Pre-Conference Workshops

Workshops #1 and #3 are full and cannot accept any additional participants. Workshop #2 does have limited availability and we will accept on-site registrations for as long as we are able.

Pre-Conference Workshop #1
Tuesday, September 13 and Wednesday, September 14, 2011
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Mini ERP Boot Camp
Steven J. Luck, PhD, University of California, Davis

The Mini ERP Boot Camp is an intensive two-day workshop on the fundamentals of ERP research, designed for beginning and intermediate ERP researchers (including graduate students, postdocs, and faculty). The goal is to provide attendees with a deeper understanding of basic, day-to-day issues, such as electrode application, digitization, artifact rejection and correction, filtering, averaging, measurement, and statistics. Substantial emphasis is also placed on the design and interpretation of ERP experiments. The lectures provide both practical advice and an explanation of the underlying principles.

Pre-Conference Workshop #2
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Genetic Approaches to the Biology of Complex Traits
Gareth Davies, PhD, Molecular Genetics, South Dakota State University; Benjamin Neale, PhD, Psychiatric Genetics, The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT; Andrew Brooks, PhD, Functional Genomics, Rutgers University's Cell and DNA Repository; Ryan Bogdan, PhD, Department of Psychology at Washington University; and Steve Cole, PhD, Biobehavioral Medicine, UCLA

This workshop is aimed at those who want to catch up on recent (rapid) progress in the field of genomic science particularly as it pertains to understanding individual differences in behavior and risk for behavioral disorders. Five outstanding scientists with proven didactic skills have been selected to give an overview of recent progress in the field of genetics and epigenetics. As a participant you should come away with an enhanced ability to read the literature on the crossroads of genomic science and neuroscience. The workshop will spark solid ideas on how to add a genetic component to your own research program or strengthen your ongoing genetic research. The program consists of a series of interconnected talks that lead up from core concepts in genomics to recent applications in psychophysiology and neuroscience. Ample time will be
left after each talk for the participants to pose questions. Gareth Davies will provide an overview of the basic concepts of molecular genetics needed to understand candidate gene and genome wide association (GWA) studies. Andrew Brooks will present an overview of the factors involved in the regulation of gene expression and detail the state of the art in gene-expression technology. Benjamin Neale will review the major themes in genome wide association studies and illustrate this approach with recent findings on psychiatric traits (e.g., ADHD, schizophrenia). The last two speakers bring genomics to psychophysiology. Ahmad Hariri will show how the candidate gene approach can be used in combination with brain imaging studies to understand individual differences in emotion regulation and cognitive processing. Steve Cole will demonstrate the use of gene expression in stress physiology and immune regulation.

Jointly the workshop presenters aim to answer questions including:

  • Which elements in our DNA create the genetic variation that leads to individual variation in brain function and behavior (e.g., SNP, CNV, deletion, methylation)?
  • How is genetic variation measured in a molecular genetics lab?
  • How is gene expression organized and influenced by cis and trans acting factors?
  • How is gene expression measured in a molecular genetics lab?
  • How does a genome wide association study work?
  • Where is the missing heritability?
  • What can genetic variation tell us about the brain?
  • How do hormones regulate gene expression?
  • How can stress suppress the immune system?
  • What has genomics achieved in the behavioral and brain sciences?
  • What will genomics achieve in the behavioral and brain sciences?

Pre-Conference Workshop #3
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Fundamentals of Pupillary Measures and Eye Tracking
Frank M. Marchak, PhD, Veridical Research and Design Corporation; Stuart R. Steinhauer, PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

This workshop will provide an introduction to the theoretical and practical factors of collecting and analyzing pupillary and gaze data with applications to psychophysiological paradigms. Beginning with the anatomy and physiology of the eye, eye musculature, and pupil, we will then examine various eye tracking methodologies with extended discussion of videobased eye tracking. An overview of analysis approaches to pupil and gaze data will be presented, as well as an examination of psychophysiological applications of pupillary measures and eye tracking. The second half of the workshop will provide hands on experience with eye tracking systems in which participants will learn how to perform calibration, collect pupil diameter and gaze data, and carry out basic analysis techniques.