Professor Rasmus Petersen
University of Manchester, UK
Dr Riccardo Storchi
University of Manchester, UK
Professor Miguel Maravall
University of Sussex, UK
Breakthroughs in Understanding Natural Behaviour and its Neural Underpinnings
Key Information for Delegate Arrival
To determine how activity in the brain generates natural behaviour has always been recognised as a ‘Grand Challenge’. Despite inspiring success stories, such as the hippocampus and its ‘cognitive maps’, until recently, the field was hampered by lack of (1) techniques for recording neural activity in freely moving animals (especially mice) and (2) techniques for automatic measurement of the precise behaviour of freely moving animals.
Key innovations over the past decade have radically changed what is possible. Powerful methods have been developed for quantifying and classifying animal behaviour, based on cutting edge machine learning and computer vision; at the same time, methods for recording neural activity from freely moving animals have advanced greatly. These methods are generating dramatic new insights into our central question.
The purpose of this meeting is to stimulate progress in the field by bringing together research both on the latest developments in technology and in applying that technology to further our understanding of the neural basis of natural behaviour. Inspired by the intellectual tradition of neuroethology, the meeting spans approaches including computational theory, behavioural quantification, genetic manipulation and electrophysiology and imaging.
This meeting is supported by The British Neuroscience Association, Bruker and Inscopix
09:45 SA01 The predictive coding of voluntary self-motion: vestibular circuits for action and perception
Professor Kathleen Cullen, Johns Hopkins University, US
10:30 SA02 Manipulation of neuronal activity in a genetically diverse context
Dr Alexandre Leitao, Champalimaud Research, Portugal
11:30 SA03 Visually guided navigation in early primates
12:00 SA04 Studying whisker movements to gain insights into the natural sensory behaviours of mammals
13:30 Neural circuits of kinship behaviour
Dr Ann Clemens, University of Edinburgh, UK
14:00 SA05 State-dependent neural processing of dark flash stimuli in the larval zebrafish
Dr Charles Heller, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Germany
14:30 C01 Development and Multisensory Influences on Huddling Behaviour in Rat Pups
Florbela da Rocha Almeida, The University of Edinburgh, UK
14:45 C02 Passive movements evoke fast modulation of visual response in mouse visual thalamus
Dr Aghileh Ebrahimi, University of Manchester, UK
15:30 SA06 Foraging as a lens onto dopamine signalling at different timescales
Professor Mark Walton, University of Oxford, UK
16:00 C03 Melanopsin-mediated low spatial frequency vision in mice
Qian Huang, University of Manchester, UK
16:15 C04 Multiple locomotion modes emerge from reconfigurations of neural population dynamics in Aplysia
Professor Mark Humphries, University of Nottingham, UK
16:30 Odd numbers
17:30 Even numbers
09:30 SA07 Identifying neural mechanisms for natural behavior through computational ethology
Professor Sandeep Robert Datta, Harvard University, US
10:15 SA08 From goals to actions: Neural circuits for instinctive navigation
Dr Dario Campagner, University College London, UK
11:15 SA09 Flexibility of aversive behaviours and circuits
Dr Katja Reinhard, SISSA, Italy
11:45 SA10 Unraveling multiscale plasticity and variability in behavior across species
Dr Antonio Costa, ICM-Paris Brain Institute, France
13:15 C05 Perceptual constancy for an odour is acquired through changes in primary sensory neurons
Dr Jamie Johnston, University of Leeds, UK
13:30 C06 Measuring motivational switching in mice using open-design: the Switchmaze
Dr Mahesh Karnani, University of Edinburgh, UK
13:45 C07 Synaptic depression outperforms potentiation in learned stimulus discrimination under divisive normalization of opposing outputs
Dr Andrew Lin, University of Sheffield, UK
14:00 C08 Mitochondrial origins of the pressure to sleep
Dr Raffaele Sarnataro, University of Oxford, UK
14:45 Cutting edge all-optical solutions to understand natural behaviour
Dr Fabrizio Sitzia, Bruker Inscopix
14:50 SA11 Body state encoding in primary and secondary somatosensory cortex of freely moving mice
Dr Neveen Mansour, University of Manchester, UK
15:20 SA12 Cortical integration of body posture and the vibrissae in freely exploring rats
Dr Jonathan Whitlock, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
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| Membership category | Early registration rate until 6 August 2024 | Standard registration rate until 27 August 2024 |
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| TPS Full Member or BNA Full Member** | £195.00 | £235.00 |
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Abstracts
Abstract submission is now closed. Thank you to all who have submitted their work for consideration. Abstracts have now been reviewed and authors of accepted abstracts have been notified.
Oral communications C01 – C04 will be presented on 10 September.
Oral communications C05 – C08 will be presented on 11 September.
Oral communications should last for ten minutes, with an additional five minutes for questions.
Presentation guidelines can be found here.
The poster session will take place on Tuesday 10 September 2024 between 16:30 and 18:30.
16.30 – 17.30 Odd numbers
17:30 – 18:30 Even numbers
You should accompany your poster during your session.
Posters should be affixed by 11:30 on Tuesday 10 September and removed at the end of the meeting on Wednesday 11 September.
Presentation guidelines can be found here.
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Key Information
Key dates
| Registration opens | 3 April 2024 |
| Abstract submission opens | 3 June 2024 |
| Abstract submission closes | 15 July 2024 |
| Early review deadline | 10 June 2024 |
| Early bird registration deadline | 6 August 2024 |
| Conference Attendance Award deadline | 6 August 2024 |
| Registration deadline | 27 August 2024 |
| Meeting dates | 10-11 September 2024 |
Venue
The meeting will take place in the Core Technology Facility at The University of Manchester, UK.
Core Technology Facility
The University of Manchester
46 Grafton Street
Manchester
M13 9WU
Travel
By train
Manchester is well connected to national rail routes. The venue is a 22 minute walk from Manchester Oxford Road rail station and a 23 minute walk from Manchester Piccadilly rail station.
By bus
Manchester is well connected to national bus routes. The venue is a 24 minute walk from Manchester Coach Station.
By plane
Manchester is served by Manchester Airport (MAN). Direct trains run between the airport and Manchester Oxford Road rail station.
Accommodation
We do not have a specific conference hotel, so attendees are able to choose accommodation which meets their needs and budgets. The following accommodation is within a 16 minute walk of the venue:
Travelodge, Upper Brook Street – 4 minute walk.
Premier Inn, Manchester City Centre – 16 minute walk
Other accommodation options can be found here.
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