The fourth annual John Merck Fund Summer Institute on the Biology of Developmental Disabilities was held July 18-23, 2004 at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. The course examined basic principles of behavior, brain function and organization in the context of typical and atypical development. Attention and learning were specific of focus. Experts in the fields of psychology, neurobiology, neuroendocrinology and neuroscience presented their work in addition to hands-on workshops on brain imaging, genetics and modeling methods. The institute was geared toward predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows and provided tuition, room, partial board and a small stipend. For information on summer institutes held previously, see Princeton 2003 and Cold Spring Harbor 2002 & 2001.
SUNDAY
Theme: Evolutionary and Developmental Psychobiology
10:30 Welcome and Introductions:
BJ Casey*,
Sackler Insititute
Representative Paper 1
2 3
11:00 Opening Keynote Address
Tom Insel, NIMH
Director, Epigenesis: Where Nurture Meets Nature
Representative Paper 1 2
12:30 Buffet Lunch at Palmer House
2:00
Barbara
Finlay, Cornell University, Developmental structure in brain
evolution: the proliferation
and
significance of cortical areas
Representative Paper 1 2
3:30
David Washburn,
Georgia State, Comparative
Studies of Attention and Learning
Representative Paper 1 2
5:00 Reception/Dinner/Student Presentations at
Triumphs
MONDAY
Theme: Attention and Perception
8:30
Bob Desimone,
NIMH,
Animal models
10:00 Break
10:30
Steve
Yantis, Johns Hopkins, Human selective attention: Insights
from functional neuroimaging
Representative
Paper
12:00 Lunch, on your own
1:30
Scott
Johnson, NYU, Infant
Perceptual Development
Representative Paper
3:00 Break
3:30
Mark
Johnson, Birkbeck College, The development of the social
brain
Representative Paper
5:00
John Richards,
USC, Infant Attention: Converging Methods Approach
Representative Paper 6:30 Dinner, on your own
TUESDAY
All Day Imaging Workshop
8:30
Brad Schlaggar*,
Washington University,
How to design an fMRI experiment
Representative
Paper
10:00 Safety film and article
Matt
Davidson, Sackler
11:00 Breakout into 3 groups to design
experiment
(Schlaggar*, Zevin & Davidson, Nystrom)
1:00 Lunch, on your own
3:00 Afternoon of scanning with
Leigh Nystrom,
Princeton
6:00 Happy Hour at Casey-Cohen House
WEDNESDAY
Theme: Learning and Reward Systems
8:30
Susan
Andersen, McLean, Development of
Dopamine System: Animal Studies
10:00 Break
10:30
Read
Montague, Baylor, Imaging, Modeling and Animal
Studies
12:00 Lunch, on your own
1:30
BJ Casey,
Sackler, Imaging and Genetic
Studies of Dopamine related Circuitry
3:00 Break
3:30 Genetics workshop,
John Fossella,
Sackler
Institute
6:30 Dinner, on your own
THURSDAY
Theme: Hippocampal and Cortical-dependent Learning
8:30
Matt
Wilson*, MIT, Hippocampal Learning
10:00 Break
10:30 Michael Frank, Institution University of Colorado at
Boulder, Dopamine Modulation of the Basal Ganglia
12:00 Lunch, on your own
2:00 Computational Modeling Workshop: Age
Dependent Learning
Bruce McCandliss*
and
Jason Zevin,
Sackler Institute
Representative Paper 1 2
3
5:00 Break
7:00 Dinner and Debate at Prospect House
FRIDAY
9:30 Closing Keynote Address: System
Neuroscience
Bruce
McEwen, Rockefeller University
11:00 Closing Remarks and Evaluations:
Natasha Kirkham, Stanford
11:30 Adjourn
* John Merck Scholar
Photos!
A special thanks to Valorie Salimpoor for submitting them.