Frontiers Forum 2025

USC-Chen Institute Frontiers Forum 2025

“Sensation-Motivation and AI”

Building on the success of its inaugural forum in collaboration with the Tianqiao & Chrissy Chen Institute, the 3rd iteration will retain its primary focus on the integration and processing of external and internal sensory information that drive behavioral responses. Additionally, the forum will broaden its discussions to include the rapid-growing fields of deep-learning and artificial intelligence. By bringing together esteemed researchers from various disciplines, our goal is to understand a general question of how brain circuits produce sensation and motivation. This event will serve as a hub for sharing the latest research breakthroughs, identifying salient questions and guiding principles, and fostering prospective collaborations.

Organizers:

Dr. Li Zhang, Center for Neural Circuits & Sensory Processing Disorders

Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, USC

Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute (cheninstitute.org)

Time: April 30-May 1, 2025

Location: Herklotz Conference Room, ZNI 112

RSVP： TBD

Invited Speakers

Sensory Information Processing
	Hillel Adesnik, PhD UC Berkeley Optically probing the neural codes of perception
	Xiaoke Chen, PhD Stanford University A closed-loop circuits for chronic pain
	Matthew McGinley, PhD Baylor College of Medicine Neural correlates of arousal and motivation in sustained attention
	Cris Niell, PhD University of Oregon Neural circuits for active vision and natural behavior in the mouse
	Huizhong Whit Tao, PhD University of Southern California Transformation of visual signals into navigational cues via a thalamic nucleus
Social and Complex Behaviors
	Zoe Donaldson, PhD University of Colorado Boulder Accumbal calcium-permeable AMPA receptors orchestrate social attachment
	Weizhe Hong, PhD University of California, Los Angeles Neural Basis of Prosocial Behavior
	Scott Kanoski, PhD University of Southern California The neural circuitry regulating impulse control
	Dayu Lin, PhD New York University Neural plasticity supporting motherhood.
	Li I. Zhang, PhD University of Southern California Reviving-like prosocial behavior in response to unconscious or dead conspecifics in rodents
AI and Neuroscience
	Georgia Gkioxari, PhD California Institute of Technology New Challenges in Visual Perception in the Era of LLMs
	Brian Lee, MD, PhD University of Southern California Engineering Artificial Somatosensation: Technical Considerations for Cortical Stimulation in Brain-Computer Interface Systems
	Talmo Pereira, PhD Salk Institute for Biological Studies Towards models of sensation and motivation using behavior quantification
	Jonathan Pillow, PhD Princeton University Disentangling the Roles of Distinct Cell Classes with Cell-Type Dynamical Systems
	Maryam Shanechi, PhD USC TBD