project. Goals of this study: Develop in silico models to predict environmental toxicity of molecules against T. pyriformis using data from [1]. Estimate the prediction intervals for new compounds. Further information can be found at http://www.cadaster.eu. Structures of molecules and five datasets of descriptors are available: Quantum Chemistry, E-state, DRAGON, SimulationsPlus and MOE descriptors The users can generate new descriptors using structures of molecules provided at the web site of the challenge. Important key dates August 31 The submission of results is closed. September 14-17 2009 The winner will be announced at the ICANN'09 conference (there is no requirement to participate to this conference) The winner will be identified according to the following criteria: 1) methods with Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) non-significantly different to the method with lowest RMSE (according to the bootstrap test, p<0.05) will be identified as the first-pass winners. 2) the method providing the best likelihood criteria between estimated and observed confidences for the blind test set as described in [2] will be identified amid the first-pass winners. Grand prize for the competition-winners is 1.000 Euro. Igor V. Tetko, Terry W. Schultz and Wlodzislaw Duch [1] Zhu, H.; Tropsha, A.; Fourches, D.; Varnek, A.; Papa, E.; Gramatica, P.; Oberg, T.; Dao, P.; Cherkasov, A.; Tetko, I. V. Combinatorial QSAR Modeling of Chemical Toxicants Tested against Tetrahymena pyriformis J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2008, 48 (4), 766-784. [2] Tetko, I. V.; Sushko, I.; Pandey, A. K.; Zhu, H.; Tropsha, A.; Papa, E.; Oberg, T.; Todeschini, R.; Fourches, D.; Varnek, A., Critical assessment of QSAR models of environmental toxicity against Tetrahymena pyriformis: focusing on applicability domain and overfitting by variable selection J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2008, 48 (9), 1733-46. Dr. Igor V. Tetko Institute of Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen German Research Center for Environmental Health Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany Tel./Fax: +49-89-3187-3575/x85 e-mail: itetko at vcclab.org, itetko at gmail.com http://www.vcclab.org http://www.cadaster.eu -- see prediction challenge! Are you looking for a PhD position? Please, have a look at http://www.cadaster.eu/node/34 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20090729/28c355fa/attachment-0001.html From hecke at nld.ds.mpg.de Tue Jul 28 09:30:42 2009 From: hecke at nld.ds.mpg.de (hecke) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:30:42 +0200 Subject: Connectionists: [update] CNS fall course in Goettingen, Germany Message-ID: <4A6EFD82.5000101@nld.ds.mpg.de> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ UPDATE: Change in the speaker board ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Applications are invited for the seventh fall course on COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE in Goettingen, Germany September 21 - 25, 2009 organized by H. Schrobsdorff The course is intended to provide graduate students and young researchers from all parts of neuroscience with working knowledge of theoretical and computational methods in neuroscience and to acquaint them with recent developments in this field. The course includes tutorials and lectures of the following researchers: * Michele Giugliano: In vivo-like, noisy stimulation paradigms in in vitro cellular electrophysiology * Robert G?tig: (working title) Spike-timing based sensory coding and processing * Jason Kerr: Population imaging in vivo: from the awake to the anesthetized * Benjamin Lindner: Interspike interval statistics and response properties of neurons in the fluctuation driven regime * Gianluigi Mongillo: Collective dynamics of recurrent networks with short-term synaptic plasticity. The course takes place at the Department of Nonlinear Dynamics of the Max-Planck Institute for Dynamics and Selforganization, Bunsenstr. 10, D-37073 Goettingen. A course fee of 100 Euro includes participation in the tutorials, study materials, and part of the social events. The number of participants is limited to about 30. Course language is English. To apply please fill out the application form at: http://www.bccn-goettingen.de/events-1/cns-course by August 15, 2009. Best wishes and looking forward to seeing you in Goettingen Hecke -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: hecke.vcf Type: text/x-vcard Size: 416 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://mailman.srv.cs.cmu.edu/mailman/private/connectionists/attachments/20090728/22dcc87e/hecke-0001.vcf From announce at ccnconference.org Fri Jul 31 18:56:13 2009 From: announce at ccnconference.org (ccnc-announce) Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:56:13 -0600 Subject: Connectionists: CCNC 2009 Online Abstract Submission Extended to August 15, 2009 Message-ID: <200907311656.13821.announce@ccnconference.org> ~ Online Abstract Submission Extended ~ 4th CONFERENCE ON COMPUTATIONAL COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE www.ccnconference.org To be held in conjunction with the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society at the Sheraton Boston Hotel in Boston, MA. CCN CONFERENCE DATES: Wed-Thu November 18 & 19, 2009 All three of our previous meetings have been a great success, two as satellites to Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting (2005, 2007) and in 2006 with Psychonomics. Attendance has ranged from 115-250. ____________________________________________________________________________ * EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS: Tuesday, August 15, 2009 Abstracts are to be submitted online via the website www.ccnconference.org. * Look for an announcement regarding online registration opening very soon, early August. As in past years, there will be two categories of submissions: -Poster only -Poster, plus short talk (15 min) to highlight the poster Abstracts should be limited to 250 words. Women and underrepresented minorities are especially encouraged to apply. Reviewing of posters will be inclusive and only to ensure appropriateness to the meeting. Short talks will be selected on the basis of research quality, relevance to conference theme, and expected accessibility in a talk format. Abstracts not selected for short talks will still be accepted as posters as long as they meet appropriateness criteria. * NOTIFICATION OF POSTER ACCEPTANCE: Approx. August 31, 2009 * CONTRIBUTED SHORT TALK SELECTION: Approx. September 15, 2009 __________________________________________________________________________ Program: * 2009 Keynote Speakers: Neil Burgess, University College London Josh Tenenbaum, MIT * Three symposia, each including a mixture of modelers and non-modelers and focused on a common theme or issue: ** Top-Down Mechanisms of Visual Attention Moderator: Steven Bressler, Florida Atlantic University ** Our Vision for the Word: Modeling Orthographic Processing Moderators: Carol Whitney, University of Maryland, College Park Jonathan Grainger, CNRS, France ** Context, Memory, and the Brain Moderators: Michael Hasselmo, Boston University Ken Norman, Princeton University * Approximately 12 short talks will be chosen featuring selected posters. * Poster sessions * We are again planning another special issue of Brain Research for selected papers from this meeting -- no need to indicate interest with your abstract submission at the present time. * We plan to award a limited number of competitive travel fellowships for students -- look for a notice by late summer. We especially encourage applications from members of underrepresented minorities. * Registration fees: $175 ($75 for students). ____________________________________________________________________________ 2009 Planning Committee: Suzanna Becker, McMaster University Carlos Brody, Princeton University Nathaniel Daw, New York University Michael Hasselmo, Boston University David Noelle, University of California, Merced Ken Norman, Princeton University Maximilian Riesenhuber, Georgetown University Ex officio: Randall O'Reilly, University of Colorado, Boulder Jonathan Cohen, Princeton University Executive Organizer: Thomas Hazy, University of Colorado, Boulder For more information and to sign up for the mailing list visit: www.ccnconference.org