Integrative Approaches to
Brain Complexity
September 27 - 30, 2007
Abstract Deadline - July 25, 2007

Organizers:
Seth Grant, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK
Nathaniel Heintz, HHMI/The Rockerfeller University, USA
Jeffrey Noebels, Baylor College of Medicine, USA

Understanding the structural and functional complexity of the vertebrate nervous system is the theme of this meeting. Advances in genomics and proteomics are defining the molecular building blocks that underpin the structural complexity of the brain and it behavioural output. Combining genetic discoveries with anatomical, electrophysiological and behavioural findings, it is now feasible to integrate this knowledge.

This meeting will address approaches ranging from molecular biology to behaving animal studies, from single gene to complex sets of genes, from synapses to networked brain functions. Emphasis will be placed on large scale approaches that generate accesssible molecular and biological databases. Strategies for acquisition of molecular, physiological and behavioural data on a large scale and the analysis and integration of this data will be addressed. In keeping with traditional Cold Spring Harbor meetings, the majority of oral presentations will be drawn from openly submitted abstracts.

Tentative Topics
Genetic technologies: QTL / Targeted gene mutation / Chemical mutagenesis / DNA microarrays / Proteomics
Genomics and Bioinformatics
Comparative neurogenomics
Brain transcriptome & gene expression mapping
Protein interactions & biochemical pathway mapping
Brain atlases & anatomical pathway mapping
Electrophysiological approaches
Behavioural methods
Databases and management
Data integration and systems biology
Clinical genetics

Keynote Speaker (Francis Crick Lecture in Neuroscience)
Semir Zeki, University College London, UK

Session Chairs:
Jeff Noebels, Baylor College of Medicine, USA
Rolf Kotter,Redboud University, The Netherlands
Nikos Logothetis, Max Planck Institute, Germany
Jean Rossier, ESPCI-CNRS, France
Terrence Sejnowski, The Salk Institute, USA

Invited Speakers
Adrian Bird, University of Edinburgh, UK
Edward Callaway, The Salk Institute, USA
Joseph Callicott, National Institutes of Health, USA
Robert Darnell, HHMI/Rockefeller University, USA
Bogdan Draganski, Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UK
Geoffrey Goodhill, Queensland Brain Institute, Australia
Sten Grillner, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
Mary Beth Hatten, The Rockefeller University, USA
Christof Koch, California Institute of Technology, USA
Carole Landisman, Harvard Medical School, USA
Gilles Laurent, California Institute of Technology, USA
Joseph Loturco, University of Connecticut, USA
Robia Pautler, Baylor College of Medicine, USA
Angus Silver, University College London, UK
Matt Wilson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

All registrations and abstracts MUST be submitted by the abstract deadline, July 25th, 2007. Late registration may be accepted after the abstract deadline if the meeting is not oversubscribed. In the event of over subscription, every effort will be made to ensure that all groups who wish to participate will be represented. Status (talk/poster) of abstracts will be posted on our web site as soon as decisions have been made by the organizers.

We look forward to seeing you at Hinxton in September.

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