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A letter from the organizers

The brain is the most complex object of the universe known to man. Almost a hundred billion neurons making trillions of synaptic contacts in an astounding number of possible combinations is only one important part of this system, that also includes glia and other cells with multifaceted effects in neural function. This tremendous complexity makes the challenge of fulling understanding the nervous system and to deliver robust treatment to its dysfunctions a winning candidate for ultimate frontier of science.

To overcome this immense challenge, a fruitful avenue is to approach the study of the brain by multi and interdisciplinary science. With the benefit of exponential development in computer sciences and technologies, neuroscientists can now simulate neural cells, circuits, and maybe the whole brain in in silico experiments overcoming limitations of in vivo and in vitro preparations. Computer science can also benefit from neuroscience by incorporating knowledge of how the brain learns and performs cognitive tasks. Finally, the dialogue between the biological milieu and the digital world has enabled the direct communication between brain and machine making possible the development of technologies to treat myriad brain disorders and to enhance function. Computational Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence, and Neuroengineering have, thus, become hot topics attracting scientists from different departments in a new era of strong interdisciplinarity. This reunion of minds and talents must be fostered by, among other initiatives, the opportunity to gather people in inspiring scientific meetings.

The idea of a biannual series of events in the field of Computational Neuroscience and related topics for the Latin American community started in 2012, when a group of researchers from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul got together to present recent findings and discuss avenues of future investigation. The need for a continuation for that enthusiastic informal meeting in the form an International Scientific meeting presented itself as obvious. The Latin American Workshop on Computational Neuroscience (LAWCN) was then born.

A very successful first edition of LAWCN took place in 2017 (visit the website), in the cosmopolitan city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, gathering more than a hundred scientists, from undergrads to experienced faculties, coming from different countries in South America, to listen to each other and to eight keynote speakers from Brazil and from abroad, and to share findings and experiences in the pursuit of cutting-edge knowledge on the brain.

Now the Workshop leaves the fast-paced life of the big city for a more relaxed take in the countryside of the welcoming state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The second edition of LAWCN will be held in the three centennial colonial city of São João del-Rei, with its historic buildings and churches, beautiful mountains and cold waterfalls, and exquisite culinary.

The Organizing Committee is very proud to welcome researchers from Latin America and the whole world to the II Latin American Workshop on Computational Neuroscience. We wish we may all have, once again, an extraordinary exchange of ideas and experiences to advance interdisciplinary brain science.

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Areas of the II LAWCN

Keeping the tradition of previous edition of this meeting, the II LAWCN will have four main topics: a) Computational Neuroscience; b) Neuroscience; c) Neuroengineering and; d) Artificial Intelligence and related topics.

The Workshop will consist mainly of the following activities:

A- presentation of up to 8 key renowned international and national researchers;
B- oral presentations of accepted papers by their authors.

All participants who investigate and contribute to the understanding of the properties of the brain, such as Medicine, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering, Psychology, Philosophy and others are welcomed.

Submission and publication of papers

Participants are invited to submit papers on the topics of the event. All accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings, with ISBN. The best papers on topics directly related to Computer Science will be published in a volume of the book series from Springer, Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS).

Financial support

LAWCN 2019 has the financial support (travel aid to students) from the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), from Pró-reitoria de Pesquisa e Pós-graduação da Universidade Federal de São João del-Rei, and from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).