Conference Description
Whether through the spoken voice of a human or the stridulating song of the cricket, acoustic communication is an effective means of conveying information to others and is often critical for survival and reproduction. In humans, dysfunction of vocal interactions following injury or disease can be devastating for the health of an individual and society at large. Because different species may feature disparate communication strategies for the production and perception of acoustic social signals, a comparative approach to the study of the neural mechanisms underlying acoustic communication can lend insight into general mechanisms of neural function, lead to the development of novel analytical and experimental techniques, and even pave the way to novel treatments of dysfunction in human communication systems. The Gordon Research Conference on the Neural Mechanisms of Acoustic Communication (NMAC GRC) is a new GRC created to bring together a highly interdisciplinary group of researchers to better understand how the brain encodes and produces acoustic signals. At the NMAC GRC, researchers studying a variety of model systems, from a range of scientific perspectives, will discuss topics relevant to all species, thereby breaking down the boundaries that exist across these communities.
The program for the 2022 NMAC GRC will represent cutting-edge basic and clinical research in the field. Speakers and sessions will cover a range of topics, including vocal development and learning, vocal interactions, auditory specializations, genomics, predictive coding, and cortical mechanisms of vocal production.
The topics, speakers, and discussion leaders for the conference sessions are displayed below. The conference chair is currently developing their detailed program, which will include the complete meeting schedule, as well as the talk titles for all speakers. The detailed program will be available by March 31, 2022. Please check back for updates.
Quantitative Approaches to Behavioral Analysis
Discussion Leaders
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Jan Clemens (European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen, Germany)
Speakers
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Roian Egnor (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, USA)
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Catherine Perrodin (University College London, United Kingdom)
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Coen Elemans (University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)
Vocal Development
Discussion Leaders
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Jon Sakata (McGill University, Canada)
Speakers
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Daniel Takahashi (Universidad de Sao Paulo, Brazil)
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Alison Barker (Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Germany)
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Michale Fee (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)
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Patricia Kuhl (University of Washington, USA)
Models of Vocal Learning and Production
Discussion Leaders
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Adrienne Fairhall (University of Washington, USA)
Speakers
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Jason Bohland (University of Pittsburgh, USA)
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Ana Amador (University of Buenos Aires and CONICET, Argentina)
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Richard Hahnloser (University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Auditory Specializations for Communication
Discussion Leaders
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Ioana Carcea (Rutgers University, USA)
Speakers
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Sarah Woolley (Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, USA)
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Todd Roberts (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA)
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Lizabeth Marie Romanski (University of Rochester Medical Center, USA)
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Robert Liu (Emory University, USA)
Vocal Interactions
Discussion Leaders
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Xiaoqin Wang (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA)
Speakers
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Yossi Yovel (Tel Aviv University, Israel)
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Arkarup Banerjee (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA)
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Ofer Tchernichovski (Hunter College, The City University of New York, USA)
Genetics of Communication
Discussion Leaders
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Constance Scharff (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)
Speakers
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Genevieve Konopka (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA)
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Hopi Hoekstra (Harvard University, USA)
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Kate Watkins (University of Oxford, United Kingdom)
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Erich Jarvis (Rockefeller University, USA)
Predictive Coding in Vocal-Motor Networks
Discussion Leaders
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Andrew Bass (Cornell University, USA)
Speakers
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Vincent Gracco (Haskins Laboratories, Yale University, USA)
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David Schneider (New York University, USA)
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Berthold Hedwig (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)
Comparative Anatomy and Function of Communication Circuits
Discussion Leaders
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Darcy Kelley (Columbia University, USA)
Speakers
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Anne Von Philipsborn (Aarhus University, Denmark)
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Benjamin Judkewitz (Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany)
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Mimi Kao (Tufts University, USA)
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Lisa Stowers (Scripps Research, USA)
Cortical Mechanisms of Vocal Production
Discussion Leaders
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Daniela Vallentin (Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Germany)
Speakers
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Michael Brainard (University of California, San Francisco, USA)
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Steffen Hage (University of Tübingen, Germany)
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Edward Chang (University of California, San Francisco, USA)
