Probing Neural Networks with Light: Imaging Structure
& Function in the Living Brain

Suzhou, China 
October 17-21, 2016  
Abstract deadline: August 28, 2016

Organized by:

Mark Hübener, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Germany

Mu-ming Poo, Institute of Neuroscience, CAS, China

Carlos Portera-Cailliau, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

Yi Zuo, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA

We are pleased to announce the Cold Spring Harbor Asia Conference on Probing Neural Networks with Light: Imaging Structure & Function in the Living Brain, which will be held in Suzhou, China, located approximately 60 miles west of Shanghai. The conference will begin at 7:00pm on the evening of Monday October 17, and will conclude after lunch on October 21, 2016.

The conference will include eight oral sessions and one poster session covering the latest findings across many topics in neuroscience. Additional talks will be selected from the openly submitted abstracts on the basis of scientific merit and relevance. Social events throughout the conference provide ample opportunity for informal interactions.

Over the past decade, new high-resolution in vivo imaging methods across different systems have begun to provide valuable insights into how neural circuits are assembled during development, process sensory information, generate behavior, and are modified through plasticity, learning, normal aging or disease. Exciting new vistas are opening up, including the ability to image neuronal function longitudinally and to link the structural aspects of neurons, such as axons, dendrites, and spines, with both the computations performed by neurons and changes in their responses over time.

This conference will highlight recent studies of neuronal structure, synaptic function, and network activity during physiological and pathological processes. The invited high profile senior speakers as well as promising junior colleagues will discuss novel mechanisms underlying these processes. The overarching goal of the conference is to bridge the gap between studies of dynamics of individual neuronal structures and the assembly of functional neuronal networks. The meeting will also be used as a platform to identify open problems in the field and introduce new cutting-edge imaging approaches.

Major Topics:
1. Imaging experience-dependent plasticity
2. Visualizing correlates of learning
3. Imaging higher brain functions
4. Imaging molecular interactions in the brain
5. Imaging non-neuronal cells
6. Imaging non-mammalian species
7. Imaging the diseased brain
8. New frontiers

Keynote Speaker:
Jeff Lichtman, Harvard University, USA

Invited Speakers:
Upinder Bhalla, National Centre for Biological Sciences (TIFR), INDIA
Abstract title: Imaging a neural relay race involved in memory.
Haruhiko Bito, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, JAPAN
Abstract title: Multiplex imaging of neural activity and signaling dynamics
Tobias Bonhoeffer, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, GERMANY
Abstract title: How Experience Changes Synapses in the Mammalian Brain
Jerry Chen, Boston University, USA
Abstract title: Dissecting Long-Range Cortical Networks During Behavior
Yang Dan, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Jiulin Du, Institute of Neuroscience, CAS, CHINA
Abstract title: Left habenula mediate light-preference behavior in zebrafish via receiving visual inputs from a dedicated pathway
Florian Engert, Harvard University, USA
Abstract title: Satiation state-dependent regulation of appetite by zebrafish serotonergic circuits
Geoffrey Goodhill, The University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA
Abstract title: Spontaneous activity in larval zebrafish tectum reorganises over development.
Akiko Hayashi-Takagi, Gunma University, JAPAN
Abstract title: Functional connectomics using synaptic optogenetics and an activity-dependent neuronal tracing
Moritz Helmstaedter, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, GERMANY
Abstract title: Cerebral Cortex Connectomics
Anthony Holtmaat, University of Geneva, SWITZERLAND
Abstract title: Synaptic plasticity in the mouse somatosensory cortex driven by paralemniscal pathways
Mark Hübener, Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, GERMANY
Abstract title: Transplanted embryonic neurons integrate into adult neocortical circuits
Masamitsu Iino, The University of Tokyo, JAPAN
Abstract title: Analysis of neurovascular coupling using in vivo Ca2+ imaging
Na Ji, Janelia Farm Research Campus / HHMI, USA
Abstract title: Probing neural circuits with shaped light
Takaki Komiyama, University of California, San Diego, USA
Abstract title: Imaging neural ensembles in behaving mice
Christiaan Levelt, Netherland Institute for Neuroscience, NETHERLANDS
Abstract title: Thalamic inhibition is essential for critical period plasticity in the visual cortex
Qingming Luo, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, CHINA
Abstract title: Visible brain-wide networks at single-neuron resolution
Cris Niell, University of Oregon, USA
Abstract title: Large-scale dynamics of visual processing and behavioral state
Mu-ming Poo, Institute of Neuroscience, CAS, CHINA
Carlos Portera-Cailliau, University of California Los Angeles, USA
Abstract title: Altered sensory processing in cortical circuits of Fragile X mice
Linda Richards, The University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA
Abstract title: Interhemispheric connections drive circuit function in the somatosensory cortex
Yi Zuo, University of California Santa Cruz, USA
Abstract title: Stress induces synaptic and circuit reorganization in the mouse cerebral cortex

We encourage abstracts to contain new and unpublished materials. The abstracts must be submitted electronically by the abstract deadline. Selection of material for oral and poster presentation will be made by the organizers. Status (fellow's talk/poster) of abstracts will be posted on our web site as soon as decisions have been made by the organizers. 


Fellowship: 
We are eager to have as many young people as possible attend since they are likely to benefit most from this meeting. A certain number of presentations by graduate students and postdocs in this conference will be selected as fellowship (USD $100-$500) awards. For more details, please visit Stipends

We look forward to seeing you at Suzhou in October, 2016.

Sponsored by:

Package Content:

Please kindly note:

1. Registration includes food, but does NOT include Housing. Due to requests from participants to provide more housing at lower prices, we have expanded our housing options to include some lower priced nearby hotels. After completing the online registration, you will receive a link to the full list of housing options.
*Reference Room Rate:
CNY 500 per standard room per night in the Conference Hotel (Worldhotel Grand Dushulake Suzhou)
Up from CNY 200 per standard room per night in nearby budget hotels (within 5 km)
CNY 400-700 per standard room per night in nearby 4-5 star hotels

2. The meeting registration is an integral package. We encourage all our participants to stay for the full meeting period and communicate with each other. No refund/discount or day pass is available for partial participation.

3. The early price will be available if the full payment is finished before the exact due date.
For USD participants, we will automatically change your package price to the update one if we could not successfully charge the payment from your registered credit card before the deadline.
For CNY participants, we will automatically change your package price to the update one if our bank account could not receive your full payment by wire transfer before the deadline.

4. For late registrations, your registration materials may not be guaranteed since the order is usually made in advance.

5. Please inform us your special request on food (vegetarian, kosher…etc.) or other things during the online registration or email us as early as possible so that we could make relevant arrangement accordingly.

6. Student package is exclusively designed for all the graduate, undergraduate and doctor students who have not received the doctor degree. (Student ID will be required upon arrival).

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