2016 Gordon Research Conference on Neurobiology of Cognition, Newry, Maine, July 23-29, 2016

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

All human experiences of the world - our perceptions, actions, emotions, and decisions - are products of the brain. Neurobiologists attempt to comprehend this fact by studying the brain's anatomical and functional organizing principles. As a community, they investigate the brain at multiple levels simultaneously, with different subgroups focusing on the chemical communication between single cells, or cell-type specificity within neural pathways, or the temporal coordination of activity among brain-wide networks. The knowledge that results from these and many other lines of inquiry must then be integrated and shared throughout the community, which requires meeting opportunities to explain, inquire, discuss, and offer healthy skepticism. Neuroscientific findings are most useful when they shed light on aspects of human behavior, as this is the most immediate and familiar measure of brain function. In the long run, this is particularly important, because a central goal of neuroscience research is to identify mechanisms underlying behavioral deficits in neurological and psychiatric illness. Technical advances in the past decade, including multi-electrode technology, optical methods, and functional magnetic resonance imaging, have enabled researchers to rapidly extract new and expanded information from the brain of humans and animal models. The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on the Neurobiology of Cognition was established in 2010 to provide a forum through which top researchers are able to report unpublished data, receive feedback from colleagues inside and outside their immediate field, and hold rich and substantive discussions. The 2016 GRC will feature work from top scientists, as well as the most promising young scientists and trainees, who study core aspects of human cognition, including memory, attention, and social perception. In fitting with the spirit of the GRC organization, the aim is catalyze discussion and debate and to share information across partially overlapping fields of neurobiology. Importantly, the conference is arranged to invite young and underrepresented scientists to participate fully in the discussion and establish connections in the field of neurobiology. The meeting will take place over five days, beginning the first evening with two keynote lectures presenting perspectives on the human brain provided by functional imaging and studies of brain damaged patients. Eight half-day sessions will then explore topics related to the neurobiology of cognition that have shown particular progress in the last years. Among these are sessions dedicated to cognitive influences on sensory processing, the neurobiology of social interaction, prefrontal cortex function, and the brain's production and maintenance of consciousness. Speakers contributing to each session are selected to provide a mix of results from experimental animals and those from human volunteers and patients in an effort to promote the sharing of ideas between groups using different methodologies. As the infusion of new scientists and new ideas is central to the mission of the GRC conferences, an important theme of the meeting is the inclusion of early career investigators and trainees, as well as women and minorities. Diversity is the key to the success of the meeting, which aims to capture and integrate unique perspectives on the neurobiology of cognition. In addition to the sessions, the format includes scheduled periods of open discussion, as well as many opportunities for small groups or one-on-one discussions. This format is particularly conducive to the fostering of new collaborations that cut across established planes of neuroscientific inquiry, promoting discussion between theorists, experimentalists, and clinicians. It is only through such active efforts to share and integrate information that the field of neuroscience as a whole can harness and integrate the many new results and insights that together shape our understanding of the neurobiology of cognition.