Call for Contributions: NIPS 2009 Workshop on Connectivity Inference in Neuroimaging

Webpage
http://cini2009.kyb.tuebingen.mpg.de

Workshop description

Over the past decade, brain connectivity has become a central theme in the neuroimaging community. At the same time, causal inference has recently emerged as a major research topic in machine learning. Even though the two research questions are closely related, interactions
between the neuroimaging and machine-learning communities have been limited.

The aim of this workshop is to initiate productive interactions between neuroimaging and machine learning by introducing the workshop audience to the different concepts of connectivity/causal inference employed in each of the communities. Special emphasis is placed on discussing commonalities as well as distinctions between various approaches in the context of neuroimaging. Due to the increasing relevance of brain connectivity for analyzing mental states, we also highly welcome contributions discussing applications of brain connectivity measures to real-world problems such as brain-computer interfacing or mental state monitoring.

Topics

We solicit contributions on new approaches to connectivity and/or causal inference for neuroimaging data as well as on applications of connectivity inference to real-world problems. Contributions might address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

* Effective connectivity & causal inference
o Dynamic causal modelling
o Granger causality
o Structural equation models
o Causal Bayesian networks
o Non-Gaussian linear causal models
o Causal additive noise models
* Functional connectivity
o Canonical correlation analysis
o Phase-locking
o Imaginary coherence
o Independent component analysis
* Applications of brain connectivity to real-world problems
o Brain-computer interfaces
o Mental state monitoring

Invited speakers

* Jean Daunizeau, University of Zurich & University College London
* Rainer Goebel, Maastricht University
* Scott Makeig, University of California San Diego

Workshop format

CINI 2009 is a one-day workshop at the Twenty-Third Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS 2009). Besides three invited talks, in which the audience will be introduced to current approaches for inferring connectivity in neuroimaging data, there will be several contributed talks and an evening poster session. Special emphasis will be placed on a balanced contribution of talks from the neuroimaging and machine learning communities. To foster interaction between communities, approximately 50% of workshop time is reserved for discussions.

Key dates

* Extended abstract submission deadline: October 9th, 2009, 5 pm (PT)
* Notification of acceptance: October 23rd, 2009
* Workshop: December 11th or 12th, 2009

Submission instructions

Please submit extended abstracts (maximum two pages) in either pdf or doc format through the CINI 2009 submission site at https://cmt.research.microsoft.com/CINI2009/. Upon notification of
acceptance, authors will also be notified whether their contribution has been accepted as a contributed talk or poster.

Workshop location

Westin Resort and Spa / Hilton Whistler Resort and Spa
Whistler, B.C., Canada

Organization committee

* Moritz Grosse-Wentrup (primary contact), MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen
* Uta Noppeney, MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen
* Karl Friston, University College London
* Bernhard Schoelkopf, MPI for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen

Program committee

* Olivier David, Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche
Medicale, Grenoble
* Justin Dauwels, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
* Michael Eichler, Maastricht University
* Jeremy Hill, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tuebingen
* Guido Nolte, Fraunhofer FIRST, Berlin
* Will Penny, University College London
* Alard Roebroeck, Maastricht University
* Klaas Enno Stephan, University of Zurich
* Ryota Tomioka, University of Tokyo
* Pedro Valdes-Sosa, Cuban Neuroscience Center, Havana