2021 Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB) Annual Meeting

America/New_York
Virtual

Virtual

Description

Welcome


Dear Investigators,

The Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB) aims to expand our understanding of the role of internal brain processes in the arc from sensation to action, thereby discovering the nature, role and mechanisms of the neural activity that produces cognition. You, the SCGB investigators, have enhanced collaborative efforts by bringing together larger yet more tightly knit groups of investigators, which have grown stronger in the past year. We believe this approach is working — groups have increased requests for in-person group meetings, there are signs of deeper scientific connections in the progress reports, and the excitement in the community is evident at our meetings and events. SCGB investigators are thinking together, working together and making great progress on understanding the neural computations underlying cognition.  
 
A unique and important aspect of the SCGB is training the next generation of scientists, through postdoctoral programs, courses and conferences. Communities and collaborations often begin at the graduate-student and postdoctoral-fellow level. The importance of investing in early-career researchers cannot be overstated, which is why we made the decision to include trainees in the SCGB meeting this year. We hope to not only train and support the next generation of scientists, but also lay the groundwork for deep and insightful collaborations at the principal-investigator level. Toward this goal, we have endeavored to make our postdoctoral programming an integral part of the scientific landscape for junior SCGB researchers. We organize regular meetings open to all postdocs in New York, California and now Boston, where junior researchers share their work and get feedback from their peers. These meetings provide “the most useful and insightful feedback” and are a “scientific highlight,” according to attendees.

The courses funded by the SCGB and organized, taught and recommended by you continue to train and engage the next generation of systems and computational neuroscientists. Through courses in Romania, China, the United States, Israel/Palestine and South Africa, the SCGB is educating students around the globe. From courses that focus on building optical and electrophysiological experimental setups from the ground up, such as the Transylvanian Experimental Neuroscience Summer School in Romania, to the purely computational training provided by the IBRO-Simons Computational Neuroscience Imbizo in South Africa, we are extremely proud of the diversity of courses and the global and collaborative community the SCGB is building.

We hope this meeting will continue to foster collaboration and discussion on work vital to the SCGB mission. In addition to the talks and updates, we will again have time for each collaborative group to meet and work together. This time to work together in person was extremely successful last year, and we look forward to repeating that enthusiasm and productivity this year. There has been a shift in the approach to neuroscientific research, and we are proud to be on the forefront of this shift. Thank you for contributing your time and expertise to these efforts.

David Tank, SCGB Director
Gerry Fischbach, Distinguished Scientist and Fellow of the Simons Foundation

    • Day One

      Friday, January 29th

      • 4:00 PM
        Welcome Reception 2nd Floor (Simons Foundation, GDF Auditorium)

        2nd Floor

        Simons Foundation, GDF Auditorium

        160 Fifth Avenue
      • 1
        Opening Remarks
        Speakers: David Tank (Director, Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain), Gerry Fischbach (Distinguished Scientist and Fellow, Simons Foundation), Jim Simons (Chairman, Simons Foundation)
      • 2
        Keynote Session

        Moderator: Alyssa Picchini Schaffer

        The Role of the Orbitofrontal Cortex in Reinforcement Learning
        Yael Niv, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Princeton University

        Speakers: Alyssa Picchini Schaffer (Simons Foundation), Yael Niv (Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Princeton University)
      • 7:00 PM
        Dinner at Black Barn 19 East 26th Street

        19 East 26th Street

    • Day Two

      Saturday, January 30th

      • 8:00 AM
        Conference Check-in and Breakfast Buffet 2nd Floor (Simons Foundation, GDF Auditorium)

        2nd Floor

        Simons Foundation, GDF Auditorium

        160 Fifth Avenue
    • Session 1
      Convener: Tony Movshon
      • 3
        Session Introduction
      • 4
        Communication between Neural Populations: Circuits, Coding, and Behavior

        Long Talk

        Speaker: Byron Yu
      • 5
        Neural Substrates of Behavior and Action Selection in Model Organisms

        Project Update

        Speaker: Adrienne Fairhall
      • 6
        Neural Mechanisms of Context Dependent Cognitive Behavior

