The Neural Basis of Attention: A Festschrift in Honor of Robert Rafal

在任何给定的情况下，世界上的信息通常都远远超过了我们的视觉系统所能处理的。例如，当阅读这个句子时，在任何给定的时间，只有一小部分字母和单词被处理。虽然看似简单，但选择性地注意一些信息而忽略其他信息的过程需要许多不同的大脑区域的协调，每个区域对这一壮举的贡献是不同的。这次研讨会将汇集国际专家，讨论人脑是如何集中注意力的。除了涵盖注意力的神经基础的历史和当代视角外，演讲者还将特别赞扬认知和行为神经学家罗伯特·拉法尔教授的重大贡献和影响，他的职业生涯专注于更好地理解注意力、意识、眼球运动和知觉的神经基础。该奖项将主要资助有资格的学生和该领域早期职业研究人员的旅费，以及与制作这次会议的特别编辑卷相关的出版费。会议将于2018年3月22日至23日在纽约城市大学研究生中心西格尔剧院举行。演讲和编辑后的卷将突出注意力研究的一些重要的支柱原则，以及那些已被大幅修改或推翻的原则。此外，与大多数其他会议和研讨会不同的是，这些会议和研讨会倾向于安排更多的知名研究人员作为演讲者，这次研讨会将包括不同经验和年龄的演讲者，从当前和新近的学生到成熟的高级研究人员。演讲者将包括几位著名的女性演讲者，这对年轻的女性研究人员和与会者来说应该特别鼓舞人心。此外，还将作出具体努力，纳入不同的学生参加群体，包括邀请纽约城市大学STEM领域的少数族裔高中生和本科生，这是纽约市一所高度多样化的公共机构。学生与会者应该会从参加这个研讨会所获得的知识中获益良多，并可能决定从事研究或学术事业，专注于更好地理解注意力的神经基础。

At any given instance, there is typically far more information in the world than our visual systems can handle. For example, while reading this sentence, only a small proportion of the letters and words are processed at any given time. Although seemingly simple, the process of selectively attending to some information while ignoring other information requires the orchestration of many different brain areas, each of which contributes differentially towards this feat. This workshop will bring together international experts to discuss how the human brain focuses attention. In addition to covering historical and contemporary perspectives on the neural basis of attention, speakers will pay special tribute to the substantial contributions and influences of Professor Robert Rafal, a cognitive and behavioral neurologist whose career focused on better understanding the neural underpinnings of attention, consciousness, eye movements, and perception. This award will primarily fund travel for deserving students and early career stage researchers in the field and publications costs associated with producing a special edited volume from this meeting.The meeting will take place on March 22-23, 2018 in the Segal Theater of The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The talks and edited volume will highlight some of the important mainstay principles of attention research, as well as ones that have been substantially revised or overturned. Furthermore, unlike most other conferences and workshops, which tend to schedule more established researchers as speakers, this workshop will include speakers of varying experiences and ages, ranging from current and recent students to established senior researchers. Speakers will include several prominent female speakers, which should be especially inspiring for the younger female researchers and attendees. Additionally, specific efforts will be made to include a diverse group of student attendees, including invitations to underrepresented minority high school students and undergraduates in the STEM fields at CUNY, a highly diverse public institution in New York City. The student attendees should greatly benefit from the knowledge to be gained from attending this workshop and may decide to pursue a research or academic career focusing on better understanding the neural basis of attention.