From britt at uwaterloo.ca Fri Nov 15 09:09:18 2024 From: britt at uwaterloo.ca (Britt Anderson) Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2024 14:09:18 +0000 Subject: [CTN] Fwd: [Psych-faculty] Mark you calendars - Dr. Gordon Pennycook's talk References: Message-ID: <87ttc84mic.fsf@uwaterloo.ca> Since some of you work in the area of decision making this talk by a visiting cognitive psychologist may be of interest. -- Britt Roxane Itier writes: > Hi everyone > > > > Hope you are enjoying your reading week! > > We have an extra speaker this year who is coming in for a defense and who has agreed to give a talk. > > > > Dr. Gordon Pennycook from Cornell University will give a talk on November 28 at 2.30-4pm in EV3 1408. > > > > Gord is a former UW Psych grad student (Cognition) that many of you know. The title and abstract are below. I will send > several reminders but wanted to give everyone a heads up to mark your calendars. > > > > Ttile: Deliberation corrects: The case of conspiracy theories > > Many of the problems that we face as a species emerge from failures of our own decision-making. However, a major > impediment to developing meaningful solutions to this overarching problem is that there is substantial disagreement in > psychology about the primary and characteristic sources of reasoning errors. Prominent theories espouse that deliberative > reasoning is infirm in the face of salient intuitions and, when used, may actually exacerbate partisan bias via motivated > reasoning. In this talk, I challenge these ideas - focusing specifically on the domain of conspiracy theories - and provide > evidence that belief in conspiracy theories tends to be driven by basic information processing deficits. Furthermore, I will > present evidence that relatively brief evidence-based dialogues with artificial intelligence can change conspiracy theorists' > minds. > > > > Roxane > > > > ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ > > Roxane J. Itier, Ph.D. (she/her) > > Associate Professor, Cognitive Neuroscience, Psychology > > Affiliate member, Center for Theoretical Neuroscience > > > > The University of Waterloo ritier at uwaterloo.ca > > 200 University avenue west http://www.psychology.uwaterloo.ca/people/faculty/ritier/index.html > > Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1 Face Processing and Social Cognition Lab - > https://uwaterloo.ca/face-processing-social-cognition-lab/ > > > > The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, > Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples.Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six > Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our > campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is centralized within our Indigenous Initiatives > Office. > > _______________________________________________ > Psych-faculty mailing list > Psych-faculty at lists.uwaterloo.ca > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/psych-faculty -- Britt Anderson Assoc Prof & Dir. Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience University of Waterloo CANADA brittlab.uwaterloo.ca From michael.furlong at uwaterloo.ca Fri Nov 15 09:22:19 2024 From: michael.furlong at uwaterloo.ca (Michael Furlong) Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2024 14:22:19 +0000 Subject: [CTN] [Meetings] 2025 Nengo Summer School Call For Applications Message-ID: Dear colleagues, [All details about this school can be found online at https://www.nengo.ai/summer-school] The Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience at the University of Waterloo is excited to announce our 10th annual Nengo summer school on large-scale brain modelling and neuromorphic computing. This two-week school will teach participants to use the Nengo simulation package to build state-of-the-art cognitive and neural models to run both in simulation and on neuromorphic hardware. Summer school participants will be given on-site access to neuromorphic hardware and will learn to run high-level applications using Nengo! More generally, Nengo provides users with a versatile and powerful environment for designing cognitive and neural systems and has been used to build what is currently the world's largest functional brain model, Spaun, which includes spiking deep learning, reinforcement learning, adaptive motor control, and cognitive control networks. For a look at the last in-person summer school, check out this short video: https://youtu.be/nFYTqieEnSY We welcome applications from all interested graduate students, postdocs, professors, and industry professionals with a relevant background. ***Application Deadline: February 1, 2025*** Format: A combination of tutorials and project-based work. Participants are encouraged to bring their own ideas for projects, which may focus on testing hypotheses, modelling neural or cognitive data, implementing specific behavioural functions with neurons, expanding past models, or providing a proof-of-concept of various neural mechanisms. Hands-on tutorials, work on individual or group projects, and talks from invited faculty members will make up the bulk of day-to-day activities. A project demonstration event will be held on the last day of the school, with prizes for strong projects! Participants will have the opportunity to learn how to: * interface Nengo with various kinds of neuromorphic hardware (e.g. BrainDrop, SpiNNaker) * build perceptual, motor, and sophisticated cognitive models using spiking neurons * model anatomical, electrophysiological, cognitive, and behavioural data * use a variety of single cell models within a large-scale model  * integrate machine learning methods into biologically oriented models * interface Nengo with cameras and robotic systems * implement modern nonlinear control methods in neural models * and much more… Date and Location: June 1st to June 13th, 2025 at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Applications: Please visit http://www.nengo.ai/summer-school, where you can find more information regarding costs, travel, lodging, along with an application form listing required materials. If you have any questions about the school or the application process, please contact Michael Furlong (michael.furlong at uwaterloo.ca). The school is partly supported by ABR, Inc. We look forward to hearing from you! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From sacampbell at uwaterloo.ca Fri Nov 15 14:55:22 2024 From: sacampbell at uwaterloo.ca (Sue Ann Campbell) Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2024 19:55:22 +0000 Subject: [CTN] Upcoming seminar of interest - Katie Ferguson (Yale) - Inhibitory interneuron contributions to visual processing Message-ID: Dear CTN Members, The seminar below may be of interest. Regards, Sue Ann Date: Wednesday, November 20, 1:30 p.m. Room: MC5417 Speaker: Dr. Katie Ferguson, Yale University Title: Inhibitory interneuron contributions to visual processing Abstract: Interactions between diverse cell types, including distinct GABAergic interneuron populations, play a key role in shaping sensory processing within the visual cortex. Sensory processing can vary significantly depending on behavioral state, such as arousal or movement. By strengthening neural responses without changing selectivity properties, mechanisms such as gain modulation allow sensory signals to be dynamically altered based on behavioral context, with GABAergic interneurons potentially serving as key mediators of these state-dependent processes. Dr. Ferguson will discuss how she investigates the neural basis of cortical circuit function during visual processing, using two-photon laser scanning microscopy, acute and chronic circuit manipulations, and behavioral paradigms in awake, behaving mice. This work aims to elucidate how behavioral state-dependent interactions among specific cell populations shape flexible cortical function and visual perception. _______________________________________________ Dr. Sue Ann Campbell (she/her) Professor and University Research Chair Department of Applied Mathematics & Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience Associate Dean, Research, Faculty of Mathematics University of Waterloo Waterloo ON N2L 3G1 https://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~sacampbe/ President, Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society I acknowledge that I live and work on the traditional territory of the Chonnonton, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo main campus is located on the Haldimand tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: