# 2020 Neurobiology of Cognition Gordon Research Conference

> **NIH NIH R13** · GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCES · 2020 · $15,000

## Abstract

SUMMARY
This proposal requests support for the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on the Neurobiology of Cognition.
The driving force behind the GRC is the rapid pace of convergent findings in molecular, cellular circuit and
systems neuroscience, augmented by technical developments in cell-targeting, imaging, computation and
brain-machine interfaces. As a result, there are rapidly evolving descriptions of neuronal circuits and dynamics,
neurophysiological processes and computational principles that underpin cognitive functions. Together, these
approaches that include different brain models, and levels of analyses and involve an interdisciplinary research
community will get us closer to one of the ultimate goals of the field of cognitive neuroscience – to explain
human cognition. The overarching goal of this GRC is to promote communication and collaboration across
relevant levels of analysis and among empirical scientists, theoreticians and technical development specialists,
emphasizing the most recent findings. The associated GRS, held just prior to the GRC, is designed to provide
opportunities for doctoral and post-doctoral trainees to communicate their most recent findings and
perspectives, and to prepare them for more in-depth participation in the parent GRC that immediately follows.
Along with recent findings in traditional “core” areas such as memory and motor cognition, formal sessions will
explore several new themes, including: 1) the role of subcortical structures such as the thalamus in perception
and cognition, 2) a discussion on the many ways neural information may be encoded across different levels
from local ensembles to large scale circuits, 3) an overview of recent developments to probe neural circuits
beyond the traditional microelectrode recording including several brain models (rodents, non-human primates
and humans), and 4) an exploration of the relation of our field to computer science and artificial intelligence.
The program is highly interdisciplinary, bringing together behavioral, neuroimaging and electrophysiological
techniques in humans and non-human animals with computational approaches that explicate empirical findings
and construct realistic models to represent the developing picture of cognitive operations and guide future
experimentation. The program also underscores novel, state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical
approaches that promise to define fundamental principles of cognition, and to extend these to improved
treatment of brain dysfunction. The format of the meeting promotes intensive interactions among investigators
and trainees from different perspectives and analytic levels, and in particular, between experimentalists and
theorists.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10070417
- **Project number:** 1R13NS116969-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** David J Freedman
- **Activity code:** R13 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $15,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10070417

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10070417, 2020 Neurobiology of Cognition Gordon Research Conference (1R13NS116969-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10070417. Licensed CC0.

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