[visionlist] Workshop of Ideas in Neuroscience - Beyond control: variability and animal behaviour, Buenos Aires, Aug 9th

[Mateusz Kostecki]

Hello!

We are happy to announce our first Workshop of Ideas in Neuroscience
outside of Europe - *Beyond control: variability and animal behaviour*,
that will be held in Buenos Aires on  August 9th.

„It’s behaviour—it’s always variable!”

We’ve all heard those words. Usually, when a behavioural experiment failed
to clarify anything—or worse, when a promising result didn’t replicate in a
new cohort. And it happens all too often.

The outcome of an experiment can hinge on countless subtle factors: the
time of day, the sex of the experimenter, the exact shelf location in the
animal facility, or how the animals are moved between rooms. The same
genetic mutation can produce opposite behavioural results in different
mouse strains.

This complexity and context dependence can be mind-boggling. But there is
no way around it: we cannot understand the brain without understanding
behaviour.

The aim of this workshop is to explore the complexity, variability—and also
the robustness of behaviour. It will consist of short talks, discussions,
and group tasks, during which we will work together to develop a
methodological guide to help us navigate this challenging landscape.

The questions we would like to explore together include:

- How do we deal with behavioural variability?
- How can we interpret it—and even take advantage of it?
- What can behavioural variability reveal about brain function?
- How can incorporating an animal’s ecology help us answer our research
questions more effectively?
- How do we deal with the context-dependence of our behavioural results?

This workshop will be held in the spirit of our Schools of Ideas—with an
informal atmosphere and an open exchange of thoughts and perspectives.

*Participation is free of charge.* You can find the application form here -
https://nenckiopenlab.org/complexity/
Application deadline: July 25th.

With best wishes,

Mateusz Kostecki

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Mateusz Kostecki

PhD Student

Knapska Laboratory
Nencki Institute
02-093 Warsaw, Pasteura 3, Poland

https://twitter.com/mtkostecki

https://evolvingbehavior.blog/
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