A fundamental goal of neuroscience is to understand how the central nervous system transforms sensory signals into behavior. Central to this effort is understanding the computational problems posed to the CNS and what computational strategies the CNS employs to solve the problems. A description of the mapping from sensory signals to neuronal activity in an area of visual cortex, for example, is only one piece of an explanatory model of neural function in that area. A full understanding of the neural function requires understanding the computations in which the neurons are embedded and how their behavior is driven by and relates to the computations being performed. The past decade has seen a marked growth in computational studies of sensory, perceptual and sensori-motor processing. What is the most striking about this work is the converging application of common conceptual tools to understand everything from neural coding to decision-making. The 287th Symposium of the Center for Visual Science will bring computational, neurophysiological and psychophysical researchers together who study the computational foundations of problems in sensory and perceptual processing ranging from low-level sensory coding to higher-level aspects of perception and action such as cue integration, decision-making and sensorimotor control. The goal of the workshop is to provide a forum for investigating the common foundational computational principles that underlay the many seemingly different functions of sensory systems (and where they differ) and to discuss how to link computational theories to underlying mechanisms to gain a deeper understanding of perceptual behavior. With this in mind, we have invited speakers who bring together in some way computational and experimental approaches. Sessions will focus on five topics - sensory coding, multi-sensory integration, sensori-motor control, decision making, and perceptual learning and memory. Because some of the most exciting work in computational neuroscience is being done by young investigators, we have included in the speaker list a number of promising early career speakers. We believe that representing their voices along with more established leaders in the field will bring energy and new ideas into the discussion. We will also provide an opportunity for students and post-docs to present their work in poster sessions and will make competitive travel fellowships available to the best of the students and post-docs who wish to attend and present their work.
The past decade has seen a marked growth in computational studies of sensory, perceptual and sensori-motor processing. What is the most striking about this work is the converging application of common conceptual tools to understand everything from neural coding to decision-making. The 28th Symposium of the Center for Visual Science will bring computational, neurophysiological and psychophysical researchers together who study the computational foundations of problems in sensory and perceptual processing ranging from low-level sensory coding to higher-level aspects of perception and action such as cue integration, decision-making and sensorimotor control.)
