Recent advances have ushered in a new era for neurobiological studies of complex cognitive functions beyond early sensory processing. Human studies using fMRI and electrophysiological measures have identified brain systems important for memory, attention, decision making, emotion regulation, and other aspects of cognition. At the same time, neurohysiological studies in behaving animals have discovered neural correlates of many of these same cognitive functions, and computational models have been developed to elucidate the dynamics and cellular properties of the underlying neural networks. Studies of selective attention, for example, extend from systems-level descriptions, neural circuit identification, to computational modeling of “attention-control networks”. Recent theoretical and experimental work suggests a core circuit mechanism for decision making computations and working memory function in “cognitive type” brain areas. There is accelerated progress in neuronal recording studies of other high level processes such as task switching and executive control, which were previously rarely investigated in animal studies. Novel experimental techniques and theoretical models hold the promise for uncovering general computational principles and neuronal mechanisms of cognitive behavior at a fundamental level, thereby bringing together circuit neurobiology and cognitive neurosciences. Progress in this field has begun to provide important insights onto the neural basis of cognitive dysfunctions associated with mental disorders.

This new Gordon conference series provides a forum for researchers and students to exchange data and discuss ideas on cutting-edge issues in the neurobiology of cognition. Given the broad field, we envision that each meeting will have a somewhat different focus, to facilitate in-depth discussions and at the same time preserve the breadth. The program and format of the meeting are designed to foster intense interactions among investigators from different fields (e.g. between cognitive neuroscientists using human fMRI and neurophysiologists working with behaving animals) or across levels (from cellular and subcellular physiology, microcircuits, to large-scale brain systems), as well as between experimentalists and theorists.