Contents - Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme
Contents - Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme
Contents - Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme
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aspects(two-pointdiscriminationtask).AlexanderNeimanpresentedexperimentalandmodelingresults<br />
fromthepassiveelectrosensorysystemofthepaddlefishanddiscussedthecontributionsofadaptation<br />
andepithelialoscillationsonthespikestatisticsofreceptorneurons.Adaptationcurrentsdonotexistin<br />
isolationbutmayinteractwitheachotheryieldingadaptationthatcanextendovermanydifferenttime<br />
scales. ThispointwashighlightedinthetalksbyRenaudJolivet(discussing,inparticular,adaptation<br />
induced by Na,K pump), Brian Lundstrom (introducing fractional differentiation as a mathematical<br />
descriptionofadaptationwithmultipletimescales),andRichardNaud(presentingmethodstoextract<br />
adaptationmodelsfromdata). Thetheoreticalanalysisofneuralsystemsisfarfromtrivial,especially<br />
inastochasticsettinginwhichthevariousneuralnoisesourcesaretakenintoaccount. Howtodeal<br />
withthesekindsofmodelsanalyticallyorwithefficientnumericalschemeswasdiscussedinthetalks<br />
by Giancarlo La Camera, Eilif Muller, William Nesse, Magnus Richardson and Tilo Schwalger. In<br />
agreementwithsomeofthesetheoreticalresults, KarinFischpresentedfirstexperimentalevidence<br />
forthestochasticityofanadaptationcurrentduetothenoiseofthefinitenumberofionchannels<br />
whichmediatesuchacurrent. Fascinatinglydiversewerethetopicsrelatedtoadaptationinthevisual<br />
system. FabrizioGabbianigaveinsightsontheworkingofloomingsensitiveneuronsinlocust,whichis<br />
subjecttoSFA.RafaelKurtzshowedexperimentalresultssupportingapositiveroleofSFAinfeature<br />
extractionfromnaturalstimuli(opticflowforamovingblowfly).TheimportanceofSFAforplasticity<br />
of orientation maps in the visual cortex was addressed by Klaus Obermayer. In the same system,<br />
LarsSchwabediscussedtheoreticallytheimpactofSFAoncontextualeffectinstronglyconnected<br />
networks.InthebeautifulfinalpresentationoftheworkshopgivenbySimonLaughlinsomeoftheundue<br />
simplificationsregardingtheroleofadaptationwerereviewedandanumberofremainingquestions<br />
wereposedtriggeringalivelyconcludingdiscussion. Insummary, theworkshoponSpike-Frequency<br />
AdaptationinNeuralSystemsprovidedabroadreviewofthismodernanddynamicresearchtopicin<br />
neuroscience.ExperimentalistsgotacomprehensiveoverviewtotheexhaustictheoreticalstudiesofSFA<br />
insingleneurons,whereastheoreticianslearnedthattheinvestigationoffunctionalaspectsofSFAin<br />
sensorysystemsisstillinitsinfancyandisheavilyinneedofguidingtheories.Thus,theworkshoptriggeredsomeunexpectedinsights,potentiallyresultinginnewexcitingresearchprojectsandcollaborations.<br />
StatisticalPhysicsandBiologyofCollectiveMotion,Workshop<br />
Scientificcoordinators:A.Deutsch,G.Thraulaz,T.Vicsek<br />
Mainfocus: Researchoncollectivemotionhadarrivedatastagewhereitdeserveditsowndedicated<br />
meeting,thefirstofitskind. Itcanbeassumedthattheremustbeanumberofunifyingprinciples<br />
connectingthespectacularmanifestationsof“movingtogether”inlivingsystems, beingoneofthe<br />
mostrelevantmanifestationsofcollectivebehaviorinnature,andthatthecorrespondingbigpictureis<br />
likelytoemergefromameetingliketheCOLMOTworkshopinDresden. Oneimportantgoalofthe<br />
workshopwas,whichhasindeedbeenachievedthatthemeetingwasattendedbythebesttheoreticians,<br />
experimentalistsandmodelers,physicists,biologists,andmathematiciansworkingonthesubject. In<br />
particular,I.Couzin,R.Goldstein,H.Chat,CMarchetti,S.RamaswamyandD.Sumpterareworldwide<br />
acknowledgedleadingspecialistsintheirfield. Beyondnewtheoreticalinsightsfascinatingexamplesof<br />
collectivemotionwerepresentedattheworkshopincludingsystemsrangingfromculturesofmigrating<br />
tissuecellstoantcoloniesandflocksofbirds.<br />
Invited speakers: Ezequiel Albano (Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina), Markus Bär<br />
(<strong>Physik</strong>alisch-TechnischeBundesanstalt,Germany),EshelBen-Jacob(TelAvivUniversity,Israel),Hugues<br />
Chat(CEASaclay,France),IainCouzin(PrincetonUniversity,USA),AndrasCzirok(UniversityofKansas,<br />
USA&EötvösUniversity,Hungary),JacquesGautrais(UniversitePaulSabatier,France),IreneGiardina<br />
(UniversitRoma’LaSapienza’, Italy), RaymondE.Goldstein(UniversityofCambridge, UK),Carl-<br />
PhilipHeisenberg(<strong>Max</strong>-<strong>Planck</strong>-<strong>Institut</strong><strong>für</strong>MolekulareZellbiologieundGenetik,Germany),Charlotte<br />
K.Hemelrijk(RijksuniversiteitGroningen,TheNetherlands),M.CristinaMarchetti(SyracuseUniversity,USA),MitsuguMatsushita(ChuoUniversity,Japan),FernandoPeruani(<strong>Max</strong>-<strong>Planck</strong>-<strong>Institut</strong><strong>für</strong><br />
<strong>Physik</strong><strong>komplexer</strong><strong>Systeme</strong>,Germany),SriramRamaswamy(Indian<strong>Institut</strong>eofScience,India),Lutz<br />
Schimansky-Geier(Humboldt-UniversitätzuBerlin,Germany),ChristianSchmeiser(UniversitätWien,<br />
Austria),DavidJ.T.Sumpter(UppsalaUniversity,Sweden)<br />
Summaryofcontributions:Theconferencebenefitedsignificantlyfromthecleareffortsofthespeakersto<br />
maketheirtopicofresearchunderstandabletothehighlyinterdisciplinaryaudience.Themajorityofthe<br />
invitedspeakershadamathematical/physicalbackgroundbutkeynotespeakersincludedalsobiologists<br />
WorkshopReports 143
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