2011 Gordon Research Conference & GRS Neuroethology: Behavior, Evolution & Neurob

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案要求部分支持神经行为学国际会议，作为戈登研究会议系列的一部分。会议将于2011年8月14日至19日在美国马萨诸塞州斯通希尔学院举行，会议之前将举行研究生研究研讨会（8月13日至14日）。这次正在进行的会议的长期目标是增加我们对神经回路的发育、功能和进化的理解。在2011年的会议上，有几场会议探讨了动物是如何在它们特定物种的感官世界中生活的。关键问题是：我们能否利用我们对感觉系统的理解，将神经科学和生态学（“神经生态学”）联系起来？本次会议的具体目的是召集代表神经行为学前沿的22位专家演讲者和18位讨论领导者，共有135-150名参与者，在学术环境中进行为期5天的会议，以促进互动。其目的是在神经行为学的分支学科之间引发为期一天的讨论。主要项目将包括两位开幕（主题）演讲者和八场科学会议。这两个主题演讲将与表观遗传学的主题联系起来，迫使神经行为学家考虑如何将其研究对象的个人生活史整合到神经回路分析中。三个会议将集中在感官世界：一个关于转导，一个关于感觉整合，一个关于自然任务背后的神经处理。一个相关的会议将利用昆虫和哺乳动物的触觉来讨论神经行为学研究如何为生物工程做出贡献。其中一个会议将讨论与大脑大小和行为有关的问题。另外两个会议的重点是信息处理的成本和可能使用的直接早期基因表达的测量作为神经行为学工具。每天的海报会议将允许所有参与者为会议做出贡献，组织者将鼓励提交与正式会议相关的海报。这项申请的意义在于，戈登神经行为学研究会议是联合国际神经行为学家的年度会议周期的关键组成部分。（戈登神经行为学研究会议在奇数年召开；国际神经行为学学会在偶数年召开大会。）这个应用与健康的关系是，讨论将定义有效神经假体设计者所面临的挑战。研究生研究研讨会的题目是“研究生研究研讨会：比较或灭亡！”在这次会议上，研究生和博士后研究人员将在一个开放、非正式的氛围中讨论神经行为学的未来，这将使年轻科学家准备好从接下来的戈登研究会议中获得最大的利益。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal requests partial support for an international meeting on Neuroethology as part of the Gordon Research Conference series. The meeting will be held at Stonehill College, Massachusetts, USA, August 14-19, 2011, and will be preceded by a Graduate Research Seminar August (13-14). The long-term goal of this ongoing conference is to increase our understanding of the development, function, and evolution of neural circuits. The 2011 meeting features several sessions that investigate how animals live in their species-specific sensory worlds. The key question: Can we use our understanding of sensory systems to link neuroscience and ecology ("neuro-ecology")? The specific aim of this meeting is to convene 22 expert speakers and 18 discussion leaders representing the forefront of neuroethology with a total of 135-150 participants for a 5 day conference in an academic setting selected to foster interaction. The intention will be to provoke day-long discussion across the sub-disciplines of neuroethology. The main program will feature two opening (keynote) speakers and eight scientific sessions. The two keynote talks will be linked by the topic of epigenetics, forcing neuroethologists to consider how the individual life histories of their subjects must be integrated into neural circuit analysis. Three sessions will focus on the sensory world: one on transduction, one on sensory integration, and one on the neural processing underlying natural tasks. A related session will use touch as sensed by insects and mammals to address the topic of how neuroethological investigations can contribute to bioengineering. One session will address issues related to brain size and behavior. Two additional sessions focus on the cost of information processing and the possible use of measures of the expression of immediate early genes as neuroethological tools. Daily poster sessions will permit all participants to contribute to the conference, and the organizers will encourage poster submissions related to the formal sessions. The significance of this application is that the Gordon Research Conference on Neuroethology is a critical component of the annual cycle of conferences that unite the international community of neuroethologists. (The Gordon Research Conference on Neuroethology convenes in odd-numbered years; the International Society of Neuroethology convenes its congress in even-numbered years.) The health relatedness of this application is that the discussions will define the challenges that face the designers of effective neural prostheses. The Graduate Research Seminar is titled "Graduate Research Seminar: Compare or Perish!" At this meeting, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will meet to discuss the future of neuroethology in an open, informal atmosphere that will prepare young scientists to derive maximum benefit from the full Gordon Research Conference that follows. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Gordon Conference on Neuroethology: Behavior, Evolution, and Neurobiology will be held August 14-19, 2011, at Stonehill College in Massachusetts, USA. This meeting provides an exceptional opportunity for researchers from around the world to discuss emerging concepts related to the development, function, and evolution of neural circuits. There will be a pre- meeting Graduate Research Seminar to enhance the training experience for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Explicitly examining the evolutionary and comparative aspects of neural circuits will provide new insights into the design of effective neural prostheses.