        Long Talk

        Speaker: Stefano Fusi
      • 7
        Leveraging Dynamical Smoothness to Predict Motor Cortex Population Activity

        Project Update

        Speaker: Mark Churchland
      • 10:30 AM
        Break
    • Session 2
      Convener: Anne Churchland
      • 8
        Session Introduction
      • 9
        Neural Circuit Dynamics Underlying Sequence and Variability

        Long Talk

        Speaker: Michale Fee
      • 10
        The Representation of Internal State in the Fly Brain

        Project Update

        Speaker: Larry Abbott
      • 11
        Neural Computations for Visual Form Processing and Form-based Cognition

        Long Talk

        Speakers: Jim DiCarlo, Nicole Rust
      • 12
        Dissecting Navigation and the General Logic of Episodic State Computation

        Project Update

        Speaker: Lisa Giocomo
      • 12:50 PM
        Group Photo + Lunch Buffet + Poster Session 2nd Floor (Simons Foundation, GDF Auditorium)

        2nd Floor

        Simons Foundation, GDF Auditorium

        160 Fifth Avenue
    • Session 3
      Convener: Adrienne Fairhall
      • 13
        Session Introduction
      • 14
        Plasticity of Global Brain Dynamics: Tunable Neural Integration

        Long Talk

        Speaker: Mark Goldman
      • 15
        Integrative Approaches to Understanding Whole-Brain Computation

        Project Update

        Speaker: Misha Ahrens
      • 16
        Dynamical Computation in Populations -- Analysis and Theory

        Long Talk

        Speaker: Maneesh Sahani
      • 4:15 PM
        Break
    • Session 4
      Convener: David Tank
      • 17
        Session Introduction
      • 18
        Neuronal Circuit Dynamics Underlying Multi-Time Scale Orchestration of Motor Behaviors

        Long Talk

        Speakers: Liam Paninski, Manuel Zimmer
      • 19
        Multi-Regional Neuronal Dynamics of Memory-Guided Flexible Behavior

        Project Update

        Speakers: Karel Svoboda, Shaul Druckmann
      • 20
        Computation-through-dynamics as a Framework to Link Brain and Behavior

        Long Talk

        Speakers: David Sussillo, Valerio Mante
      • 21
        Theory of Distributed Persistent Activity in Large-Scale Brain Circuits

        Project Update

        Speaker: Xiao-Jing Wang
    • Day Two

      Saturday, January 30th

      • 7:00 PM
        Reception and Dinner at Park Avenue Winter Park Avenue Winter

        Park Avenue Winter

        360 Park Avenue South
    • Day Three

      Sunday, January 31st

      • 8:00 AM
        Breakfast Buffet 2nd Floor (Simons Foundation, GDF Auditorium)

        2nd Floor

        Simons Foundation, GDF Auditorium

        160 Fifth Avenue
    • Session 5
      Convener: Gerry Fischbach
      • 22
        Session Introduction
      • 23
        Discovering Repeating Neural Motifs Representing Sequenced Behavior

        Long Talk

        Speaker: Bernardo Sabatini
      • 24
        Population Analysis of Cognitive Variables

        Project Update

        Speaker: David Tank
      • 25
        Breakout Sessions

        See Breakout Room Maps for Assignments

      • 12:00 PM
        Lunch Buffet + Posters 2nd Floor (Simons Foundation, GDF Auditorium)

        2nd Floor

        Simons Foundation, GDF Auditorium

        160 Fifth Avenue
    • Session 6
      Convener: Larry Abbott
      • 26
        Session Introduction
      • 27
        SpikeForest: A Spike Sorting Validation Platform, Website, and Analysis Framework

        Project Update

        Speaker: Jeremy Magland
      • 28
        International Brain Laboratory

        Long Talk

        Speakers: Alex Pouget, Anne Churchland
      • 29
        Outer Brain and Inner Brain: Computational Principles and Interactions

        Long Talk

        Speakers: Doris Tsao, Ralph Adolphs
      • 30
        Remapping Across Time, Space and Region

        Long Talk

        Speaker: Loren Frank
    • Day Three

      Sunday, January 31st

      • 3:50 PM
        Closing Statements

        David Tank and Gerry Fischbach