Abstract

The timely focus of the conference speaks to important constituencies within neuroscience and recognize the importance of studying neural circuits as they operate in the multisensory contexts of natural behavior. The multidisciplinary theme of the conference is tightly designed around the mechanisms and behavioral outcomes of multisensory processing, and the evolving techniques that allow us to understand these. The invited speakers do not only attempt to understand how nervous systems integrate sensory signals within specific environmental contexts to produce behaviors, but also how the circuits underlying these behaviors adapt to the natural environmental conditions in which they continue to operate. Cutting edge ‘virtual reality’ behavioural, optogenetic and anatomical techniques, that foster a broader understanding for how neural circuits for one sensory modality naturally operate in a multisensory contexts, will also be presented. The multidisciplinary speakers and discussion leaders of the conference comprise an even distribution of career stages – with as many junior scientists as senior ones. The conference will be preceded by a Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) that provides early career researchers with an opportunity to interact with one another and to receive mentorship from senior members of the field. Together, the two meetings focus on integrating both novel and traditional approaches to address long-standing questions in Neuroethology.