Irvine : International Speakers at Neurobiology Seminar

Some of the latest research findings on how the brain stores, retrieves and processes information will be presented and discussed at an international gathering of neuroscientists Oct. 14 to 17 in Irvine. The Third Conference on the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, to be held at the Irvine Hilton and UC Irvine, will include presentations on neural network computers, recent neurobiological research on learning and memory and the case of a much-studied amnesiac known as “H.M.” Discussion will follow each presentation.

Scientist Jan Bures of Prague’s Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, in his first presentation in the West since 1968, will deliver the keynote address on Oct. 14. Bures will discuss the significance of anomalous findings in the neurobiology of memory. In the conference’s first day-long session, Oct. 15, speakers will address the question of forms of memory and whether brain processes in lower life forms are similar to those in humans.

On Oct. 16, speakers will focus on the role of more advanced brain structures, the cortex and the neocortex, in the formation and the degree of flexibility in the brain’s “wiring.” That evening, Brenda Milner of the Montreal Neurological Institute will discuss her experiences with the patient known as H.M., who can recall memories from before his accident but cannot store new ones because of an injury to his hippocampus.

On the last day of the conference, Oct. 17, Terrence Sejnowski of Johns Hopkins University will discuss neural networks: mimicking brain functions with computers and specially designed electronics. Sejnowski recently built a neural network that taught itself to read English aloud. Like the human brain, the device was not preprogrammed but modified its own programming through experience.

For information, call the UC Irvine Center for Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, (714) 856-5193.