Over the past decades, the visual system of insects has emerged as a powerful model system to investigate the underlying mechanisms of neuronal network function. This meeting brought together scientists interested in visual perception, focusing on such areas as the biophysical limits of vision, motion vision and polarized light detection, through navigation and multisensory integration. This small meeting of leading scientists working in these areas provided a forum for vigorous discussion of novel approaches and insights into visual system function.

Predator-prey interaction is a zero-sum game wherein speed and accuracy determine the victor. While different species often have sensory and motor systems adapted to their particular ecological niche, the problems of prey capture and escape retain many common elements: detection, tracking, evasion, etc. To what extent do different organisms use the same algorithm to solve common behavioral problems? Are the strategies used by a predator- prey pair adapted to exploit each other¹s relative weaknesses?  This conference brought together researchers investigating prey capture and escape in a variety of animal models, together representing some of the most impressive and dynamic behaviors in nature. By exploring both commonalities and differences in behavioral strategy, neural circuitry, and sensory/motor mechanics, we were able to identify general principles that unify these diverse systems.

This meeting brought together leaders from several areas of biological sequence analysis, with an emphasis on advancing the underlying theoretical models that many problems share. Topics included recognition of DNA cis-regulatory elements; evolutionary approaches for remote homology detection; analysis of next-gen sequencing data for functional genomics; and combined phylogenetic and population genetic models for studying sequence evolution.

Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) is required for cell and tissue development in many contexts, and has been studied extensively in Drosophila.  Its importance in vertebrate development became apparent only in the past decade, and it is now also being studied in mice, zebrafish, and humans.  It is of increasing interest in the fields of stem cell biology and cancer, and defective PCP appears to play a role in the pathophysiology of several human disorders, including ciliopathies, cystic kidney disease, hydrocephalus, hearing loss, and nail dysmorphogenesis.  A follow-up to the first meeting held in Italy in 2010, this conference brought together leaders in the PCP field working in various model systems to share recent experimental results, insights, and tools, and to establish connections for future discussions and collaborations.

This meeting brought together leading investigators working on sensory systems in various genetically tractable models to clarify common themes, as well as distinctions, among the different organisms. Topics included mechanosensation, olfaction, magnetoreception, chemosensation, gustation, phototransduction and others.  There was a particular emphasis on animal behaviors driven by sensory signaling.

This meeting brought together groups working on circuitry, behavior and invivo physiology. Presentations and discussions focused on the following:  the role of vibrissa sensorimotor control in the larger framework of neuroscience; advances in anatomical methods, including possible coordination of efforts in quantitative anatomy; prospects for delineating the molecular basis and cellular pathways of mechanosensory input from the vibrissa; advances in in vivo recording and stimulation methods (electrical and optical) for awake animals; advances in methods for behavioral analysis and cell-type specific electrophysiology; open conflicts in the existing database, including possible coordination of efforts for their resolution.

Recent developments in multielectrode recording methods and imaging have unveiled a wealth of data about the dynamics of neural circuits during behavior in animal model systems. In parallel, theoreticians have developed abstract network models that combine rich temporal dynamics with plastic synapses to produce powerful learning and discriminative mechanisms. This meeting brought together experimentalists and theoreticians in an attempt to compare abstract circuit models to experimental evidence from neural circuits in behaving animals.  The goal was for participants to bridge the gap between theory and experiment by identifying principles of neural circuit operation that may subserve and promote adaptive behavior.

Membrane proteins are vital for life. They remove waste products and bring essential nutrients into the cell. They help maintain homeostasis and are vital for sensing, sending and receiving information and for the propagation of action potentials. This meeting brought selected principle investigators from around the world to the Janelia Research Campus to showcase what is known about different membrane protein families from a structural perspective and to discuss the future directions of membrane protein structural biology.

Recent advances in molecular genetics, optogenetics, and neuroimaging are bringing us closer to revealing the logic and function of neural circuits underlying our sense of touch.  This meeting will focus on mammalian low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs) and their associated neural circuits within the spinal cord, brain stem and cortex that underlie tactile perception, object and form recognition, and the affective component of touch.  Topics included: functions of LTMR subtypes; tools for visualizing and manipulating LTMRs; functional organization of LTMR endings; identification of postsynaptic targets of LTMRs; organization of interneurons and projection neurons of the spinal cord dorsal horn; organization of somatosensory brain stem nuclei; and model systems and behavioral assays for understanding the roles of LTMR afferents in tactile sensation.  We brought together molecular geneticists, physiologists and behavioral scientists using rodent, human, and non-human primates model systems, with the goal of revealing the principles and core logic of mammalian tactile circuitry.  

Synaptic vesicles, the secretory organelles that store and secrete non-peptide nuerotransmitters, have been extensively characterized. Yet, how these organelles are generated and regenerated during repeated cycles of exo-endocytosis remains poorly understood.  While strong evidence implicates clathrin-mediated budding in their formation after each cycle of exocytosis, the precise steps leading from a newly formed clathrin coated vesicle to a new, neurotransmitter filled, synaptic vesicle and the role of endosomal intermediates remain unclear. Clathrin-independent pathways of endocytosis are thought to operate in parallel with clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Mechanisms underlying the incorporation of key membrane proteins (in a roughly defined stoichiometry relative to each other) in synaptic vesicles and those that determine their very small and highly homogenous shape are largely unknown.  It was expected that an answer to these questions would not only advance knowledge of mechanisms in synaptic transmission, but also have broad implications in the field of membrane transport.  The goal of the workshop was to bring together investigators from different fields to foster discussion, interactions and potential collaborations.

Hormones and neuromodulators play an important role in adjusting behavior to match the physiological and developmental needs of an organism, but the underlying neural circuits are not well understood.  This conference drew on both vertebrate and invertebrate systems to examine the mechanisms by which circulating molecules influence the neural circuits that control complex behavior.  We combined speakers at various levels of analysis from behavior to circuits to molecules and utilizing different physiological and developmental systems.  The aim was to assess the state of the field and, through a comparative approach, establish common themes and novel approaches.

Wavefront engineering has greatly expanded the capability of optical microscopy and measurements in biological systems. Recent breakthroughs in measuring and controlling optical wavefront have led to many important applications, including deep tissue microscopy with improved imaging quality and depth, optical tweezers with sophisticated shape and momentum distribution, and three-dimensionally patterned optogenetic excitation. This conference brought together leading experts in a variety of research fields that employ innovative wavefront control technologies for biomedical applications.