The workshop Statistical Analysis of Neural Data (SAND6) is planned for May 31-June 2, 2012 at the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, run jointly by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. SAND6 will bring together neurophysiologists, statisticians, physicists, and computer scientists who are interested in quantitative analysis of neuronal data. There will be 5 scientific sessions, at which 8 keynote investigators and 16 junior investigators will speak. There will also be a poster session. Authors will be encouraged to submit papers to the Journal of Computational Neuroscience.
SAND6 is the sixth workshop in a series that began in 2002. The workshops are held in even years during the spring at the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, run jointly by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. The objectives of the workshop are to define important problems in neuronal data analysis and useful strategies for attacking them; foster communication between experimental neuroscientists and those trained in statistical and computational methods; and provide further dissemination of the findings presented at the workshop via a set of peer-reviewed articles. Secondary objectives are to encourage young researchers, including graduate students, to present their work; expose young researchers to important challenges and opportunities in this interdisciplinary domain, while providing a small meeting atmosphere to facilitate the interaction of young researchers with senior colleagues; and include as participants women, under-represented minorities and persons with disabilities who might benefit from the small workshop environment.
The sixth international workshop on Statistical Analysis of Neuronal Data was held May 31-June 2, 2012, sponsored jointly by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, PA. It included 5 research sessions, attended by 160 registered participants. Each session included two special lectures from senior investigators and several additional, shorter lectures from junior investigators (students or within 5 years of Ph.D.). The latter were selected following an open competition, based on abstracts. In addition, there was a poster session. Studies of the neural basis of behavior typically use time-varying stimuli and produce time-varying neuronal responses. Statistically, the setting involves both continuous multiple time series and inhomogeneous point processes, sometimes dozens or hundreds of them observed simultaneously. There are many challenging analytical issues, including that of combining information obtained from multiple modalities (electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion imaging, calcium imaging, extracellular recordings). This workshop series aims to define important problems in neural data analysis and useful strategies for attacking them; foster communication between experimental neuroscientists and those trained in statistical and computational methods; encourage young researchers, including graduate students, to present their work; expose young researchers to important challenges and opportunities in this interdisciplinary domain, while providing a small meeting atmosphere to facilitate the interaction of young researchers with senior colleagues. The meeting displayed open problems in analysis of neural data. The results will benefit greatly the many other disciplines that make up neuroscience and, because neuroscience has an impact on human health, advances in analysis of neural data can benefit greatly society at large. The small-meeting atmosphere was especially helpful to younger investigators, students, women, and under-represented minorities. It provided an excellent opportunity for such people to become part of an active research network. Additional details may be found on the website at http://sand.stat.cmu.edu.
