The Barrels meeting is the longest running (now in its 20th year) satellite meeting to the annual Society for Neuroscience Meeting. The meeting focuses on the anatomy, physiology and behavior of the rodent whisker-to-barrel system. The meeting serves as a catalyst for interactions between researchers in different laboratories and different scientific fields. Meeting attendance averages over 125 attendees annually with the majority being graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. This years meeting will be held at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego - La Jolla campus's Sherwood Auditorium and the poster session will be held next door at the La Jolla Women's Club. The whisker- to-barrel pathway has become one of the most utilized model systems in Neuroscience for those interested in development, sensory coding and behavioral studies. The Barrels meeting is arranged around general themes which this year includes: the role of cortical inhibitory circuits, molecular development of the barrel system and synaptic plasticity in the barrel system. For each theme there will be three or four invited presentations (30 min) delivered by established researchers, followed by 4-6 shorter (15 min) talks by more junior researchers and graduate students. In addition there is a poster session (typically 50-60 posters are presented annually). This mix of long and short talks and poster presentations provides ample opportunity for new researchers to present their findings to an international audience of scientific peers. The Barrels meeting consistently encourages researchers to use the Barrels as a model system to explore behavior, development, sensory and motor function. Each year, the Barrels meeting invite's individuals from outside the """"""""Barrels community"""""""" to present their research in order to expose the community to new and exciting developments. This year, for example, we have invited Ed Lein from the Allen Brain Sciences Institute to talk about the mouse genome. The Barrels meeting is held just prior to the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting which allows researchers to conveniently attend both meetings consecutively without having to make additional travel plans. The whisker-to-barrel system is one of the most widely utilized model systems in modern neuroscience and the Barrels Meeting provides a forum for investigators using different techniques and studying different aspects of the system to come together and interact in meaningful dialogue which is uncommon at larger more fragmented meetings. The Barrels Meeting is the longest running satellite meeting to the annual Society for Neuroscience Meeting, now in its 20th year. The meeting program is composed if long talks (30 min) by established researchers and shorter talks by more junior individuals (15 min) and a poster session. ? ? ?
