Conf Proposal:Gordon Research Conf on Neuroethology 2005

描述(申请人提供)：直到最近，神经行为学的研究一直集中在特定适应行为背后的感觉机制，以及围绕大脑和行为的可塑性问题。然而，在过去5年中，在重要和相互关联的分析领域取得了概念上的突破和新的方法。本次会议将讨论(1)环境线索如何塑造自适应控制机制以及复杂信号如何影响个人和群体行为的研究。这些问题直接关系到(2)上下文相关的选择、群体行为的涌现特性和行为表型的演变。新的翻译方法包括群体遗传学和建模，以及更熟悉的神经行为学方法。此外，认识到从分析电路和行为获得的知识并不总是足以测试假设，已经导致(3)在开发允许在定义的行为设置中对电路能力进行严格测试的神经形态实体方面取得了令人兴奋的进展。这些方法对机器人学和神经修复术有着深远的影响。(4)对大脑如何处理感觉数据以提供适应行为的洞察，已经从针对神经电路的特定元素的遗传工具中获得了新的推动力，以提供可在行为上测试的明确的功能改变。建议召开的第三届戈登神经行为学研究会议将适时地讨论这些问题，并就感觉知觉、大脑和行为研究的发展和未来方向进行讨论。该会议面向所有专业水平的神经行为学社区，包括高级研究生和博士后实习生。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Until recently, the study of neuroethology has focused on sensory mechanisms underlying specific adaptive behaviors and around issues of plasticity in brain and behavior. However, in the last 5 years conceptual breakthroughs and novel approaches have been developed with regard to important and interrelated areas of analysis. This conference will consider (1) research on how environmental cues shape adaptive control mechanisms and how complex signals affect the behavior of individuals and groups. These issues bear directly on (2) context-dependent choice, emergent properties of group behavior, and the evolution of behavioral phenotypes. New translational approaches include population genetics and modeling, in conjunction with more familiar neuroethological methods. Further, the realization that knowledge gained from analyzing circuitry and behavior is not invariably sufficient to test hypotheses has lead to (3) exciting advances in developing neuromorphic entities that allow rigorous tests of circuit capabilities in defined behavioral settings. These approaches have far reaching implications for robotics and neural prosthetics. (4) Insight into how the brain processes sensory data to provide adaptive behavior has achieved new impetus from genetic tools that target specific elements of neural circuitry to provide defined functional alterations that are behaviorally testable. This proposed 3rd Gordon Research Conference on Neuroethology will provide a timely discussion of these issues and about the development and future directions of the study of sensory perception, brain, and behavior. The conference is intended for the broad neuroethological community at all professional levels including advanced graduate and postdoctoral trainees.