Gordon Research Conference, Thalamocortical Interactions: Cell and Circuit Properties. Meeting, February 14-19, 2016, Ventura, CA

该奖项将为参加2016年戈登丘脑皮质相互作用研究会议的美国学生、博士后研究员和初级科学家提供支持。这个为期五天的会议将首次汇集研究人员来展示结果，并参与讨论丘脑皮质相互作用的细胞和电路特性，并以此为基础探索它们在认知和行为中的作用。这次会议为对丘脑皮质相互作用感兴趣的神经科学家提供了一个难得的机会，可以在从细胞到系统到认知和临床的许多层面上交流新的结果、假设和想法。这是特别及时的，因为随着最近对丘脑在皮层功能中起着持续和关键作用的认识，这一领域已经得到了显著的扩展。这次会议的智力价值来自于它的小规模，这促进了参与者之间的互动，并聚集了许多顶级科学家，他们的研究跨越了多种感觉模式的丘脑皮质相互作用，强调了共性。这种结合导致了富有成效的比较分析，提出了关于潜在机制的新问题，并经常导致新的合作。通过最大化正式讨论和非正式互动，戈登会议将突出令人兴奋的新发展，这些发展对神经回路的紧急特性和涉及丘脑皮质破坏的病理学的基本理解都有影响。就更广泛的影响而言，这次会议将以多种方式使更大的社区受益。首先，它将通过让学生和博士后接触令人兴奋的科学和科学家，帮助培养和激励下一代科学家。第二，将特别重视初级教员。最后，将作出协调一致的努力，从代表性不足的群体中招募科学家。

This award will provide support to US-based students and post-doctoral fellows and junior scientists to attend the 2016 Gordon Research Conference on Thalamocortical Interactions. This five-day meeting will be the first to bring together researchers to present results and enagage in discussions on the cell and circuit properties of thalamocortical interactions, and build on these to explore their roles in cognition and behavior. This conference represents a rare opportunity for neuroscientists interested in thalamocortical interactions to exchange new results, hypotheses, and ideas at many levels, from cellular through systems to cognitiveand clinical. This is especially timely because this field has been expanding significantly with the recent appreciation that the thalamus plays an ongoing and critical role in cortical functioning. The intellectual merit of this meeting derives from its small size, which promotes interactions between participants, and the assembly of many top scientists whose research spans thalamocortical interactions across multiple sensory modalities, emphasizing the commonalities. This combination leads to fruitful comparative analyses, raises new questions about underlying mechanisms and often leads to new collaborations. By maximizing both formal discussion and informal interactions, the Gordon Conference will highlight exciting new developments that have implications both for a basic understanding of the emergent properties of neural circuits as well as pathologies that involve thalamocortical disruptions. With respect to broader impacts, this meeting will benefit the larger community in multiple ways. First, it will help train and inspire the next generation of scientists by exposing students and postdoctoral fellows to exciting science and scientists. Second, special emphasis will be given to junior faculty. Finally, a concerted effort will be made to recruit scientists from under-represented groups.